We arrived at Middlebury, VT, around 11 PM. Late to find accommodations, but we were not prepared to find that the inns were full. Middlebury College was having an athletic camp. As a result, all the rooms were taken.
As we were leaving Middlebury on Route 7, I spotted a small motel with a vacancy sign. We got the last room. It was small, but better than driving thirty miles to the next town.
The next morning, I dropped Dennis of at the trailhead to complete hiking the Long Trail. As he walked into the woods, I did not envy him, as I thought I might. It was cold and pouring, similar to the inclement weather we experienced on the first half of the trail. It seems that hiking in the Vermont rain is his fate.
It took me about three hours to drive to Hampstead, NH, where I stopped to visit the old house. Seeing it flooded me with thirty years of memories and lots of emotions. I didn’t want to stop at the beginning of the drive. I wanted to pull into the yard as I had done countless times before. Wisely, I took a look-see and backed out, heading to Matt and Aine’s house in Newton, MA.
The drive from Vermont, the farthest I have driven in a long while, felt like an accomplishment. With good directions and a tankful of gas, I arrived safely. Dennis does not like being a passenger. As a result, he chauffeurs me. Since I don’t enjoy driving, this arrangement works well for both of us, and I get caught up on my reading.