Day 53- hitch to Franconia Notch

Bomber was freezing his tush off again last night and I couldn't bear to see him shivering and not be able to help, so I suggested that we hitch to Franconia Notch to pick up his sleeping bag (his mother had mailed it there) and then hike north to where we are. He accepted my suggestion and we set off for Franconia Notch. The hitch was a tricky one because we had to travel 26 miles and were in a very touristy area. The locals that know that we're thru-hikers will pick us up, but it's not very likely for anyone out-of-state to pick hikers up. It took us over a half an hour to get picked up, but we ended up being driven by a really cool man. He drove us all the way to our destination and pointed out mountains and told us about the history and wildlife of the area. We hopped out at the Franconia Visitors Center and picked up his package. I grabbed a bag of chips- I'd been talking about chips all day (which I normally don't even like)- and they were gone within a minute. The woman who gave us the package, Susan, is a trail angel and said she would love to have us stay at her house when we got back to Crawford Notch in a few days (the section we have to hike north). We graciously took her phone number and said we'd love to. At the Visitor's Center we went to see the flume and then watched a movie about the history of the area. We told Susan that we were going to Chet's place for the night and she said she was just about to go on her lunch break and had always wanted to meet him, so she drove us there. Chet's place is at Chet's home and he has a few bunks and beds for thru-hikers to sleep on. Chet has a really amazing story and spends part of his life giving to hikers. We all met Chet and passed his thru hiker quiz and were given a work-for-stay for the night. I swept the house and Bomber vacuumed. I was starving for lunch, so Bomber and I went and found a little cafe to grab some food out. Turns out, the Gypsy Cafe had the best food I've eaten on the trail. Bomber treated me to Moroccan-style calamari and peanut noodles with shrimp. I never wanted to leave that cafe. We grabbed an icecream cone to top of the most amazing meal ever and I ate it happily while walking back to Chet's. We hung out there for a bit and talked to Chet and other hikers. I even got to read some of my book ("On the Road" by Kerouac). Later in the evening, we walked back down to Main Street and came upon a candy store named "Chutter's". I squealed when I saw it and immediately headed for the door. Apparently this candy store in the Guiness Book of World Records and the tons of jars full of candy definitely impressed me. I grabbed a bunch of gummies for a trail snack and once again walked happily back to Chet's. A pizza party was thrown for Bomber because he helped a SOBO out who has giardia and so I got to chow down on that for dinner. My belly hasn't been so happy in such a long time. I've even managed to gain a pound with all the free hut food this week. To make the day even better, Faith and Old School showed up at Chet's! I was so happy to see them! All in all, today was completely awesome. Tomorrow I'll be hiking north for roughly 30 miles. It's going to feel so weird to hike the opposite direction!