"Thank God it's over," I said after exiting the late-model Chevrolet, just a couple blocks from downtown Burlington. It was an atypical summer day; the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the hippies were stink…

I arrived in Burlington at 12:23 Monday morning, chugging into the Essex Junction station an amazing three hours and forty minutes late. Rebecca, the awesome best friend, non-biological sister, and real trooper she is, w…