September 30, 2012
Vermont 50 Mountain Bike and Run
It’s about 48 degrees and raining this weekend but we are at
full occupancy Saturday night for the Sunday Vermont 50 Mountain Bike and
Run. This is half of the Vermont 100
Endurance Race and yet another opportunity to see if you can survive another
year.
The Vermont 50 Ultra Ride or Run is one of the premiere
mountain bike and running races in the US with 650 riders and 500 runners
challenging themselves on the mountain.
The proceeds benefit the Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports organization
which is a non-profit providing sports and recreational opportunities to
individuals with disabilities. The
organization offers year-round daily sports programming to people with
disabilities.
The race course is top secret due to the numbers of people
participating and the fact that much of the race course is over private
land. It begins at the Ascutney Mountain
Resort in Brownsville (we look down on that resort from West Peak and
Brownsville Rock). It has about 8,900’
of vertical in 50 miles and the first time you are on the course will be when
you are participating. The course is
divulged with the race packet you receive just before the race.
Mark is participating in this race so we have a special
interest in its outcome. He called
around mid-morning to say he was 20 miles into the race so we’re looking
forward to a good finish!
FAREWELL
This is our last weekend working here. Hard to believe the summer has gone by so
fast. Guess it’s true, time flies when
you’re having a good time. This summer
would not have been as special as it was if it wasn’t for Mark and Lucy, the
two best rangers! They are perfect for this park. Young, energetic, live and love the
mountains, outdoors, biking, hiking … you name it. They are great ambassadors for the Vermont
State Parks and Mt Ascutney . They
really made our summer.
In addition, you can’t top working with Ed, Al and Kelly. We
are going to miss these friendships when we leave.
We’ll be spending the next couple of days getting things
cleaned up; laundry, site, hopefully getting rid of the mice and going to our favorite haunts to eat one more time
and just an all-around good-bye to this side of Vermont.
From here we are heading over to Bennington where we’ll
catch up with my cousin Sharyn. I have a
few places to visit on that side of the state before leaving Vermont entirely.
We’ll be heading up Route 7 to Arlington and Shaftsbury
where my mother lived after graduating from Castleton and taught in a one-room
school house. My mother taught grades
K-12 and skied to school. Them were the
days! I don’t know if we’ll be able to find that little building, it was a
museum many years ago.
Norman Rockwell drew subjects from this area and my mother
recognized many of his characters. The
model for Santa Claus was my “Great Great Uncle Nips” …. I haven’t really
figured out where he fit into the family genealogy. The doctor who is giving the little boy a
shot in the butt was my mother’s family doctor.
So, we’ll see what’s up there.
Going south, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least take a
run through the Berkshires where I lived for many years and my kids were
born. One of my favorite places is
Stockbridge, MA and that has a large Norman Rockwell museum as well as the Red
Lion Inn which was a favorite place to eat.
My front windows of my home were adorned with “Country Curtains” from
the Red Lion Inn, for any old New Englanders who know what I’m talking about!
Saturday we’ll head down through Rhinebeck NY to check out
West Point and Hyde Park and then on to Gettysburg where we’ll meet up with the
Aldens as they sweep through Michigan and head across Pennsylvania for their RV
trip this fall. Looking forward to
seeing them again.
Leaving Gettysburg we’ll be in the last leg of the trip home
heading into the land of blue grass and moonshine!
As we reluctantly leave New England, we are looking forward
to rejoining our family and friends in the south. It has been one helleva summer and we are
blessed.
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