July 28 - Salisbury, CT (Day 131 – milepoint 1474.1)

Walked a mile and joined Puff, Cosmo, Spice, Wildseed, Baltimore Jack, Chewy, and Achilles for breakfast at the Village Coffee Shop on US 7. Best waitress on the entire Trail so far and I was full for $6.00.

Later in the day, Achilles and I met up with Small World and Devin (now Jarvis) and joined them for the last 5 miles into Salisbury, along with Baltimore Jack. The lawn in front of the P.O. in the middle of town became a thru-hiker lounge area. More blueberries and other fresh fruit kept me happy for the afternoon.

Achilles and I eventually went another 0.7 mile to US 41 where we were met by Jane Grossman, whose husband is Alan Grossman, Achilles‘ godfather. She brought us back to their very beautiful farmhouse (by way of the bakery and market) and made us feel very welcome.

Showers. Laundry. We set all of our wet gear out on the lawn to dry. A dip in the pool and a soothing soak in their hot tub carried us right into the dinner hour. Jane and Alan grew up with Achilles‘ father, John, and I enjoyed watching and listening as Achilles learned a few things about his father in his days before he was a dad. “What?” … “You’re kidding!” … “Are you sure we’re talking about the same person here?”

Jane and Alan seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the memories as well and struggled at times to avoid a few of those “your kids shouldn’t know EVERYTHING about you” moments. Alan is the outgoing President of Outward Bound, which was another interesting topic, and he is gearing up to start teaching the subject of non-profit organizations and fund-raising at Harvard University. So many great stories. Wonderful folks. I feel honored to be a guest in their home. Feeling very spoiled, but not complaining.

Aquaholic