Laundry with the Mayor

We've experienced some kind of trail magic almost every day since we started our adventure, but the best yet was when they mayor of Unionville, NY invited us over to his house for showers and laundry. On our way from High Point State Park, NJ (where they have a Washington Monument-like obelisk on a mountain), we read a trail log entry about Unionville's fine hiker hospitality, but the reality defied our expectations. Almost as soon as we walked into town, "Butch", a town employee and the mayor's emissary gave us the lowdown: we could leave our packs on his porch while we dined somewhere in town, set up our tent in the town's park, then, after a barbecue, the mayor would meet us and take us to his place for laundry and a shower. After we ran the usual errands (post office, groceries, camp set-up) Butch and the Mayor showed up. The Mayor was a 60-something guy who "ran drugs" (ie, delivered pharmacy orders around the town) and also ran the town. He helped us get our laundry started, introduced us to his new dog he adopted, "Shadow" (named because even though he's only had her for 10 days, the black lab/chow mix) followed him everywhere) and told us to help ourselves to beer in the fridge, ice cream in the freezer and whatever else ("Nothing here's really worth stealing," he said.). He returned to his barbecue and we watched the laundry and Shadow. 90 minutes later, the mayor came back with another hiker and we all chatted until "Hiker's Midnight" (9 pm). The Mayor took our pictures and asked us to send us pictures when we reach whatever destination we were shooting for. He didn't introduce the topic, but learned he had taken care of his wife while she had MS, and had adopted an under-nourished dog from the pound, previous to Shadow. He also allowed neighborhood kids to use his backyard as a community garden and helped the town start "Memorial Park" to help remember "past, present, and future residents of Unionville". Anyway, we will always remember him.