Date: 2010-09-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So I am way overdue for an update here....jeez. I am in Unionville NJ staying at a hostel called the "outhouse". It used to be called the mayors house but the man who owns it is no longer the mayor of Unionville. He doesnt actually live here, but an older fellow named Bill lives here and takes care of it. For a ten dollar donation we are fed dinner and breakfast, have free soda, and 50 cent beers (first beer free). We are watching Sunday Night football. We crave football on the trail. We talk about it all the time and are always scheming about where we could go to watch some.So we went to NYC. Stoker and Wolfman who are both from north Jersey, had jumped off trail for the weekend to go watch the Penn State game. They picked up their cars and picked us up from the trail head on Monday. We went to Stokers house and were immedietely greeted by his mothers warm hospitality. Let me tell you, 7 stinky hikers is quite a site intering a beautiful suburban home. We made use of both showers to erase the odor, and we were all able to find some loner clothes in Stokers closet while ours were cleaned. We ordered 6 pizzas and watched Monday night football. Stokers father is a Lawyer for the State, and his mother a 2nd grade teacher. They have a lovely home with an awesome finished basement complete with refriderator filled with sodas, beer and ice cream. By the time we left it had only ice. The next day we just kinda layed low and hung out. That night we ate a dinner Stokers mom had prepared for us. Sausage and peppers, meatballs, boneless barbecue ribs ect ect. It was sweet. On Wed we headed to the city. Boy was that a treat. If you can imagine Reset from Missippi and a bunch of other Southern boys who had never been to NY before stepping out of the train terminal for the first time. Reset must have yelled the phrase "we're not from around here" a million times. Every time we got caught in traffic, every time we got odd looks, every time we were confused....."sorry, not from around here". I can only imagine what people thought when they saw a bunch of young guys with full beards hanging around. We must have looked like a cult or worse. Perhaps a sect of some Hisidic Jewish following. We spent that night at Stokers sisters apartment in Manhatan. Kim and her husband Evan were a great time. We found a local bar with specials and went out for the night, before retiring to the apartment and sprawling on the couch, floor and terrence deck.The next day we headed to Wolfmans place in Ft Lee NJ. Now Wolfman said he lived in an apartment. We have signifigantly different ideas of an apartment. He lives in a huge pad that his parents own on the 19th floor of a high rise that his grandfather built in the 1970's with a magnificent view of NYC. My idea of an apartment is not the kind that cost a million dollars, have 4 bathrooms, a doorman ect. His grandmother lived in the penthouse on the top floor. Just about the time when I had seen enough, I turned a corner to find myself in a Ballroom complete with a grand piano. Wofmans mother made this amazing Italian meal that consised of pasta and a pork in this gravy that i could have eaten like soup with a spoon it was so good. Wolfmans mother immigrated here from Italy when she was younger, his father an Italian new Yorker.We came back to the trail Friday night hiking 1.5 miles to the first shelter. We arrived hyper and giddy with full bellies and refreshed muscles. We had intended on doing 23 miles the next day, but that just was not in the cards for us. To much after such an extended break. We did 12, and than another 18 today to get to this town. I think we will be doing something around 20 tomorrow. NY was suprisingly rough trail. Very very unenjoyable trail with alot of rocks, and alot of ups and downs. Just tedious hiking. NJ sure is looking nice so far though.We should be right on track to hit Harpers Ferry around the first week of Oct, and finish our hike early in December. We are about to hit terrain that allows very high mileage in PA (25-30 a day is possible). We are all having a blast and end enjoying every minute of this journey. Tater Chip is still out in front, but has slowed down. He had been hoping to finish before Oct 5th so he could see his grand daughter off to Air Force basic training, but has deemed it impossible and slowed down signifigantly.