Quaint

Rod, Chris, Ken and I are so enamored with Vermont that we can't stop saying girly words like "quaint" and "cute".  Although, as is usual with a group of 4 grown men, the profanity seems to be even more prevalent in our conversation.  On our way in to "town" we stopped at Harpoon Brewery for lunch and to reconnect with our shared childhood which we spent at the Kailua Racket Club.

25 years later, back on the court together

Last night we enjoyed a pretty incredible dinner at the Skunk Hollow Tavern in Brownsville.  The basket of assorted bread totally rocked our world so we ordered a second for dessert.  On the way home, in the middle of the road, we stopped and watched a baby fox play with a field mouse for about 2 minutes.

The Skunk Hollow Tavern

Today, while Rod and Ken checked in, Chris and I went on our own little adventure in the woods.  We followed the nordic trails for the first hour.

Chris on the nordic trails

And then we decided to try to head up to the top along the fire road.

Vermont was green before green was cool

The weather is humid with a posted high in the low 80's, and some, but not overwhelming, humidity.  It's pretty much a runner's dream out here.  The trails are perfect, the hills are green, the footing is great, the weather is very comfortable and the people have all of the warmth of the midwest without any of the boredom of living in the flatlands.

Ascutney resort from above

The resort has rocking chairs a fitness center, game room, movie night, and indoor + outdoor pools.  We missed the 10am yoga class but perhaps I will get my fix in on Sunday.

Ascutney resort from the room

The entire experience just seems idyllic to me.  I picked up 3 pints of maple syrup at the general store, so if anyone wants one, lemme know.

This isn't the course, it's a ski trail named last mile

Some of the highlights so far make me laugh.  The stage for the pre race meeting consisted of a pickup truck bed backed into the main tent.  The horse race which starts one hour after the 4am runner start, has attracted a number of very hardy horse people which trips me out a bit.  The course is marked with plastic plates and hand-drawn arrows with permanent marker which are then stapled to a tree.  One plate marks a turn ahead, two plates mark the actual turn and a smaller plate with a "C" indicates that you are on track, keep moving.


I could get used to this place.  It pretty much rules.  But we have work to do tomorrow, or at least Rod and Ken do, while Chris and I wander around in search of coffee and donuts.  For anyone who hasn't been to Vermont or considered the VT100, I am certain it would exceed your expectations in all respects.