Laconia to Bennington July 4th

Another stinker hot day today! 95 at one point. Started our day with a little shopping at the family-favorite Tanger Outlets in Tilton, NH. Then spent the day on bumpy secondary roads through NH and the Green Mountains of VT. We kept thinking that we should be recognizing some of these places from our frequent trips through here years ago. We passed lots of the small lakes that dot the area - really envious of people out on their boats!

Just missed a 4th of July parade in one little town, drove through picturesque Hanover, home of Dartmouth College, found a heretofor unknown National Historic Park in Woodstock. Drove south through Vermont on the famous Rt 100 (famous among leafpeepers in the fall), stopped in Ludlow at the famous Vermont Country Store.  By the way, all these roads are really bad. Where is Trump's infrastructure money?

We arrived in Bennington to the Hampton Inn (did you know Hampton was the pioneer in free breakfasts?) Great dinner at Chili's next door. We were sure they're be fireworks around here somewhere but we opted for hotel pool instead! The Bennington Monument in full view up on the hill.

Tomorrow will take us through Albany and Oneonta on our way to Jake's. Its about a 280 mile day.

Cedar balls

Thursday July 5 Bennington to Jake's

Another scorcher! Thank goodness for in A/C cars! Stopped at DD in Albany then on down to Oneonta on I-88. That road is in bad shape! We had our mouths all set to have lunch at Brook's but there had been a power outage at that end of town so they were closed.  So we went to our #2 which is Friendly's (there are none those west of the Mississippi).

After lunch we drove around town to see if anything was new. The downtown looks quite different because those little trees that were planted when they rebuilt the road years ago are now quite large! We drove up the hill to Hartwick. When we were here a year ago there was serious construction going on so you really couldn't tell what they were doing. Now that it finished, you wonder why they did what they did! They've completely rebuilt the main entrance and reconfigured the road system. hat was the main drive into campus is gone; now you have to go all the way around "the back way"...don't see the sense in it. Several new buildings, we assume dorms/apartments have been built as well.

Then we went down to the "Sixth Ward", our old neighborhood. Our old house still looks a bit forlorn and overgrown. It would be a  major project to remove all those little trees that I planted 40 years ago that are now giants of the forest. They still haven't cut down that pine tree by the driveway that appears dead. Bob Zeh, long time next door neighbor, was out mowing his lawn so we had a nice chat. He and Dottie and Brad and Chrissy are all doing well. Many of the old neighbors are still there - Price, Ronovich, Angell. Oneonta doesn't look much different, just the trees are bigger. And we didn't see a single new sub-division!

From Oneonta we headed on down I-88 through Binghamton and across through Elmira and Corning. We arrived at Jake's about 6:00, a few minutes before he arrived home from work with Brennan in tow. For dinner the four of us went over to the Mountain View Inn in Atlanta and had a great meal. Rowan came home around 8:00 after a baseball tournament and Kelly a little after 10:00. She has a weird schedule that gets home late some days.

Jake's property looks great. They do a great job keeping it looking nice and do some creative things - like the Tiki Bar!

Tomorrow we head over to Castile to  meet Bob and Mardi for lunch. Supposed to be less hot.

Visit Bob and Mardi at Letchworth SP

The weather is MUCH better today! Temps in low 70s and much drier. By the time we got up, everyone else had left for the day. What convoluted schedules they have! After Linda walked the dog, we drove the hour over to Bob and Mardi's. Bob family has owned 40 acres adjacent to Letchworth State Park for generations. After a wonderful lunch at Glen Iris house we went off exploring the park, checking out the beautiful waterfalls. Bob knows all the history around here since he's lived here all his life. (Mardi and Linda were roommates in college). This is the third year that we have met them for lunch at the park - always a fun get together!

On the way home we stopped at Maddie's in Dansville where Jake is the service manager. Checked out some very cool Indian motorcycle. Returned to Jake's about 6:00 and just hung out!! The property here is just beautiful!

P.S. Casey the dog is lab and wieneramer (sp?). She is very cool!! Obedient and affectionate.