North to South

Vermont – Saturday, Sept. 22

As soon as I had packed things up and put everything away, Tula and I went on a mile walk around the campground since we had walked on the trails last night. Then I left Island Pond and was off to Newport and Lake Memphremagog, which Vermont shares with the province of Quebec. This area of Vermont is known as the Northeast Kingdom. I had wanted to head in this direction on my 2nd day in Vermont, but I didn’t have much info on lodging and the weather was bad so I didn’t want to camp. That’s when I sort of backtracked (although that ended up well enough!) So I was happy to be able to get there after all. On the way, we stopped in the town of Derby and walked another mile along Main Street. I have already walked on so many Main Streets that I have lost count. Maybe I’ll try to keep better track of that!

Newport was only about 5 miles further along and it was a charming lakeside town, with pedestrian boardwalks, bike paths, lots of places to stop and enjoy the lake view, and since it was a Saturday, there were lots of big sailboats out. White sails, blue water and sunny skies – a beautiful day! Tula and I walked a couple miles all around town and down by the waterfront. Lake Memphremagog was named by the Algonkians, and it means “where there is a big expanse of water”. Folklore also suggests there is a monster in the deep, named Memphre, and Memphre has been spotted on occasion from the 18th century up until 2000. I imagine he’s just biding his time to make another appearance! I was going to head back to the town park and the Farmers Market, but I was a little too late for that. I stopped by the visitors center to see if there were any other good trails around, and the guy told me how to get to another rail trail that ran alongside the lake. And I’m so glad I asked! We did 4 miles of easy walking along the lake (that’s the thing about rail trails – they’re mostly flat!)and a lot of people were out walking dogs, jogging and riding bikes. Tula made several new doggie friends.

We were both ready to sit for a while once we returned to the car since we had just walked 7 miles with only about a 10 minute break between towns. And that’s what I wanted because I was going to spend the afternoon driving down the center of the state through the Green Mountains.

I did not make a donation today – since Thursday was a double donation day, I let it go since I was ahead by one. I researched a little in Newport, but their aid programs are tied to the same organization that my hunger walk contribution from yesterday will go to, and although there’s no reason to not make a donation to the same organization twice, I decided not to.

It was a beautiful drive along the mountain range – passing through lots of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them-towns still served by small general stores. My goal for the day was Woodstock, but when I got to the end of the road I’d been on, I mistakenly turned west instead of east, and didn’t realize it for quite some time! By now it was raining and getting dark, and I got turned around in one town, and I knew I’d have to change plans and stop sooner. But many of the motels were full, or really expensive, or had just rented out their last pet room. So I was going to have to push on a bit. But then I stumbled upon a little gem of a motel with knotty pine rooms that still had a few available, was fairly priced and didn’t charge extra for Tula. All of a sudden I didn’t mind making a wrong turn and I was happy to come in out of the rain!