We arrived in Vermont just in time to enjoy my brother’s two days off, which meant that we ate very well and went on a great fall hike to the top of Mt. Hunger, which is very near his home. We were also (sort of) lucky that his wife was a bit under the weather, so we were able to spend a day with Nicole as well - although it would have been better if she felt better, but at least she tested negative for covid. We also got to have dinner with my cousin Biz and her husband, as well as friends Brenda and, in the morning for a hike, her husband Steve - with the dogs Ruckus and Molly.
The leaves are definitely changing in Vermont.
The clouds cleared, and we could see Killington and Pico in the distance.
We parked by an old cemetery, which made for an interesting wander. We mocked the anti-vaxxers, since we figured the number of under five year olds in the cemetery would probably be completely flummoxed at current day people rejecting vaccines when they obviously could have saved lots of lives 150 years ago.
Me, Biz, and Nicole in the background. It doesn’t really matter if none of us see each other for years.
We left Matt and Nicole’s and headed for Montpelier, to cross Capitol #10 off our list. The Capitol is lovely, and while the walk was chilly, we warmed ourselves up at The Skinny Pancake with really really really good crepes.
From Montpelier, we drove directly to Augusta, Maine, where we spent a couple of hours walking around the Capitol area. There’s a huge park in front of the Capitol which runs all the way down to the Kennebec River, and even at dusk it was busy with dog walkers, runners, parents of kids involved in organized sports in the area, and lots of people out enjoying a nice evening. It was a pleasant change from the beautiful but deserted Albany.
We ended up parking for the night at the Kennebec River Rail Trail trailhead. We stopped at the police station near the capitol to ask what the rules were for overnight parking, and we were told that any public parking lot - like a trail head - was fair game. We had found this one, which was only a mile or so from the Capitol complex, on iOverlander, and it was everything the iOverlanders claimed - safe, quiet, no hassle, and a very pleasant place to stop in the middle of a city, if you can call Augusta a city.
In the morning, we took a nice walk along the rail trail, which runs between the railroad tracks and the Kennebec River, into the town of Hallowell. Then, we headed for Acadia National Park.