Today, I spent a lot of time (two visits) at the White River Junction Post Office. Initially, I had to go back to their passport office at 0900 to try to complete my business from the previous day. The clerks working behind the counter didn't have much experience in working on the documents and I left with a bit of uncertainty. Since it was another nice day, I decided to pay a visit a Nordic Trail complex ("Parcel 5") in Norwich that I first heard about a few months ago (from a local cop). It was located a few miles west of the town center and it took some Google Maps to locate. When I arrived, I sort of regretted that I'd never made it while there was still snow on the ground. From what I heard and saw today, it appears that the trails (distance = 5K) are well maintained for year-round use. It was a beautiful day to be outside but, fortunately, I encountered only a few other people. The route featured lots of climbs and descents - it was certainly not boring - and I wondered if my X-C skiing skills have evolved enough to complete even one circuit. Felt good after I was done - still thinking about whether I should challenge Parcel 5 next winter... When I got to my condo (1215), I noticed that I'd received a call from an 802 area code number. When I returned the call, I learned that an error had been made on my passport application. So I had to head back to the passport office again (1245) and it took another 30 minutes to resolve everything. On the way home, I wondered if my passport would get through the process - there are apparently 18 week delays and any chance I had to get this done reasonably quickly may have been stymied by the Post Office (I hope not)...
