The Green Mountain State

We loaded the few belongings we had brought into the house back into the RV and said farewell to the big comfortable bed in Norma and Clayton’s guest bedroom. A luxurious two nights for us humble RVers. We joined our hosts for a tasty breakfast then thanked them for their gracious hospitality and headed for the Green Mountain State.

Clayton didn’t have faith in the GPS and had us follow him out to the turn off for our highway out of town. He waved us off on our journey at the intersection with the Yankee Smokehouse on the corner. I think he was heading over to his usual stop for his morning paper and a cup of coffee. Thanks again for such a pleasant stay and for looking out for us southwest vagabonds.

We took a variety of backroads leading us through small country towns, some tucked into the green forested mountains, some fronting large lakes with tourist amenities and other quiet local bergs nestled along granite cliff faces and pine forests. We stopped a few times for provisions and to gas up the rig.

Before long, we crossed the border into Vermont, a new state for me. More back roads, more bucolic green hamlets. Beautiful country. In the afternoon, we arrived in Dorset and passed by our campground to swing by Bill Wilson’s to have a quick look at the place. PJ ran in and got some information from the girl in the office. We’ll come tour it tomorrow when we have more time.

Bill Wilson's House, East Dorset VT

We drove over to Emerald Lake State Park and checked in at the kiosk. We hadn't realized that the campground had no electricity so we called the office and arranged to move to a spot with a few less trees where we might get a little more charge on the solar panels. Nice shaded roomy campsites located between the Taconic mountains to the west and the Green mountains to the east. We set up camp and took the dogs out to have a look around.

PJ went backwoods on me and roamed among the trees collecting deadfall wood to build us a little campfire. We cooked up a couple of veggie burgers and ate them while sitting around the crackling fire. We are sitting at the top of a large embankment overlooking the thick forested hillside that falls away in front of our camp. The lake is somewhere down the steep slope hidden from sight by all of the greenery. Tomorrow, we’ll have a hike along some of the many trails that head out from here and have a look at the lake.

Our fire burned hot and fast and soon the sun was gone and the fire was done as well. We moved inside to escape the mosquitoes and read the newspapers Pam had picked up while shopping earlier in the day. Peaceful and cozy in our little cocoon of steel and fiberglass.

The mosquito repelling do-rag