Part 6: Vermont

This is the next installment of my trip with MJ & KT to NYC and Vermont. The last episode can be read here.

We had spent the vast majority of the day traveling by subway, train and car. The drive was beautiful, and we saw lots of little, stereotypical New England towns (which was a first for me, as I'd never been north of Pennsylvania at this point). It was very rural, with large white churches, red barns, little dairy farms, Victorian homes--it's a very delightful part of the country. It all looked like something from a postcard. I can only imagine how charming it must be when everything's covered in snow.

We were exhausted by the time we got to Lake Dunmore, Vermont. It is in (near?) Salisbury, VT. I think it's only about an hour from the Canadian border. We were way up there! But the weather was fantastic -- about 75-80 degrees, mostly sunny.

So we were finally in Vermont. It seemed to take forever, but once we were there, it was heavenly. It reminded me a lot of The Czarina's house: quiet, relaxing, lakeside and in the middle of nowhere. You step out of the car and just.....*sigh*. It is that relaxing. Let me share some pics:








Gorgeous, huh? These are all shots taken from the large, lush yard at the house. I can't remember the last time I was on a lawn that was perfect for walking around barefoot. Unlike here in the South, where our yards are baked to death by the hot sun and full of rocks and twigs, Vermont has nothing but dark, rich, soft earth and all the cool, summer rain makes walking around barefoot perrrrrrrrfect.Here's another shot of the house where we stayed, so you can see the wonderful lawn:

By the time we arrived, it was after dinnertime, and we were exhausted and hungry. MJ, KT, Rocky and I threw our suitcases upstairs in the big dormitory bedroom (there were about 4 beds in one room), and went downstairs to forage for food. The rest of the Rat Pack made us dinner: hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. At first, this seemed delicious, but after eating that for lunch and dinner for three days, I hope I never have to eat a hamburger again as long as I live!

The weekend was spent eating junk food, drinking terrifying amounts of alcohol (not by me, obviously), fishing, napping, swimming, playing wiffle ball, making smores by the campfire, smoking cigarettes, stealing firewood from a neighbor, sunbathing, laughing, going out for breakfast, listening to music and playing drinking games well into the night.

There was even one night where we all went skinny dipping in the FREEZING lake. And wouldn't you know? MJ & KT, those bitches, made me go FIRST!!! :) But it was still fun. Freezing, but fun.

The Rat Pack probably didn't have as much fun as we did, though, because they had to listen to us talk about ponies, sparkles, glitter, ribbons, feeling pretty, bunnies, things that are fluffy & soft, puppies, things that are cute, lip gloss and similar affinities associated with those of the female persuasion. Keep in mind that as we went on and on and on about ponies, we are speaking in voices normally reserved for 4 year old little girls and choir boys, all while laughing our asses off. We talked like this for 3 days straight, and somehow, never tired of it. I could call MJ or KT right now and say, "Ohmygod! Ponies!" and we would pick up right where we left off. The Rat Pack wailed, complained, covered their ears and yelled at us whenever we broke into our "Pony Voices."

This monster of annoyance was created by Rocky, who began teasing us for being so silly in the car on the way up to Vermont. He started using the voice when he began to get annoyed with us for needing to pee and wanting to look at the cows by the side of the road. We took the teasing and ran with it, making it about 1,000% more annoying. That's what he gets for making us pee in the woods.

So really, he brought it upon himself.