Thank you Mr. Jello.......

6:31 am - Friday - September 28th - Smithfield, Rhode Island (I've been wanting to type that for a very, very, very long time now) - Just 14 miles northwest of Providence - 58º F, 89% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the north by northeast......heavy cloud cover, raining with a forecast high for today of 58º F......wow, at 6:31 am we have already reached the high temperature for today!

We changed our view on Thursday.  We had intended to only drive about 100 miles south on I-89 to the Elks Lodge in Lebanon, NH, but I get ahead of myself.  As opposed to Wednesday, Thursday was an exceptional day for driving.....

.....the views were big, and long, which is rare, in my experience, for the northeast.....

.......TLE caught this picture of some local foliage along our morning route......the color is beginning to appear, and was more obvious than our photos could capture.....

.....we cruised southward on I-89 enjoying the views, and loving being on the move once again after 5 days in Burlington.  We stopped at a Rest Area about 55 miles into our 100 mile day to take a break.  While we were stopped I checked the weather for the next few days and saw that there was a 100% chance of rain Friday all along our route to Rhode Island.  The total distance to the Elks Lodge in Rhode Island was around 281 miles at the beginning of our day, and we still had over 225 miles to go.  That is way further than we traditionally travel in one day in the Newell, and the last 50 would be in heavy traffic areas around Boston.  Nonetheless, we made a decision to make the entire drive to Rhode Island Thursday to avoid driving in the rain.  Heavy traffic is bad enough in a 40,000 lb. vehicle, but heavy traffic AND rain around Boston is something I had no interest in experiencing firsthand.  Had we planned better we would have left Burlington much earlier than 9:30 am to be sure we got through the Boston traffic before 3 pm, but we didn't.  In spite of knowing we would be circumnavigating Boston between 3 and 5 pm smack dab in the middle of 'rush hour' we forged ahead anyway.

But, first things first......we needed to dump our black and gray tanks after 5 days in Burlington, as we would have no sewer connection at the Elks Lodge in Smithfield, RI, nor a dump station.  Finding a place to dump that is easily accessible along I-89 is difficult at best.  I did find a Vermont State park near White River Junction called Quechee Gorge State Park where we could dump, but it was 2.5 miles off the Interstate.  Unfortunately that was our best option.  Secondly, we needed to take on diesel fuel.  We haven't 'paid the rent' since May 12th, and we were down under 1/2 tank, which is not bad, but it I knew as we proceeded further south it would only get more expensive, in Vermont the going price for diesel seems to be $3.19.....in fact this seems to be the going rate in most of New England.  Further south I was seeing prices in the $3.45 range.

We arrived in White River around 11:30 am and proceeded directly to Quechee Gorge State park to dump.  It cost us $15, but the dump was one of the nicer ones we have used over the years.  Everything was in good working order, which is rare......

Quechee Gorge State Park dump station

.....we were in and out in about 30 minutes and on our way back to the Interstate.  We had noticed  a Mobil Oil fuel station as we exited the Interstate with a posted diesel price of $3.19/gallon.....of course.  We decided to take on fuel there.....the station is directly across the street from the southbound entrance to I-89.....perfect.

We ended up taking on 114 gallons of diesel, and it took close to 45 minutes....we had a very, very slow pump!  Nevertheless, we were on our way south once again just before 1 pm with an estimated ETA of 4:00 pm in Smithfield, RI.....at that point we had about 181 miles to go to our destination......

.....we actually made good time on I-89, and I-93, and with about 45 miles to go on I-93 we were finally coming to the I-95 exchange......I-95 would take us to I-295, and into Rhode Island.  Then the traffic just came to a stop about 2 miles before the transition road.....it took us close to 30 minutes to clear the interchange, and then the traffic on I-95 was stop and go for 3 miles....another 30 minutes before the traffic began to flow again, and then it completely stopped two more times before we covered the remaining 11 miles to I-295.  By the time we merged on to I-295 our ETA had ballooned to 5:45 pm, and that is the time we arrived at the Elks Lodge....about 15 minutes before sundown......that was one long day.....8 hours and 15 minutes to cover 281 miles.

 This is how it was the last time we passed through the Boston area

Rhode Island....at last!

They have two water/electric sites at the Smithfield, RI Elks Lodge and we snagged the last one.  They are both back in sites, and there was not enough length in the site for us to leave the trailer attached to the Newell so we had to drop it on the other side of their rather large parking lot......

......we quickly backed into our site, hooked up to the 30 amp electrical, and then sat down to breath a collective sigh of relief, and to rejoice in the fact we would not being doing that drive in the rain on Friday.  I as sit here Friday morning composing today's missive it is raining, and should continue raining most of the day......we made the right decision to arrive here on Thursday!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Walking in the rain.....

6:49 am - Thursday - September 27th - Burlington, VT - 53º F, 82% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the south......partly cloudy with a forecast high of 65º F.  We roll our wheels in 3 hours!

