25 Aug
Today we drove to north and a bit east of the campgrounds here in Vermont to meet up and have an extended "lunch" with another Air Force buddy, Vermont State Command Chief Master Sergeant (ret) Bill LaPointe and his wife Christine. Bill has been a good friend and mentor for many years. While I was stationed in Iraq he was on orders making official visits to all the bases over there, and he stopped to see us at Kirkuk. After I returned to the US and assumed the Wing Command Chief position in Des Moines, we stayed in touch and collaborated regularly. As I advanced to State Command Chief, and Bill was the Vermont State Command Chief, we both served at the national level on the Air national Guard Enlisted Field Advisory Council. We have stayed in touch ever since including our plans to travel through Vermont on this trip.
The drive north up I-91 was really scenic, even though it was cloudy today.
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| Pine trees as far as you can see. |
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| The interstate is lines with granite with quartz veins in many areas. |
. Bill and Christine were camping in northern Vermont so he traveled south and we went north to meet at a restaurant. We had a great time doing a whole lot more talking and laughing that eating!
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| Bill could not let us leave Vermont without some maple syrup! |
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| The gang! |
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| Bill and Christine LaPointe |
On the way back to the campgrounds we drove a secondary road and traveled through the Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge, originally constructed in 1866. Per the plaque this is the longest wooden bridge in the United States and it is the longest two-span covered bridge in the world! It is huge! It was originally a toll bridge, but bought by New Hampshire and made toll-free in 1943.
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| 460 foot long covered bridge |
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| "Walk your horses or pay a two dollar fine." |
Back at the campgrounds we packed for a departure tomorrow morning. We tear down, clean and pack everything outside (chairs, mats, grille, satellite dish) and empty the black and gray tanks, Doreen packs most everything inside in preparation for departure. Tomorrow morning we will retract the five slides, lower the TV antenna; disconnect the electric, sewer and water lines, hook up the truck, raise the levelers and boogy on down the road to our next destination - Gilbert Lake campground near Laurens NY.
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