Last Two Days in Vermont

We're headed out this morning after what now feels like a long, fun roadtrip. 

On the bike path with Mount Mansfield behind us

We headed out for a little bike tour Thursday along the Stowe Recreation Path. The Path is a paved rail-trail that runs a little more than five miles north from the center of town. It starts in a kind of urban area, surrounded by various breweries and eateries but eventually works its way into an extended, relatively empty tree-lined space. We rode over a half-dozen tiny wooden bridges, past cornfields, and beneath extended views of Mount Mansfield.

View from the bike path

Sally beneath the covered bridge

We rode out, took some pictures at the little wooden bridge that marked the turnaround point, stopped for a cookie break, and then stopped again -- longer this time -- at Idletyme Brewery. 

Terrific brewery. Highly recommended. 

Idletyme Brewery as seen from the bike path.

American Flatbread had swings!

The patio at American Flatbread

But that stop kicked off kind of an impromptu pub crawl. After downing monstrous steins of beer, we road maybe a quarter-mile to American Flatbread, where we got pizza and yet more beer for lunch. From there, though, we were only maybe two miles outside of Stowe itself. Our third stop therefore turned out to be the Ellison Estate Vineyard's shop right there in downtown.

American Flatbread was great. We sat outside, scarfed pizza, and generally enjoyed ourselves. By comparison, the Ellison Estate place was also cute, and we also sat outside, but the wine itself... neither of us loved it. We both had to give them credit for using Vermont-grown grapes, but about the best I can say for their actual product is that it's interesting.

All told, our little bike tour-turned-pub crawl took four hours or so. We wound up wandering Stowe for quite a long while. We even walked through their little local artisan's market later that afternoon. Afterwards, we came back, had dinner in the lodge, and caught up on Silo on the movie screen I brought for exactly this purpose.

Outside an antique shop in Stowe

Having done a lot of lower body activities over the past few days, we decided to go kayaking yesterday. We drove out to Waterbury Reservoir and rented kayaks through Umiak. We paddled around for about two hours, made it about halfway up the reservoir, stopped several times to swim, and then swam briefly back at the beach before changing clothes for lunch. From there, we drove into the town of Waterbury itself, but since Prohibition Pig didn't open until four, we wound up back at the Vonn Trapp Brewery. 

Which was fine. 

We wound up splitting some bratwurst and chicken schnitzel along with yet more beer. Lunch was fun but also quite filling. Went back to the lodge, caught a little nap, and eventually went back out to the Mad Moose, a local bar/restraunt here in Waitsfield. That was also fun -- I couldn't believe we'd never been there before -- but with the big lunch, more than half of dinner wound up in a box for today's drive back to Stratford.

Waterbury Reservoir

At the Vonn Trapp Brewery

I posted this pic on social media, but nobody wanted to talk about this amazing outfit.

As I write this, Sally is now packing frantically for the drive back. We both just kind of crashed yesterday, and more than anything, I get the sense that she's ready to sleep in her own bed. I feel the same way. This trip has been mentally and emotionally relaxing, but physically, we've done a lot. I'd originally planned this as a pre-programmed Rest Week in my training cycle, but now I think I might rest again next week and try to ease back into actual training, both in the water and in the weight roon.

Sally and I are both cognizant that Real Life is back in Connecticut waiting for us. We both have work Monday, and I have a big As For Football show planned for Monday night.

Vacation is fun, but for better or worse, it's only ever a break, and life always kind of looms back wherfee you left it. Maybe someday we'll make it more permanent here, but it's a little hard to see how that happens. But maybe. I suppose we'll see.