My trip thus far.

For those of you who might have otherwise become scared and confused after reading this post without this notice, please keep in mind that I have been typing this up on the laptop and waiting until I had an internet connection to post everything.

Friday, June 11

Star light
Star bright
We’ve driven halfway through New York,
Yet we’ve only seen one Masshole tonight.......

That’s a little poem that Dad and I made up on the way here as we passed the only Massachusetts car we had seen en route to our current locale.

Anyway.........

Greetings from just East Greenbush, NY! It’s 11:43 PM central time, which equates to 12:43 AM Saturday where I am now. I got up at 10 ‘til 6 this morning and got the rest of my shit ready to go. We were out the door at 7. Today was extremely long, seeing as I drove about 8 of the 15-16 hours. The trip was fairly uneventful I guess, but it was quite enjoyable seeing as we were driving the Bimmer. I can’t wait until tomorrow (or I guess it’s today now). We’re less than an hour from Vermont which is already apparent with the hills growing ever taller as we push farther east. The first town we’ll hit is Bennington. It’s a very beautiful town for a number of reasons: colonial architecture, green mountains on every side, and college girls scurry here and there. Guess that’s it for now. ~ Rich

Saturday, June 12

We’re on vacation damnit! That’s our excuse for doing whatever it is we want to do. Should we eat the continental breakfast at the hotel, or eat out? We’ll eat out. We’re on vacation damnit! Should we take the fastest way to Bennington from Albany, or should we take the scenic route? We’ll take the scenic route. We’re on vacation damnit. I guess that kinda gets the point across. I’ll move right on along now.

This morning I got up at around 8-9, I really don’t know or care. We ate breakfast at Denny’s because neither of us really wanted to eat that continental breakfast crap. After we got out of the city area we pulled off the side of the road and put the top down. Dad decided that it would be fun to “wind the piss out the car” by taking some of the county roads through the remainder of New York and into Massachusetts. So we did that, and it was beautiful and fun. The roads went back and forth; up and down; and all around. The roads were also freshly paved with the same stuff they used on Route 8 which made for an incredibly smooth ride. What was even cooler was the fact that we did not get lost. Anyway, we took some roads in New York east and headed over to northwestern Massachusetts. From there we headed north into Bennington, Vermont. We stopped in Bennington and walked around town for a little while. I really do like that town but it was disappointing and sad to see some of the people that called it home. While there, I saw at least 3 people in tie-dye shirts. One of the guys I saw had to be around 35-40 years old and he had 2 kids. He was wearing an orange tie-dye shirt with a peace sign. Sorry man, but the 60's are over. The other things that were disturbing include an old woman in a Volkswagen Passat with a spotted owl environmentalist license plate and a bumper sticker with the words “Howard Dean for America!” Puke.

Moving on, we got to my uncles house in Bridgewater, VT at around 1'ish. FYI, Bridgewater is a short drive away from the tourist trap that is Killington. Therefore, the hills in the area are still quite nice. All I can say is that I really wished I lived here. His house is actually a nicely remodeled barn. It has 3 bedrooms and a brook in the backyard. In fact, right now I’m upstairs with the window open listening to the water trickle between the rocks. About an hour after we got here I wanted to run and my uncle wanted to show my dad this microbrewery in town (in case you didn’t know, they make beer). So, I went running and they took the Bimmer to town. I don’t know how long or how far I ran seeing as I did not have a watch. I really don’t think I care about either for that matter. My run was just so beautiful. The road is surrounded by trees on each side. It’s at an elevation of about 1400 feet at my Uncles’s house and after what was probably just a few minutes of running I had gotten up to around 1600 feet. On one side of the road there is a steep hillside that leads up to the top of the hill. The other side of the road has a sharp drop of about 200 feet to the brook that runs behind my uncle’s house. On the other side of the brook there is another steep hillside. Basically, there is a gorge on one side of the road and a steep forested hillside on the other. I can’t even begin to describe how peaceful it is out here. All I could hear the entire time I ran was water running between the rocks and birds chirping in the trees. That definitely beats Hebron’s cars and lawnmowers. That’s about it for now. I’m not sure if we are staying longer or if we are going to head to East Stratford tomorrow. Then again, we’re on vacation damnit: we’ll do what we want. ~ Rich

Sunday, June 13

Today we headed up to South Strafford, VT where one of my dad's old high school buddies resides. This is probably the third time I've gone here and probably the most enjoyable yet. His house is much like my aunt's in the White Mountains; it takes a dirt road to get up to the house and it's situated on a hillside. Anyway, shortly after we had gotten here we decided to hike up to the top of the hill. Whitcomb Hill is the hill I'm referring to and it has an elevation of 1800ft. The of the hill is bald so we had an awesome view of the White Mountains. That's what I love about New Hampshire and Vermont: you can be on a hillside in one and see all the mountains in the other. God blessed us with sun and temps in the mid-70's.

Tomorrow I'm either going golfing or hiking Mount Cardigan in NH. Either way it should be fun. I'm glad we went on our little hike up the hill today because it kind of served as a precursor to Mount Lafeyette which I will hopefully be climbing in 2 days. That's all for now... later~ Rich