Weekend in Vermont

July 1, 2015

I arrived at John and Randy's soaking wet . . . and after riding nearly 3,500 miles! When John answered the door, all I could say was, "See what I do to come see you!" He was amused. And we had an amusing and delightful July 4th weekend catching up on old times and making new ones. John and Randy had shared a beach house with me back in the day and had moved to Vermont via New York City a while ago. I had not seen them much since. So here are the highlights:

Thursday, July 2, 2015

After a well-deserved and leisurely awakening, it was off to The Vermont Bird Place & Sky Watch and a walkabout of Manchester.

Afterward, I did a loop around the downtown core and visited some sites.

Factory Point Cemetery, dedicated in 1791.

Next stop was the Northshire Bookstore, where I picked up some reading material for the trip home (Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir). Afterward, I just wandered around a bit and took in the views, Manchester being situated in a mountain valley with, well, mountain views on both sides...

Mountain views from the streets of Manchester.

Then it was back to the bird store, where I decided to buy two Adirondack chairs that come in all the colors of the rainbow!

Choices, choices, choices. I settled on either forest green or sunshine yellow . . .

When Randy got home from work, we went to the Hill Farm Inn for . . . imagine what? Cocktails, of course!

John and Randy at Hill Farm Inn . . . on the back 40.

And it wouldn't be a party without a selfie . . .

Followed by a wonderful dinner at the home of two good friends of John and Randy's. And when I get their names, they will get credit here!

Friday, July 3, 2015

A lazy day with a trip after lunch to the Argyle Brewing Company in Greenwich, NY. This is a favorite haunt of John's with excellent beer. We filled up four growlers. Later, wine tasting and wine selection for the big 25th anniversary bash for John and Randy on July 25th at the Arlington Inn! And afterward, dinner! Delicious.

A little blurry, but after a few 'tastings,' these things happen!

Proof positive that a wide selection of wines was considered.

25 years together! After dinner, in front of the Arlington Inn.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

I'm sure significant things happened this day, but let's leave it at this.

We also retrieved a bike box for the Cannondale's ride home. So I started the loving process of packing up the bike to be shipped home via UPS from Randy's shop . . . and settled on air tickets from Albany to Washington National for my trip home Monday!

It was a little overcast early in the day but cleared for the cookout.

Another wonderful dinner prepared by John and Randy's next-door neighbors, Joy and Tim . . .

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Shopping day for flowers and dinner fixings for our last meal together (before the return on July 6th!).

But first, the remains of the day prior . . .

Monday, July 6, 2015

And finally, all good things come to an end . . . but in reality, only deferred till the next good time!

The boxed bike on its way to the shop for pickup by UPS!

John drove me to the Albany International Airport, where I caught a direct flight to Washington National. My panniers, snapped together, were my carry-on luggage (having sent the tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, and front panniers home with Happy from Portland).

Next stop? Italy.

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