Visit with Marcia

When I heard back from Marcia that she'd have time to get together on Thursday, I was in Tennessee. I had already made arrangements to see the Lawrences in Parkersburg on Tuesday night, so that much of my plan was known. The question, then, was how far to go on Wednesday night so that I could get to Brattleboro, VT, or Keene, NH, at a reasonable time on Thursday (today). I decided to spend Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights in Syracuse, NY, because it's a city I'd like to know more about, because it was a reasonable drive from Parkersburg, and because I could do a drive out and back to see Marcia -- which is exactly what I did.

The alarm went off at 5:00 this morning. I promptly reset it for 5:30. The hotel, which has a number of "issues," wouldn't be serving breakfast until 7:00, and I needed to be on the road by 6:00, so I popped into the dining room to see if there was some fresh fruit to take with me. The employee who was just starting to think about setting up for breakfast, growled at me. I said that I knew that breakfast didn't start till 7:00, but I wondered whether there might be some fresh fruit. He growled again, this time with some words that sounded like, "I don't think you'll have any luck," even though he was standing right next to the fruit bowl with the bananas (quite ripe, granted) and apples (probably GMd). I took two bananas and one apple and headed out the door, after filling water bottles at the water cooler. I made a stop at a Service Plaza for a coffee for me at Starbucks and a piece of ham (86 cents) from Burger King for Remy whose food ran out yesterday, and a later stop for the bathroom after we got off the toll road. Total travel time from the hotel to the Chesterfield, NH, stop was about 4 hours and 15 minutes.

A rolling fog bank coming up from a valley. I thought surely there must be a river at the base of it, but when I passed through it appeared to be only a moist, deep valley.

Marcia and I had a little trouble (separately) finding the hiking site -- Madame Sherri Trailhead -- but after asking a couple of people for directions we arrived at a small, and very full, parking lot.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwje-OGFgIbOAhWFGT4KHccZCoIQFgg9MAk&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forestsociety.org%2Fproperty%2Fmadame-sherri-forest&usg=AFQjCNF_rvB3Vpj1pFdmfppzkd-cSzMAxQ&sig2=073WAY9qoXf6MCLdToj_Mw&bvm=bv.127521224,d.cWw

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwje-OGFgIbOAhWFGT4KHccZCoIQFghEMAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nephotographyguild.com%2F2014%2F03%2Fmystery-madame-sherris-castle-2%2F&usg=AFQjCNFiwkMzZFROdNFgXuyD4Y3_UJ22RQ&sig2=LgwYNKjAFoOWIc_I6aOS9w&bvm=bv.127521224,d.cWw

We took the first tangent to the right and observed the ruins of the castle in a cursory fashion, determining to return at the end of our hike and have lunch there, after the large group of children had passed by.

And on we went to climb and descend a rough trail -- easy enough to follow, but not groomed. Remy was a real trooper, jumping up rocks and roots and keeping up with us all the way. Marcia figures we hiked about 2 miles. It took quite a while, though, and we got pretty hot and sweaty. We saw some beautiful overlooks, even though we didn't go to the top of the mountain.

We returned to the parking lot for the delicious, homemade lunch that Marcia had brought so we wouldn't have to go out and took it up to the castle where we ate in comfort in the shade. After lunch, a photographer took pics of us in the arches with our phones. 

I took this one myself:

Marcia had looked into places to swim, but we opted for a trip into Brattleboro, instead. It's funny how much it reminded me of Stillwater, MN. We wandered in and out of some stores and checked out the very nice co-op. Our last stop on Main Street was a storefront with the sign: Strolling of the Heifers. We were intrigued. We went in. It's a good-sized space that includes a kitchen where homeless people are taught to cook, WiFi access for anyone, and some great T-shirts commemorating the Strolling of the Heifers which now takes place every June, and other Heifer-themed events. I got a T-shirt about a Heifer bike ride, which takes place the same weekend.

 http://www.strollingoftheheifers.com/our-parade-and-weekend/

It was a little earlier than I had originally planned to head back, but since I had been a little sleepy on the way over, I thought it best to start the drive before I was already tired. We said good-bye to Marcia, with an agreement to keep in touch. If I do happen to decide to spend the fall and/or winter in the area, Marcia's nephew, Dylan (If you've been keeping up with the blog, you will recall Alice and me meeting up with him in LA), will be performing with Vaud and the Villains in Troy, NY, in September. We will drive from our mutual directions and meet up to see that -- if I am here.

The views throughout the drive both ways were pretty spectacular. This is the beginning of the sunset on the return trip.

Remy stayed put in my lap, snoozing, and hardly getting up at all. I like these changes in dog car behavior.