Vermont - from South to North in a day

It's 7 a.m. Saturday. I and a few other early-risers bought a large cup of dark roast from Jugtown and are sitting in town square overlooking the gazebo, the man-made lake and the Waterville Valley ski mountain. It's an idyllic peaceful spot, at least for now. My guess is that by 9 am Jugtown will have a line out the door with tourists seeking their morning brew, pastries and NY Times. (Like any resort within five hours of Manhattan, there's too many New Yorkers for my taste. If only they would discard those damn Yankee hats, we could probably coexist.)

Yesterday was a blast. The morning rain in Brattleboro burned off quickly. We launched by 7:30 and rode in a drizzle for a little while. Rather than grab breakfast in Brattleboro, we rode for an hour and stopped in at Jamaica Coffee for a pre-made breakfast sandwich. With mine I had a large fresh cup of Jamaican coffee. Eric had his first of many Cokes and a homemade frosted cookie. A feast fit for kings.

I forgot to mention that I bought a new summer motorcycle jacket the other day. It is well padded but still lightweight and has a thin mesh that made it ideal for yesterday's low 90's temperatures. I probably didn't need something so fancy. I don't think in my entire life I have purchased another piece of $270 clothing. It's worth it though. I feel liberated. That $25 thing that I bought off of Craigslist and have been wearing for three years feels like a straight jacket.

After breakfast we meandered up Rte 100 for five hours winding through 150 miles of sheer beauty! Constantly changing views as we mostly hugged the eastern slopes of the Green Mountains.

Through the day we went through old N.E. villages like Jamaica, Wilmington, Weston, Rochester, Warren and Waterbury enjoying the towering church steeples, rickety old general stores, old covered bridges, and green leafy foliage. I know I say this after most of our rides but this two-lane road has to be one of the most scenic roads in New England, if not the entire country.

We had lunch at Sugerbush. What an incredible respite for Eric to savor his chicken curry wrap and me, my Vermont country salad. Other than a gardener tending to her roses and a US Air pilot vacationing from Arizona with her kids, we had the patio to ourselves. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra was having its dress rehearsal for last night's season-opener at the adjacent tented amphitheater. Being serenaded by a high-quality symphony under blue skies and overlooking Sugerbush mountain is something I would have preferred to do with Margot. Instead I had to endure Eric's stream of insults and political rants. It didn't matter though. I was able to block him out and soak in the moment, both real and imagined.

From Sugerbush we continued North to Waterbury before cutting east on dirt roads over the Green Mountains. It was unfortunate that we brought the intercoms on this trip. No fewer than a dozen times did I have to hear Eric complain about our taking these breath-taking mountain passages rather than Highway 89 or 91.

We pulled into Waterville Valley at 5:30, ten hours and 290 miles (our longest one day trip ever) after leaving Brattleboro. Sore, fatigued and parched, we couldn't wait to jump in the river for some rejuvenation.

Typical of Eric, he had made no mention of the fact that Celia and he had arranged for a dinner party and that the guests were arriving at 7. Instead, during the course of the day, we talked about what we should do after we arrived. We discussed going for a swim, taking a bike ride and possibly going out to dinner in town or in Plymouth. It's not that he had forgotten about the dinner party. He intentionally omitted it from the discussion. I'm not quite sure why he does these things. Maybe its for the shock effect or maybe it's for some other reason. I'm not sure. It does however, keep our times together interesting.

I gave myself a pep talk about maintaining my energy for the evening. It turns out it took little effort. The dinner guests were lovely, a mid 70 yr old couple and their 17 yr old grandson Sam, who was visiting for the summer from Montana. They, Eric, Celia, Maggie and I covered a host of subjects and ended the evening by watching Sam's video-editing projects on YouTube. A very nice night from start to finish.

I crashed in bed around 11, I think. I am certain that I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Today we are off for a day of fishing, swimming and camping on Moon island in Squam Lake. I can't wait.

Vermont in June

I should say that this is Eric starting off our blog for this Vermont trip. I want to Initially note that George's cousin, one of our most faithful readers, is in the hospital . I understand that it is not serious, but we wish you a speedy recovery. I don't know your first name as George just refers to you as "his cousin who loves the blogs" but he speaks highly of you. So get a bike and join us!

