Greetings from Salisbury, Connecticut

Well, we crossed into Connecticut this morning! Massachusetts was a relatively easy state, and certainly did not last too long for us. Connecticut is also not a long state, and we should be through here in 2-3 days. The miles continue to come easy, and the states are just dropping quickly.

A little bit of bad news... The Navy has broken up. Full Value and Plug are somewhere behind us, and have been for a few weeks now. Reset, Dread, and I are still hiking together, with the addition of a few new faces. With a melding of 2 groups, we are now hiking 6 deep. Wolfman and Stoker are frat brothers who just graduated from Penn State. Churchill is a trauma nurse from Camden, New Jersey, which means we are also now hiking with a medical professional (figured that would make Mom and Jessica happy). While I do miss our lost friends, we have had plenty of fun with the new group, and it is always reassuring to know that I've got someone to hike with, because camp is far more interesting with friends.

While short, Massachusetts was a great place. Two nights in a row, we managed to sleep somewhere with a bed (the thing I miss the most out here)! The first night we crashed in Dalton, Mass. at a place called the Bird Cage. This is actually the home of a man named Rob Bird, a retiree who has been taking care of hikers for 10 years now. He picked us up at the trail head with a cooler full of cold soda, took us to his house, and then did our laundry for us while we showered. That night, he drove us to an AYCE buffet, (which was GREAT)as well as the grocery store to resupply. His generosity was truly appreciated, and it was a pleasure to keep company with him. The next day we hiked 21 miles to a place called Upper Full Goose Cabin. While I had simply assumed that this was like any other shelter on the AT, I quickly found that it was not. It was an actual cabin, with a caretaker, on a lake. We got to swim in the lake after a long day, then we got to sleep in bunks that had mattresses on them. And to top it all off, the caretaker made free pancakes in the morning! The next day we played on a rope swing for hours before hiking, and it was a great and relaxing feeling.

More good news, I'll get to see my lovely fiance in 9 days! Because the Jersey Boys live near NYC, and Reset and myself have never been, they insisted that we take some time and go into the city. Jessica will be flying up, and I'll get to spend those days with her. I am very excited.

Well, that's about all of the news I have for now. Thanks for the support and I'll update you all the next chance I get.

Tail End