Thursday sunrise after two days of rain

Wednesday's rain was due to begin around 12 pm.  We had just spent pretty much all of Tuesday inside due to rain, so we decided to take a walk while it was still dry, and throw in a stop at the local ACE Hardware store to buy some more silicone caulk.  I used most of what I had left in the repair of the artificial turf a few weeks ago, and one never knows when one will need it again, right?  Better to be prepared rather than react at the time and then wish you had planned ahead.....

......we began or walk going east along North Avenue to Institute and then south towards the bike path.  The walk down Institute took us by the local high school, and then through North Beach Campground, a county facility.  Pretty soon we were walking down the hill to North Beach itself......

.....as expected, the lake looked more like the ocean on this storm tossed day....

 North Beach

......in spite of the conditions it was not cold.....probably in the 70's at the time of the above pictures.  We continued west along the bike path back to Leddy Park and then turned north back toward North Avenue where the ACE Hardware store is located.....

......the rain came early, but just as we were approaching the entrance of ACE.  I quickly found the silicone caulking I needed, and bought two tubes.  As we exited the store it began to rain with more intensity.  Thankfully 'home' was only two blocks distant, and we were there within minutes removing our damp clothing and getting into something dry.  In all we covered about 3.4 miles.......within 5 minutes of our arrival home the sky opened up and the deluge began.....

.....at one point the rainfall became so intense we could not hear each other speak.  I think this video will give you an inkling of how hard it rained.  This went on for over an hour.....

.....the rain abated for about 60 minutes around 2 pm, so I ventured out to the trailer to repair the Levelor mini blinds I wrote about yesterday.  It took me about an hour to finish the job, and none too soon!  The rain returned with a vengeance for another two hours, but finally the rain broke around 5 pm, and the lake which surrounded the Newell began to recede.  We are very happy we opted to sit tight for Tuesday and Wednesday to let these storms pass through the area.  On top of the rain Wednesday it was also quite windy, so we are doubly grateful we were not driving.

Restringing the mini blinds

We watched recorded episodes of NCIS and NCIS: N.O.   Both season premiers concluded 'cliff hangers' at the end of last season.  All the good guys lived, and all the bad guys were brought to justice.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Island Line Rail Trail........

7:08 am - Tuesday - September 25th - Burlington, VT - 51º F, 63% humidity, wind 11 mph out of the south.....heavy cloud cover with a 90% chance of rain today and Wednesday.  Forecast high is 59º F.

One of the reasons we came to Burlington was to ride the Island Line Rail Trail which runs north and south along the eastern shore of Lake Champlain.  The weather for Monday was forecast to be clear and cool, and seemed the perfect day for a long bicycle ride.  It's been a few weeks since we last rode the Carriage Road trails, or hiked, and we were itching for some good exercise.  We woke up to temps in the high 40's, but by 10:30 am it had reached 58º F, which was warm enough to begin riding.  We both bundled up and headed for the bike path......

......within a very short distance we were both glad for every single item of clothing we had donned in preparation for the ride as it was still quite chilly......

.....the initial portion of this 'rails to trails' path was in the shade and when we finally reached a sunny area we stopped to take a few pictures......

 Lots of shade initially

.......after a few miles we were approaching the beginning of the 'Causeway' portion of the trail where there would be lots of sun......

......the 'Causeway' is a part of the old railway line which crosses Lake Champlain near  Mallet's Bay to a large island........

......this portion of the trail is about 2.75 miles over water..........

.......eventually, after 2.75 miles you come to the 'CUT'.....a break in the 'Causeway' which allows boats to pass through and into the larger portion of Lake Champlain.  On the weekends a ferry is available to take you across the 'CUT' to the island.  At this point we had covered 8.25 miles.....time to turn around......

 The 'CUT'

   
......heading back you can see the arc of the 'CAUSEWAY' as it takes you back to the mainland......

.....there is a section of the trail once you get back on the mainland, which is elevated through a swampy/marshy area for about 1/2 mile.....

....by the time we reached the turn off for the Elks Lodge it was about 12:30 pm and time for lunch.  TLE and I decided we were not done yet, and it was time to find some good brews and food.  We checked Yelp and found a place in downtown Burlington called 'American Flatbread' specializing in, what else, flatbread pizza......4.5 stars on over 870 reviews.....must be good, hmmmm?  It was an additional 2.5 miles to the restaurant, however, a navigational error on my part extended the distance by another 1.5 miles.  Nevertheless, we finally reached the restaurant by 1:30 pm....I spent the entire meal apologizing to TLE for making her ride the extra distance.

First up was to choose our brews courtesy of 'Zero Gravity Brewing Company', which is also housed inside 'American Flatbread'.  I chose their 'Black Cat Porter (5% ABV), and TLE their 'Jaguar Shark', a pale ale coming in at 5.6% ABV...... 

The brews

.....for our entree we ordered their 'Pepperoni/Pepper large pizza adding black olives and mushrooms.......

 The amazing Pepperone/Pepper pizza!

 Zero Gravity Brewing

......by the time we finished lunch TLE had forgiven me for being directionally challenged.  Our ride home was at a little slower pace.....

.....we arrived back at the Elks Lodge by 2:43 pm having covered exactly 24 miles burning a total of 1,234 caloric units in the process.  Our average speed over the 24 miles was 10.2 mph.....not too bad!