George rode out from Boston on his own. Originally, Celia's BMW was going to be a commuting bike but he finds he is too terrified to ride it on city streets, which is what I told him would happen. I can't believe he would ignore advice from me. So he is now back to riding this ridiculous moped with high rise handlebars to work. 

Still, he made it to Brattleboro in four hours while I travelled the same distance in about two. The difference? The interstate highway system which George avoids at all costs, preferring to navigate through death trap intersections and potholed filled urban roads. None of this makes sense and it certainly is not safe, but there is nothing I can say. He has never recovered for the trauma of high winds and trucks on interstate 15 in Nevada some four years ago as veteran readers will no doubt recall.

We had a nice dinner and overate at a restaurant called the Marina, right on a river in town. The usual nonsense ensued as George tried to entice our very shy server into a video clip on our blog. It is, I am afraid to say, alarming, to see the facial expressions of these invitee/servers as they struggle to find a pleasant way to say no to this peculiar elderly fellow who will also be responsible for leaving them a tip. I should be thankful that there was no repeat of the now famous "sans vetements?" ("no clothes?") incident last fall in Quebec. I do not sense that there is quite same tolerance for deviant (although admittedly innocent) behavior in the United States.o

-Eric

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Yesterday began early, at midnight, as it always does.   Except this time it was accompanied  by fire engines at my neighbors house with engines roaring and lights flashing.  I hopped out of bed, threw on my shorts, and ran out the door.  No need, the firemen and my neighbor were standing on the sidewalk chatting.  I didn't want to intrude and clearly their was no emergency so I went back to bed.

Unbelievably they returned at 3:15.  Same level of intrusion.  Still no fire. So much for a good night sleep.  At least the fire fighters were good enough not to use their sirens.

Got up at 5 to pack the bike, eat and get to work by 6:30 so that I could prepare for a couple of meetings.  

After first taking a shower I checked  my voice mail to find a message from one of my cousins.  She told me that another cousin (names intentionally withheld) was back in the hospital with a cardiac issue.  I can't believe he's having to deal with this again. He was at the same hospital seven months ago.  He is our most loyal reader and idea contributor.  I called him from the office.  Rather than come visit him, we agreed that I would  blog on this short weekend trip.  He has his laptop at the hospital.  Hopeful it will provide him some vicarious enjoyment.  If he is still in the hospital on Sunday I will visit him then.

I left work at 1:00 yesterday to go to physical therapy in West Roxbury before heading out to meet Eric in Brattleboro, VT at 6 pm.  Leaving PT at 3, and taking the back roads, I thought I could easily make it by 6.  No such luck.  I'll never trust Google Maps again.   It took me down rte 135 to 27 to 126 to 117 to 62 to 2.   However, after passing Maynard high school a second time, nearly 20 minutes after the first, I was not happy.  I tossed the Google directions and decided to follow my intuition.  From then on things were perfect, other than the accident and resulting traffic jam on rte. 2. (Thankfully Apple has decided to get rid of Google Maps in iOS 6.0 in favor of a solution from Tom Tom). I finally arrived at 7 pm, only to find Eric was lounging  by the pool, gloating about the fact that he beat me by an hour.  Everything's a competition.

after a quick shower, we hopped on his bike prepared to ride tandem to a restaurant.  We consulted with the front desk clerk about the best place to eat.  She recommend the Marina, .5 miles down the road.  We decided to walk.  I asked whether we could leave our helmets behind the counter. She offered a wry smile and responded "Yes, if you promise to take me for a ride later".   Kind of forward, don't you get.  I muttered some unintelligible babble and turned and left.  I hope I wasn't too rude.

Dinner on the outdoor poor overlooking a nice lake was a good way to end the evening, other than the more than occasional mosquito.  I had a bacon cheeseburger with fries, crispy and a Stone IPA.  I can't remember what Eric had but he wolfed it down.  We shared a toll house cookie ice cream chocolate sundae for desert.  Decadent!

Its now 6 a.m.  I've been lying in bed for an hour listening to Eric snore.  Hopefully he will wake up soon.

Despite a forecast of 90 degrees and bright sunshine, of course it is pouring rain outside.  The motorcycle gods having something against us.

Looking forward to a long ride up rte. 100, known by many as the prettiest ride in New England.

Talk to you tonight or tomorrow.

George