After last night's fun, I still started my day (in the Hilton Garden Inn in Manchester) at around 0700. I began teleworking immediately and, because there was no breakfast included in my room rate, worked all the way until noon (late checkout approved). I had a birthday coupon for the Buffalo Wild Wings so decided to head over to the closest restaurant (at the Mall of New Hampshire). I used Manchester surface streets to get there and talked to a client on the phone during the drive. At BWW, I ate some free wings and then ordered the lunch special - definitely more food than I could eat in one sitting but, I hoped, some good leftovers... While eating, I checked the weather for Maine and learned that it was going to be horrible for the next few days. This dashed my plans for a full four days of hiking but gave me a chance to head home and wait for better conditions. At around this time, I heard from Inka (my AT hiking friend from Finland) that she'd completed the AT in 130 days - wow! I was done eating at 1240 and I then made my way back to I-293, continued onto I-93 and got off the highway at NH-3A (Hooksett). I listened to more audiobooks on the way. After getting on I-89, I had a great ride all the way to Lebanon (there was a bit of rain and traffic but it didn't really slow me down). I arrived at home by 1415 and resumed teleworking. Despite giving up on a long weekend of hiking, I didn't unpack the car because I was still hoping to depart on Saturday night or Sunday evening if the weather clears up. In the meantime, I reveled in the nice overnight in Manchester with my good friends!
