July 31st
The movie made it a late night last night, and I had some significant issues falling asleep, anticipating going home today. The cats had been slightly better, settling in more quickly; I dozed some and woke to find them sleeping by my feet. So another light night of sleep. Still, I was awake and up by 6am, when the rest of the house started moving around.
My bus was scheduled for 12 noon, so I had plenty of time to get ready. Pastor Jennie had spent the night at her son’s house, so the hikers had to fend for themselves; the coffee maker was complicated and needed sussing out, and we found that the 4 dozen eggs that had been in the refrigerator had pretty much been consumed; there were 3 eggs left. I decided to go over to Dan and Whit’s to grab a box of cereal, which I would eat from and leave behind for others. My intention was to grab a box of Frosted Mini Wheats, but I ended up grabbing Cocoa Krispies (you know, the cereal that gives you chocolate milk?), and while I was there I discovered they made breakfast sandwiches, so I got one of those, too.
It was only around 9am at this point, so I tried to find some things to do to stretch out the morning, but eventually just saddled up and left for Hanover. After the walk back over the Connecticut River and up the hill to Hanover center, I grabbed a Starbucks ice coffee and headed back to the town green. I passed a bakery/restaurant with a table outside selling muffins and donuts, and when I stopped to get something, the girl behind the table asked if I was a thru-hiker, and I said I was.
“You get a free cruller!” she said.
“I’ll have the chocolate glazed!” says I.
“Good choice!” says she.
Trail magic!! Yeah!
Up to the green with my ice coffee and my cruller to find a bench in the shade and wait the hour+ until the bus leaves. Out comes the uke, again!
In the back of my mind I was feeling guilty that I was not hiking on today; sort of like taking a mental health day at work (which I NEVER did, ever…), but thinking about trying to carry a pack with a failed hip belt quickly dissipated that feeling.
When I got on the bus, I used their wifi service to post a blog, and to get an email sent to the Oboz folks, requesting new footwear. The ride seemed to take a long time, and at one point, south of Manchester, NH, there was a DOT truck riding ahead of us flanked by police cars, traveling at something like 10 miles an hour. The traffic backed up behind us; and I’m not sure how long we spent there, but we got into South Station a half hour late.
By the time I got home, there was an email from the Oboz folks telling me they were sending me a new pair of shoes (I asked them to send me 13s this time; time to lose the clown shoes), so I’m two for two on getting my gear replaced!
I’m home, have eaten a wonderful home cooked meal, taken a walk around the block with Debbie and the dog, and am settling back in.
The Deuter folks have no issue with sending the new pack home, and I got the email confirmation of the shipment. Looks like a Saturday, 8/5, delivery. If the pack comes on Saturday, I may try to get back up to NH on Sunday or Monday. Or I may wait for the shoes. We’ll see…
Tom Maynard 
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