Date: 2015-07-24
From: Norwich, VT

To: Norwich, VT
Miles today: 0.0

We all concluded that we should utilize the day buy taking a zero before entering the White's within the next few days. Once there we'll face a terrain profile we haven't faced since the likes of the Smokies. New Hampshire and Maine are the most difficult states on the AT and for good reason.After a night of at least 2-3 snorers, I was up a little after 7:00am to enjoy a breakfast of French toast prepared by Short & Sweet. After shoveling down 5 pieces, along with 3 cups of coffee, I retired back into the basement for an hour to journal and digest. Then, like yesterday after we arrived, Short & Sweet put us back to work finishing up the relocation of the firewood. Although Wilson left to spend the day slack-packing, ISO (In Search Of) joined us this morning and we were done in ~20-30 quick minutes. During this time, Red Panda walked by and she stopped to chat with us for a bit. I haven't seen her since hiking with her in the Smokies, but she looked as good and strong as ever. We all made sure she knew how thankful we were for her, her family, and friends for all the trail magic throughout parts of Connecticut. We then returned to our vegetative state in the basement, listening to music and browsing the internet, before Short & Sweet had to leave for the day, meaning we had to vacate the house as well. Yoohoo, Rabbit, and I headed into nearby Norwich and caught a free shuttle into Hanover. Although this would be our second time into Hanover, we still wouldn't have hiked and officially entered New Hampshire until tomorrow morning. Today would simply be another neutral mile day into Hanover where there was a bit more life happening than in Norwich.Having been a couple hours since breakfast, our first priority was lunch. After a quick stop at the post office where I sent the last of my nonessentials (except my Last of the Mohicans book) home, we took an elevator to the third floor of a business and enjoyed a tasty and surprisingly filling lunch of Thai food. Afterwards we walked a couple blocks to the Dartmouth campus and sprawled out in the grassy mall, sittng and enjoying the sun as students hustled around with their parents who were visiting for the weekend. Some students sat reading and chatting, others threw a frisbee or lazily biked by. Some even sat giggling behind their sunglasses, checking us out. We like to think the last one was accurate at least, but was sadly only in our imaginations.Yoohoo soon grew bored and Rabbit hungry again so we walked back into downtown, past countless upscale shops that seemed to only sell clothing, to Salt Hill Pub. Seeing that it was happy hour, we enjoyed half-priced appetizers and cheaper New England draft beers. As Yoohoo and I played a couple competitive rounds of shuffleboard (both of which he won), Rabbit sat at a table nearby working on more food. A TV above our table played a rerun of the 2010 NFC Championship game between the Vikings and Saints where Brett Favre leads the team to a tie in the final minutes, only to throw it away on a Favre-esque interception. Though I don't care for the Vikings, that play still bothers me. The owner of the bar also invites thru-hikers to sign the walls surrounding the bar which we all did. A couple hours later, feeling a bit lightheaded and content, we returned to the Dartmouth lawn and continued our laziness and people watching. After some time, Yoohoo said he had a date lined up and we relocated to the place it'd be an hour from then. Rabbit and I decided to leave him, wishes him luck, and returned to Norwich which was enjoying a small weekend fair. We knew we wouldn't b able to score a hitch without our packs, so we walked the ~2 miles back.Once returning to Norwich we stopped by a grocery to get a couple drinks and then went to the small fair. The fair consisted of your typical flashy rides and food vendors, promising priceless memories and good food, all at the price of an arm and a leg. Finally feeling hungry again since lunch, and Rabbit always hungry, we ordered from a vendor - a cheeseburger and 2 hotdogs for me. As we ate, we sat on some small bleachers and watched the only real entertaining thing at the fair aside from the dunk booth and kiddy pool with yellow toy ducks bobbing around - a variety of high school aged bands playing for the decent crowd of people. Over the next hour and a half we watch 3 bands play, all with female vocalists who, though singing songs a bit too big for their voices, had nerves of steel as they rocked and had fun. The boys in the band seemed chill enough just jamming on their instruments which, might I add, were spot on for their age. One particular band, as they wrapped up their set, had the support of all their parents who jumped up and began dancing in front of everyone. It was super cool seeing the parents not only having a good time, but supporting their kids in the process. Both Wilson and ISO would meet up with us towards the end as we watched our last few songs and then we'd all agree together that it was time to make our way back to our host's home around 8:15pm.We walked the mile to her place, met a few of Short & Sweet and Bob's friend that were over for dinner, and quietly retires into the basement where sleep was on all our minds. It's closing in on 10:00pm and the soft breathing, as well as snoring of someone, has already began, interrupted only by the occasional tossing and turning atop the air mattress. Short & Sweet is busily shuffling around upstairs cleaning up after her dinner. Yoohoo still hasn't returned; it must not be the worst date he's ever been on.Tomorrow morning brings the final couple miles of Vermont and the beginning of our trek through New Hampshire and the unavoidable White's. Just about a month left on the trail. I hope the next 2 states serve up the same amount of hospitality as Vermont. Well done, VT.Here's to reminiscing about college days, the smell of overpriced fried fair food, and the start of my next challenge.