Date: 2011-05-19
From: Off the trail

To: Off the trail
Miles today: 0.0

I'm finally able to let the cat out of the bag. Since I got off the trail, I've been at Teach's house in New Jersey. I wasn't able to say before because Teach was afraid that people might make unwarranted assumptions, or start unkind rumors. Teach decided to let me talk about it finally, since many people we know on the trail would probably guess anyway.So, in case anyone should wonder, Teach and I are strictly friends. I still think of her as "trail mom" and she calls me her "second son". When I told her how lonely I was after she left the trail, she called and suggested I take a bus to New Jersey and stay at her place until her back was healed enough for her to return to the trail. I decided that sounded like a great idea. I figured some time off the trail to get my thoughts in order might do me some good. So I took an 18 hour bus ride to Jersey.I can definitely say I'd be happy to never take the bus again. They're hot, crowded, noisy and cramped. I got to Jersey the afternoon of May 11th, the day before my birthday. Teach had to leave that evening to babysit her grandson for a few days, but she bought me a little ice cream birthday cake before she left. Teach lives just 2 miles from the ocean, so on my birthday I walked over and walked along the boardwalk. I spent the first couple of days catching up on some books I'd been meaning to read since I first started the trail, and basically just relaxing. After Teach got back, she took me on a tour of the towns in this part of New Jersey, and showed me where she used to live and where she taught school for 25 years. We've spent the last few days in a small town in New York named Bath. Teach haas some friends there who own an organic vegetable farm. I spent 2 days working in the greenhouse helping to cut and bag some of the plants for distribution. The people who own the place are called the PeaceWeavers and are strict vegetarians. They were very kind though and made me feel welcome without ever once criticizing me for being the meat and potatoes guy that I am. We got back to Jersey today and I was happy to find that my 40 degree sleeping bag and trail runners had arrived. On the way to New York, we had stopped at Campmor and I bought a new backpack. I replaced my 5 pound Kelty external frame pack with a 3.5 pound Kelty internal frame pack. It only cost $100. That's not bad for a 1.5 pound weight reduction. There are lighter packs, but they're more expensive and I felt more comfortable staying with Kelty. I'm hoping to reduce my pack weight to 20 pounds. Later on in the hike when we get to the White Mountains we'll have to get our winter gear back, but that will be another 800 miles or so. Hopefully in another week or so Teach's back will be healed enough for us to get back on the trail. Until then we'll try to do as much walking as possible and get our summer gear finalized. Teach suggested going to New York one day next week to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and maybe the Natural History Museum. I told her I had never been on a train before so we're going to kill two birds with one stone and take a train into the city. The New Jersey Transit Line passes right by here.Well, I think I've caught everybody up on what I've been up to in the last week, so I'm going to call it a night. I'll put in another entry in a couple of days.