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There is a church hostel in Vernon, but I had not relaxed in a motel room by myself, for over a month. After 'Alf' drove me to the post office to pick up my PC, I immediately got another ride to the Hotel. I was thankful as it looked like a dangerous road walk. *Click 'SHOW MORE' below for more notes about this video... The Appalachian Motel was a nice basic place with comfortable rooms and a nice view. The AC and WIFI worked great and I got to work posting videos and watching TV. (http://appalachianmotel.com). (0:04) I even treated myself to pizza delivery. NJ is famous for its pizza and it did not disappoint! Vernon NJ looks like a nice little town, but I did not explore much. The grocery store, post office, and Burger King are all right together. (0:07) 'Stick Bo Man' gave me a ride back to the trail. He was in line at the post office and just offered, without me even trying to yogi! (0:10) Heaven Hill Farmers Market was awesome! (When coming off the trail, it's just on your left.) They were very hiker friendly and had many ice cream flavors and fresh fruit. The plumbs up north are amazing! (0:18) Hippity Hop Village was a cute bunny town with a farm house and cabins. It looked like there was just one at first, then they all came rushing out. I thought it was funny how the population count had to be changed on the sign several times. It was fun feeding the excited, fluffy critters. The brown bunny looks like he came from the wild. It was hot out and they prefer to hangout under the buildings, instead of inside them. (1:09) The greenhouses here were very impressive and full of numerous varieties of colorful flowers. (1:11) The privy was occupied by a skeleton. "Hey, don't die in there!" (1:14) The gem mine had a western gold mining theme. I was here on a weekday so there were not many people, but am sure it gets crowed on weekends. (1:19) This Lama was showing off by taking a dust bath while his buddy and I just watched and laughed. (1:40) Red raspberries and flowers found near the trailhead parking area. The berries were very plumb and tasted good, but had a very strong flavor. (1:45) Trail Magic cooler. The note says "Take your refuse with you". (1:48) Stairway to Heaven has lots and lots of stone steps and must have taken forever to build. This is the tree blow-over 'ALF' cleared from the trail, the day before. This would have been hard to climb over, especially going uphill. (2:23) I don't condone "defacing" white blazes, but I liked these a lot. The artist brought out natural features in the trees. (2:29) King Author's sword! The random things we find in the woods, huh? The plastic toy sword was stuck into a rock on the trail. I was not its true owner, therefore was unable to remove it (and didn't want to carry it anyway). I like to think whoever claimed Excalibur, earned a new trial name! (2:34) The New Jersey / New York state line! 8 states down! I loved hiking the 72 miles in NJ, but was looking forward to seeing the 88 miles in NY as well. (3:05) The trail follows along the top of Prospect Rock, the highest point in NY and overlooking Greenwood Lake. (3:27) Real New York hot dogs are awesome! The best thing about hiking in NY is that we pass lots of food stands and delis. Many are located right near the numerous road crossings. I knew there would be plenty of food available on this stretch so I did not pack much to save weight. I even had room left to carry my bowl in my backpack. (3:36) The world famous Bellvale Farms Creamery is only a short walk from the trail (just past the hot dogs). This place had a nice view and crowded. The ice cream was delicious, but expensive. (3:43) This entire baseball team got ice cream for winning a big game. Look close - a few players have ice cream on their chins! Their blue and white jerseys read "Suffern NY". There is also a fancy wine tasting place nearby this road crossing. Lots of hikers went there and said it had good hamburgers too. I quit drinking when I was seven and try to avoid being around alcohol. (My Dad let me try his beer when I was a kid, I took a big swig and then spit it up all over him, and have not drank since!) (3:40) This nice couple could tell I was a thru-hiker (probably because of the smell!). They have hiked most of the A.T. in NY and asked which guidebook I used. I did not have one, so the gentleman dug around his car and offered me these maps of the area. I'm just amazed how people I've never met before, bend over backwards to help us. Thank you! Back in Vernon, I did look-up some food stops on White Blaze.com while I was on the internet. I wrote down directions on the back of the colorful 8x10 pizza coupon that came with my pizza. I also made plans for my guidebook to be waiting at the next post office. (3:49) My humble abode for the night. I also lost my headlamp here. Usually it's hanging around my neck but the strap had broken and carried it in a pocket. .