Wake with the Sun: Last Days in Vermont, Winding Down

Monday, September 7, 2015

Last Days in Vermont, Winding Down

We are winding down our trip. Tomorrow, the day after Labor Day, we return to Lake Champlain to take the boat out. That is very sad for us, especially as we have been living this other life this week, a life free of the fear of the wind, free of the loathing of the algae-strewn water, and in a somewhat cooler climate, with the ability to swim in fresh clear water every day. Such a change.

So, here you will see more photos of our trip near Lake Willoughby. We took paddle boards one day down most of the 5 miles of the lake and back. A five hour trip including a stop for lunch. The next day we had to leave this lake for another inn, so we took the bikes there. We decided to take some "off the beaten path" dirt roads, rather than the most direct paved road route. What this meant is a few things: lots of hills, lots of beauty, Brownington, and the Dirty 40. Now we had never hear of the Dirty 40 when we were riding route 5A near Lake Willoughby, and suddenly some very fast bikers were passing us. And when went went to turn off 5A onto our first dirt road, not only were those fast bikers headed the same way, but there were traffic directors in the road, helping us make the left turn. What this turned out to be was the Dirty 40, a 70 mile charity ride through the northeast kingdom, on mostly dirt roads. And they were going mostly the same way we were going. But when we got to Brownington, an historic 19th century settlement at the top of a hill, we stopped and they didn't. We checked out part of the Old Stone House Museum, which was built by Alexander Twilight, the first African American to graduate from college in this nation, an educator who had also become a state legislator. There were some interesting buildings to visit in the museum and you can see from some of the photos. There is a horse-drawn sawmill, and a forge.

The next inn we stayed at was the Lake Salem Inn, on Lake Salem, in Derby, VT. The Inn was very nice, but we were not tempted by the lake there. There were some lovely apples though on a tree, and I picked a few of these for applesauce. The next morning we took one dirt road and some paved roads back to Lake Willoughby, and enjoyed a nice swim at the end of the ride.

We decided to go to Newport, on Lake Memphremagog for dinner, and then had a nice drive back.
Today, our last day, was a slow one. We went for some swims, and took care of business. For Claude, that meant doing some work, engaging on the phone about the boat, and some other business. For me, that meant typing up some recent poems, working on the blog, cooking applesauce, making smoothies, and a few other things too. The hours fled from us until it was time to check out Parker's Pies, a pizza place in W. Glover VT. Cows and pizza. What a combo. Great salads there too.

Here are my photos. It may be a little while before I have a chance to get back to the blog when I return. I expect I will have some photos from tomorrow, and then as I mentioned in an earlier post, I hope to make a page of tiny house recipes.