7-11 Was That Vermont?

This day is for Miranda Cleveland, Spencer’s Sister.
The spot along Hoosick Creek was 5mi. from the N.Y.-Vermont state line on hwy 7 N.E. of Albany. I thought that this road would be quiet and not too much traffic but it turned out to be the busiest little road that we have been on. There were trucks that worked all nite long and the traffic was like Santa Rosa at 3P.M. The shoulders along 7 were very tight and as I pulled up some of the grades, I really sucked it up but the traffic was friendly and pulled over or slowed down. At the Vermont line the shoulder got very wide and smooth and I was able to relax and kick it along. The ups were long and steep and the downs were long and fast. A few times I was able to keep up with the traffic and the looks on their faces made for a good smile and a wave and some finger pointing. At the Vermont line I left hwy 7 and picked up hwy 9 near Bennington, Vt. The trip across the Green Mt. Forest was all up and down and the last long pull was 5 mi from Marlboro up to Hogback Mt. that topped out at 2,400ft. It was a good, long downer from there to Brattleboro on the New Hampshire state line. Across Vermont in no time at all. Wow! This road is the same one we came home on last fall as we left Maine and started west so some of the places were like seeing old friends as we stopped and visited them again. I lifted thru Brattleboro and past Keene as the big roads do not allow bikes on them and at one point we found a very large pull out and decided that it would be a good place to camp out. As we got settled down we noticed that a patrolman was sitting on the road along the pullout and was ticketing the speeders as they zipped down the hill. He tagged at least half a dozen of them as we walked around and then he came over to us and politely informed us that this was a private area and no overniting, Sooooooooo!!! We beat feet on to the city of Hillsboro and found the Oxbow Campground located thru a maze of streets and there was one pull thru left so we settled in for the nite. There is a hot air balloon festival going on this weekend and so the place was very busy. A band was playing somewhere as we settled down and then, of all things, the rain started and then the fire works show started and Lady turned into a vibrating machine as she got all worked up at the noise. As we drifted off to the music of Mr. Cash, thunder crashed and the lightning flashed and Lady was up on the bed with us in one leap. I guess it rained most of the nite but again I missed most of the action, oh well!!!!!!!!!!!
Miranda is a quiet, layed back gal and has everything under control. She is Spencer’s older sister and very organized and neat. She can hike forever and loves the outdoors and the hunting and fishing trips. She has picked up on beading and is into the Native crafts and is ready to start dancing. It is always great fun to be with her and the rest of the family as they really enjoy life. She also loves to kayak and can handle that machine like a pro. A very cool gal. See you next trip.