The beautiful state of Vermont

Vermont is an absolutely beautiful state, rolling land of lush greens. Rivers and lakes cover much of the state, providing a bit of everything for the outdoor junky. The locals are kind and always curious about our adventures, giving waves and honks as they cruise by on the windy roads. Throughout our entire visit in Vermont, we saw a single Subway and no other fast food restaurants. We barely ever saw any chains for that matter. Ahhh...Bliss. The land is used to produce organic produce, feed for animals and free range pastures. This state has a beautiful interaction between the land and the people, and the freshness of the food is apparent and definitely delicious. Back to our old ways, we stop at co-ops that can be found in most towns to stock up on veggies, fresh bread and Vermont cheeses. A personal favorite is feta, arugula, red pepper and fresh baguette. Yum!

The temperatures have been extremely warm and the humidity has been intense, making for sweaty and sticky days. I guess the positive is we have probably rid of all toxins that invaded our bodies in Central America. The rolling hills make for hot rides, but luckily the route follows the river and we are able to jump in and cool down.

We stopped in the town of North Royalton for a late lunch when the dark clouds behind us finally caught up. What do we do? We hopped on warmshowers.com in hopes of finding someone wanting to host two stinky cyclists for a night. Luck prevailed and the first call we made was happy to have us for the night. 1000 feet up the mountains in the downpour, we made it to Barbara and Wallace's house for a warm shower and a bbq'ed chicken dinner. They too are big bicycle tourers, riding down in Cuba and up in the Maritimes in the past. As we both told stories that included Mexico, we soon discovered that we were in the small town of San Agustinillo at the same time and were actually told of one another from another Wisconsin couple. Barbara and Wallace actually walked the town trying to find us. Although we did not meet in Mexico, we were destined to cross paths and were fortunate to hang out in their beautiful home state of Vermont. The small world interactions always bring a smile to my face.

 

 

It is amazing how wonderful a bed feels after only being in a tent for a few weeks. Our sleeping pads are pretty spectacular, not your average run of the mill roll-up pad. They actually inflate 2 1/2 inches making for comfortable beds and we have a single sleeping bag that zips into a sheet. This makes one bed and is much better than having individual sleeping bags for 2+ years on the road. It is always difficult to wake with the sun when we are comfortable and cozy on a mattress with a pillow. We did eventually get moving and enjoyed coffee and breakfast with Barbara and Wallace before we descended into New Hampshire.