Catching up, Volume Two: Thursday

I get up a little earlier than Gram to chat with Sheri for a bit before she has to head to work, and we prepare to head south toward upstate New York. Seems unfair to leave on Oliver's birthday, too.

It's sunny, which doesn't match my rainy mood at having to leave, but will sure make driving less of a pain in the you-know-what. It takes a blue moon to get the car all packed up again, considering that we've added wine and more spoils from Vermont to the mix. Eventually, we're in and headed to The Mix. Again.

Did I mention that while we were out yesterday, Gram looked at me and asked if the restaurant was on our way out of town? I just about jump up and down like a five year old when I realize she's thinking the same thing I was -- let's have an instant replay. This time, I order the breakfast flat bread and she gets the lox and bagel. We also order some ham, a pancake, and a muffin. And some French toast to go.

This is getting out of hand, but is such a delicious way!

We follow the GPS directions back past Jess and Sheri's (yeah, not on the way), arriving in Burlington in no time. At the ferry. Which the GPS wants us to get on. Which is closed. Seething a little, I turn around and make my way toward the second mapping option on my cursed iPhone.

FYI -- Google Maps sucks, too.

The diversion turns out to be divine intervention. My tires just about screech when we are rerouting along Route 7 and I spot Fiddlehead Brewing Company, that beer the waiter at NECI on Main turned me on to yesterday. I just about skip inside. This beer is only sold in Vermont, and I very seriously consider leaving all our luggage on the side of the road and filling the trunk with growlers. I don't. Instead, I play it demure with a 32 ounce bottle, which is the only thing there is space for in my cooler given the copious amounts of cheese.

We pass a lot of interesting stuff on the drive, but perhaps most eye-catching is a camel. Yeah, a camel. It's just penned up with some sheep on the side of the road. Aside from Napoleon Dynamite, who the hell has a pet camel?

Ok, fine -- that one was a llama. How else was I going to sneak in that dance scene? Sweet moon boots.

I don't know anyone with a camel. And it makes Gram do a double take, so it's worth mentioning.

The camel isn't the only thing. There are these massive dogs made out of hay bales -- kind of like this, but these are cuter. Of course, there are beautiful views of the mountains and Lake Champlain for quite a while, a storm and rain on one side of the road, with beautiful skies surrounding -- and then we are in New York and back on the highway.

It is dusk when we near Germantown, so our eyes are peeled for deer. There's one or two, and then we are seeing them all over the place. I mean like dozens of deer. We are talking to my Mom when we see a larger herd and I suggest we get off the phone and concentrate.

It's just about dark when we arrive at the next place we will stay, greeted by a loudly mewing cat outside. I realize I haven't told our hostess that I am allergic. Ugh. The terrain is a little rough and we've decided to just leave the bags and head out in search of sustenance.

More tomorrow.