2015

Despite the fact that we both are often up at dawn and both now feel as old as Henry Fonda (see No. 36) neither Michelle or I were as motivated as we planned for our Vermont sunrise paddle. We had an excellent dinner and drink at Doc Ponds (best. cauliflower and cucumber salad. ever.) the night before in Stowe and anyway, it didn't happen. Michelle went out to get coffee and I checked messages thinking the A/C was really dripping loudly. Turns out it was a heavy downpour and the radar didn't suggest it was going to let up.

We started driving south on scenic byway VT 100, although we missed several sites because we couldn't see them in the rain. We stopped to get some apple cider doughnuts because the ones at Edwards Orchard are some of the things I miss about living in Chicago. But they weren't cider-y or sweet and honestly kind of terrible. (But there we finally found a recycling bin and emptied the car of three days worth of recycling we refused to throw away, so there was that…and we found the perfect Vermont sticker for the board, even though I wasn't sure we were going to get to paddle...)

We kept driving and turned at Ben & Jerry's. When in Vermont, you know? We took the Ben & Jerry's and after we walked out all butterfatted and happy the rain had let up. So we took the obligatory photo and headed to Waterbury Reservoir and waited (somewhat) patiently for the gate to open. We entered the state park, got a little history on how it was built as a CCC project and then we had what was probably among the nicest 8 miles of our lives. Water like glass. No one else around. Secret waterfalls behind bends. We kept paddling and decided to take the interstate to the airport rather than the scenic route so we could keep paddling.

Stopped for a delicious Vermont cheese sandwich in a Montpelier co-op that was exactly what you think it was, drove by their gold-domed capitol and headed home.

Three perfect days. Maybe not for everyone, but for us.