Vermont and Western MA/NY (and Rhode Island!)

IMG_1441After a quick visit to Wolfeboro for Matt’s naming ceremony, we spent two weeks in Pownal, Vermont (6 miles south of Bennington) afforded plenty of time for challenging bike rides along the hilly country roads and fun kayaking on the Battenkill River.  Jay and Virginia came up for the weekend and we had a great time doing a high ropes course, longboarding and kayaking.

We stayed at a pretty little campground called Pine Hollow. Except for Labor Day weekend, there were only 7 or 8 neighbors around.  Our next door neighbor was an older gentleman Ron “5-cents” (his CB call sign) Nichols who spends all summer there. A Korean War veteran and retired long haul trucker, we enjoyed sitting around with him every evening while he regaled us with funny stories.

The campground was actually in a ‘hollow’, which meant that the ridge behind us blocked the sun until around 3 p.m. We’d wake up in the morning thinking it must still be early, only to find the other side of the campground in full sun!

Some of our best times in the area were spent kayaking the Battenkill. Despite the river being pretty low, we went on 3 different three to four hour trips. The current was perfect and there were rapids everywhere! So much fun.

Along with some local bike rides, we found a rail-trail in Adams, MA.   10 miles of well paved, gently sloping, mostly straight path!   Jay and Virginia brought their long-boards and we got a great 2 mile downhill ride.

The ropes course at Jiminy Peak was challenging and fun, especially the zip lines. No one fell off and we all got a good workout.

A good time was had by all!

Next we moved to a campground in Austerlitz, NY, just an hour or so away.  It was an easy trip so we got another kayak in on Labor day on Queechy Lake.   Woodland Hills Campground is an interesting one…  The vast majority of the sites have seasonal units – and apparently you are required to have a golf cart as well!   But the funniest thing was the loud-speaker announcements – “The camp store is closing in 15 minutes”; “Please do not speed through the campground”; “The garbage truck will now be making the rounds”; and our favorite “It is now dark out, riding bicycles is no longer permitted, please walk your bikes”…  Just too funny.

We explored western MA for a few days before taking a quick trip back to Rhode Island (sans trailer).   Vicky is attending the Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport and we were able to visit with her Sunday morning.  She is 1/3 of the way through the program and doing great!  After our visit, we spent a few hours sailing with my brother Richard.  Better winds this time!

Now we’re off to Rochester, NY to stay in Jeff’s sister Anne’s back yard for a couple of weeks…

 

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