After the 100 balloon morning
and a lazy Sunday afternoon, I was rejuvenated and ready for the drive back to Massachusetts. In fact I was so rejuvenated that I decided to take the loooong way home. Instead of going south to Albany and east on the Masspike (home in 3 hours) I decided I wanted to take ride back in time and return home through Vermont. I used to drive back and forth that way all of the time when I first moved to Massachusetts. Of course back then I lived north of Boston so it made sense. Now living south of Boston this is several hours out-of-the-way. Glad it’s a beautiful day.
Sandy did not want me going north on 87 and cutting over on RT 149. She said that road has too many accidents so I put Woodstock Vt. in my GPS and took off from her house. That put me on Rt 4 right away but it wasn’t long before Rt 4 merged with RT 149 so I was on the road she wanted me to avoid anyway.
As I drove through the little villages I reminded myself that I had to come back for a photo trip. Sometimes it seemed that time really had stood still. Silos and barns dotted the landscape while black and white cows grazed peacefully in the rolling pastures. I resisted the urge to stop at every bucolic scene that was unfolding around me and kept on to my goal.
Right over the state line in Vermont I spotted a large farm stand filled with apples.
I picked up a few Cortland apples to munch on. This stand was interesting because each kind of apple had a sign with its lineage. I never knew that my favorite apple for eating was a cross (hybrid) with the MacIntosh. I like MacIntosh for cooking but they are too tart for my taste for eating. Cortland apples are sweet with a firm but not hard flesh. Red Delicious apples are too hard. I’ve broken teeth on them so I stick with the Cortland. And these were excellent. Makes the ones you get in the grocery stores pale by comparison. If it weren’t so far away I’d be driving back for more right now!
Soon I was passing through Rutland then Woodstock and finally there was the goal up ahead…Queechee Gorge.
This was always a must stop back when I was driving this route. I love the gorge no matter what time of year. Tour busses stop here and let the passengers cross the bridge where they stop and take pictures looking down into the gorge.
I bet there are thousands of identical pictures on hundred of cameras..including mine.
Another popular photo-op but not as common as the shot from the bridge is the shot of the bridge from the gorge.
As you walk the trail down to the bottom of the gorge there are signs that warn of rapidly rising waters because of the Dam upriver.
I took my chances along with a handful of other adventurous souls and picked my way over the rocks out to the center of the gorge to capture the bridge upstream.
Satisfied with my excursion I returned to the top of the gorge where there is a gift shop, public restrooms and a snack bar. I sat at a picnic table to enjoy my lunch then it was back on the road again.
No more stops today.
From this point on it’s all highway and I was getting homesick for Smokey and the Editor-in Chief (Rocky) . I knew they’d be waiting for me and I still had more than 3 hours left to drive from here. Time to get serious about heading home.