After putting the bicycles away we settled in for the afternoon reading and napping.  For our evening entertainment we watched recorded episodes of 'Last Ship' and 'Better Call Saul'.  TLE was in bed before 10 pm, but I stayed up to read.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.

Number 80.....oh yeah!!

7:11 am - Monday - September 24th - Burlington, VT - 44º F, 72% humidity (love that lowered humidity!!), wind 6 mph out of the north by northwest.......partly cloudy with a forecast high today of 63º F.

Our first full day in Burlington we decided to take a walk.  The cool thing about this Elks Lodge is that right in the back of the property is a foot path that takes you down to the bicycle path, and ultimately down to Lake Champlain itself......

The foot path begins at the end of that fence line

 First view of Lake Champlain

 On da' beach

......the footpath is about 1/8th of a mile long.  The actual bike path (Island Line Rail Trail) travels north and south along the eastern (Vermont) shoreline from the point we entered it. The total length is just over 13 miles.  We plan to ride this very nice bike path on Monday.  After making the climb back up to the bike path from the beach we continued north about 1/2 mile before turning back inland to make  stop at the local ACE Hardware Store, and also the local Hannaford's Supermarket.  Why ACE Hardware?  Well, it appears the thermocoupler on our water heater is going bad, so why not buy one now and have it ready for when it completely kicks the bucket?  This current thermocoupler was replaced by moi about 5 1/2 years ago when we were visiting Gettysburg. Fortunately, we were parked overnight in a Walmart parking lot, which was right next door to Home Depot and I was able to walk in, buy one, and replace it in about 15 minutes.  That was lucky.....we do not want to be without hot water, do we?

After picking up the thermocoupler (I actually bought two so I will have a spare after I replace the current one) we headed over to Hannaford's to buy a few things before finishing our walk back to the Elks Lodge.  In all we covered almost 3 miles.  I would have liked to have taken a long bike ride Sunday, but TLE and I both agreed we wanted to be home by 2:00 pm to watch the 4th round of the Tour Championship.  Would Tiger finally complete his comeback and win one more time?

Around noon we got in the VW and headed into Burlington to Burlington Beer Company for lunch.  TLE is the resident micro brewery researcher.  She always finds the best option wherever we may be, and once again she delivered in spades.  This brewery is kind of off the beaten path, and the warehouse ambiance is somewhat lacking, but man oh man, do they deliver big time with beer and food.  It reminds me a lot of a micro brewery in Rancho Cucamonga, CA called 'Last Name Brewing Company'.....very similar ambiance.  

As we perused the draft beer list prior to ordering our food TLE and I both focused immediately upon the first offering called 'Barista' (Finca San Jose), a single source coffee porter and immediately ordered two full pours of that 7.3% ABV brew.  For our entrees I ordered their Bacon/Avocado Panini Melt sandwich, and TLE their Chicken Molé Tacos (2).  Our brews came first, and before I even picked up the glass I could smell the coffee aroma.  The taste and finish on this porter are spectacular.  It is like having a cup of coffee with alcohol in it.....the best of all worlds, right?

Then our food orders arrived.....I often tell people that the food at a micro brewery better meet, or exceed the quality of the beer, and in this case I can honestly tell you I am not sure which I like better....the beer, or the food.  My panini melt was off the charts delicious, and paired beautifully with my Barista draft.  TLE, not to be left out of the discussion, swears the tacos were some of the best she has EVER had....what, what?  This is New England.....how is that possible?  If she says it, I'll have to believe it.....

The Chicken Molé Tacos

 The Bacon/Avocado Panini Melt

.....by now you know TLE and I pretty well, so you can only imagine that we were 'ooooing and awwwwing' quite a bit as we sipped our brews, and consumed our entrees.  

We were back on our way home by 1:30 pm to watch the 4th and final round of the Tour Championship.  Beginning the day Tiger was 12 under par with a 3 stroke lead.  He immediately birdied the first hole and went 4 strokes up.  Then both Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose bogied giving him a 5 stroke lead, which he maintained for much of the day until the last few holes when he bogeyed two holes in a row and was only up 2 strokes going into the 18th hole.  Ultimately he parred the 18th hole to win by two strokes, and to complete his comeback from multiple serious injuries.  By winning he won his 80th tournament making him only the second professional golfer to win 80, or more tournaments.....the only person ahead of him now is Sam Snead who won 83. 

To say I am ecstatic would be an understatement.........

 Tiger pars the 18th and 72nd hole to win by two

 The crowd was the biggest I have ever seen at a golf tournament

Watch this video to see the crowd following Tiger to the 18th green!

......as you know I have been watching every tournament Tiger has entered for the last 6 months hoping he would win.  He came close a few times, but could not seem to close the deal. I had pretty much given up until he finished tied for first in the first round of the current tournament (Tour Championship).....then he finished the second round tied for first....then he finished in sole possession of first after the 3rd round with a 3 stroke lead, and for the 24th consecutive time when leading by 3, or more strokes after 3 rounds he won.....he closed the deal!  Amazing....that is all I have to say as I sit here today enjoying in my mind his 80th tour win......an amazing storybook win!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.