"They have a pool? No thanks, we just did laundry."

So it's been an interesting past few days, coming through Ct and Mass. We'll be in Vt. by the end of the week, somewhere around Bennington by Friday for a big hiker feed.
Connecticut became a vortex to us, we were afraid we'd never make it to Mass. Sprout's friends were so nice, and they had a pool and a puppy, which helped:) We finally tore outselves away from that, then we ran in Connecticut Mike, who lives in Salisbury and was taking some time off the trail for his birthday. We refuted his offer to take us in for the night, and hiked on into a torrential downpour with massive amounts of thunder and lightning. We finally make it to Massachusetts, and run into Mike again, who proceeds to take us BACK to Ct. for a bonfire and beer at his friends' house. After that, we FINALLY made it out of Ct. permanently.
Onto Mass., which has the largest population of misquitos I've ever seen in my life. I had to practically run down a couple of hills to keep ahead of the swarm. Then we got to Goose Pond Cabin/Shelter, which is right on a lake and the caretaker makes BLUEBERRY PANCAKES for everyone in the morning. Such a lovely place, even with the mosquito population eating us alive. My one friend claims he's become anemic from so many bugs sucking his blood.
Yesterday, we had quite the rain/hail storm. So bad, in fact, we had to ford our first river-it was about mid-thigh deep and running rapids. All made it through unscathed, though the bottom of our shorts did get damp and the Orangedust's dog had to be carried. And with the marble-sized hail floating in the elongated puddle that used to be the trail, it made for some interesting hiking. Though my feet did get nicely exfoliated from the large amount of dirt that got into my shoes from the puddles.
Onto the Green Mountains of Vermont!