Rochester, VT

We're in Rochester, Vermont. While we wait for Jeremy to ride back to the town where we slept last night to recover his pants, I am writing a little update.

We took the ferry from Ticonderoga to Vermont yesterday morning and rode into the Green Mountains. After a good 30 miles of rolling hills, we reached Middlebury. The summer language schools are just beginning this week and the college town is bustling with students from all over the country. Different languages are heard everywhere and the whole place feels like a mini metropolis lost in the mountains.

Our job for the afternoon was to climb the Bread Loaf Mountain and find a place to camp. Middlebury Gap, the pass we took to get to the other side of the mountain, is 2000 feet high and definitely the tallest hill we had to do so far on the East Coast. However, the climb is quite gradual, with ledges reminding of a staircase rather than a straight ascent. From bottom to top, the climb is 12 miles long. I didn't find it as hard as some of the hills we did in California but I still got called a masochist when I asked Jeremy how much he enjoyed the climb.

Just as we reached the top, it started raining cats and dogs - typical of New England weather. We spent the night dining, reading and debating politics at the restaurant of the Old Hancock Hotel. We could not find an open campground anywhere in the area so we just camped on the lawn behind the hotel, in pouring rain.

And now, once Jeremy gets back (we hope!) with his pants and credit cards, we will continue east through the mountains. There is another tallish hill to climb for this afternoon. Hopefully, this time it will prove enjoyable for all three of us.