Start spreading the news, i'm leaving today I want to be a part of it - new york, new york!!!!

we love NY.   Danced upon the NJ-NY boarder for a while after visiting Laugh Track's friends.  the temperature started to ratchet up the second we stepped out of air conditioning, but we walked about 3 miles to a road crossing where a former thru hiker was leaving a cooler full of soda.  thank god. we chugged some cola, then she asked us if we had hit up the creamery a few miles before.  unfortunately, we had missed it, since it was closed when we passed.  this was completely unacceptable to the former hiker, so she ordered us into her car, and drove us to the creamery and made us get ice cream.  tough life, i know.  after that, we headed past fitzgerald falls, which was a super disappointment, since it had be soo hot, it dried up.  lame sauce.  so we trudged on through the insanely hot air, picking up water at road crossings that amazing trail angels had left, and just trying not to pass out from the heat.  as we were walking by an idyllic pond, we decided to pitch our tents and knock off for the day.  we were hot, tired, and couldn't even think about sweating it out for any more hours.  the next morning, we thought we would start early to miss the heat, but even at 7am, it was about 95 degrees.  nonetheless, we plodded on, up and over rolling, rocky hills, under sparse trees and the unrelenting sun.  we got to go through the "lemon squeezer," a pile of rocks that was super cool, we got to squeeze ourselves through a little cave, and climb up a cliff, and pretty much sweat our faces off.   knowing that we had 7 miles more to go to get to a lake where we could gratefully dive in to cool ourselves off, we grit our teeth, and booked it over more mountains in the horrible heat.  we met up with our friends who had already gotten to the lake, stripped down to our skivies, and dove in.   it was heaven.  after getting sodas and chips, we walked a few more miles to an awesome shelter on the side of a field.  pitched our tents, cooked up some dinner, and passed out.  i had an unfortunate tooth ache, that will need a root canal, and i basically was blinded by the pain, so the next day (which was about 105 degrees) we crossed the palisades parkway, and laugh track's friend, jason, generously came to save my life.  we booked it into the city, where i had an emergency drilling to scrape the pulp out of my tooth, very pleasant.  after that, we got to stay at my old apartment with my amazing roommates!!!  saw them for a hot second, took cold showers, then headed to the crocodile lounge for beer and free pizza!!!  met up with laugh track's friend, nap, the next day, swimming in his pool,  grilling up burgers and dogs, and sleeping all day.  we hiked up ny's famous bear mountain later, found a geocache, and got to hike across the hudson!!! our good friend shea came out that night, where we made a fire, camped out on top of a mountain, and reminisced about camp and life.  after stopping at a deli for lunch the next day at a road crossing, shea took her leave of us, to get back to her car, and we trudged along in the pouring rain.  after a few more miserable hours of being damp and cold, we decided to pitch our tents, and curl up in our sleeping bag and read.  the next day was thankfully dry and sunny, and we had something to look forward to! my best friend nate was going to come pick us up for a night at his house for a shower and laundry and some chill time!  we got to the road crossing where he was going to meet us, and fishhead showed up right around lunch time!!! we hadn't seen him since before trail days, since he went home for some weddings and such, so we had a great time catching up with him, and convincing him to hop a train to nyc to surprise his girlfriend!!! we helped him figure out train schedules, drew him a map of the city, and got him to the train station on time!  we are such great matchmakers.  had an amazing night at nate's house, showered, watched movies, hung out with him and his brother, and had a great time.  heading back on the trail!  weather is great, loving being in new england!!  cant wait to get up to mass to see my friends, and then a day at home in vt!!!! loving life!!!  I'd like to bend her over a barrel and show her the fifty states. where did you hear that? it's from a movie.  no it's not.  it is now!