Day 6 - Kancamagus to Stowe

It is a wonderful thing that today only required a ride of about 160 miles. Check-in isn't until 3 p.m. at the Ten Acres Lodge, where I'm spending the night, so I didn't plan to leave Brownfield until around 11 a.m., which would put me here around 2:30 if I didn't stop for anything.

The temps this morning were about 15 degrees warmer than yesterday, and the sun poked out pretty good, which always makes things better. I puttered, I moseyed, I meandered, and finally had things ready to hit the road around 11. When you pull out of Frank & Trina's driveway, you're on a hill with a nice vista of mountains in the distance. It's still a dirt road, though, so I couldn't enjoy the view too much, as I was making sure the bike didn't want to skitter around in the dirt and gravel.

Back on the main state road, I headed west into New Hampshire. I went through what seemed all of the Conways (East Conway, Center Conway, North Conway) and branched off onto Rt. 112, also known as the Kancamagus Highway. I'd been on it once, 10 years ago in early September, before the leaves had changed, and this time, I was just in time to be there after the leaves had changed. There were still some nice oranges and yellows along the highway, but the flanks of the mountains were mostly left to evergreen. The sun was nice and shiny on the eastern side of the pass, but as the elevation rose, so did the cloud level. I crested the pass at 2855 feet elevation and it was stinking cold. Right where the sign for the pass was, I pulled over to take a picture, and found out the batteries for my camera were toast. I knew there was a spare set of batteries in my tank bag, but they eluded my road side searching. I used my cell phone to snap a quick pic, but alas and alack, the ensuing 100 miles were without the benefit of photographic proof. I made one quick stop at the Vermont welcome center to blow my nose (desperately needed) and brace up for the last hour of riding. Breathing through my nose was pretty much not an option from the congestion I've now got, but thankfully, the changes in elevation weren't excruciating.

The clouds had settled in for good, so the latter part of the trip was chilly. For the second day in a row, I left off a layer I needed. I don't plan to be chilly tomorrow.

Following my Googlemaps directions got me so far today, but I ended up turning off a hair before my '13.8 miles' were up. I was sure I was heading in the right direction, so I punted. I knew they were located just south of the village of Stowe, and the website said there were signs pointing them out. Happily, all of the above was true and I pulled up at the house at 2:35. I came in to see if I could at least get the check-in paperwork done, and Frank (the husband of the couple who runs the place) was kind enough to let me get all settled in. He was heading out shortly, so my timing turned out to be pretty good. I lugged everything up to Room 3, which has vertical pine paneling and a squooshy looking blue duvet. I had to flake out on the bed for a few minutes before I could face going back out on the bike. I had a cup of tea this morning, with honey, but other than that, I had no appetite and ate nothing, so I was on fumes. The bike had a good run, too, and while not on fumes, I wanted to fill it up in preparation for tomorrow's departure.

There is a highway about four blocks down that takes you into Stowe the back way, and I saw a Shell station within a mile, and pulled over to top off. The station was a nice convenience store, and had a Subway in the back, so I decided to take the easy way out and grab a toasted sub. I felt like I was being a bit of a dud to go with a franchise meal, but it turns out to be a good thing, because I couldn't taste a bit of it. I'd have been bummed to get some tasty local food and not be able to tell!

Once I finished the sandwich, I headed right back to the Lodge and got into some comfy clothes. As an afterthought while packing, I threw in a pair of slippers for when I was at folks' houses. Turned out to be a dang good idea, and my tootsies are toasty right now. I played a little of the poor, pitiful me card, and asked if I could have a fire in the living room fireplace tonight , even though I'm the only guest in the main lodge. Frank felt sorry enough for me, he went ahead and built one up (see pic above), and it's been nice to flake out by the fire right now (still breathing through my mouth), but anticipating a Mucinex-D dosage that has my name on it for bed time.

Breakfast is served from 8:00 to 9:30 tomorrow morning, and I really hope I can taste the Vermont Maple syrup I plan on enjoying! I'm aiming to be on the road by 10, which will land me at Kathi's house tomorrow night by 5:30 p.m., Lord willing. I was hoping to go through the Adirondacks on my way over there, but that adds an hour to my travel time on what will probably seem like a really long day. The way I feel, I may even have to bypass going to Niagara Falls so I can go farther on Friday and shorten the ride for Saturday. That's a bummer, but there's no sense in running myself into the ground when I feel like horse puckey. I bet the waterfalls will be there in a few years if I want to come back. I'd bet a lot!

At any rate, that's it for tonight. I'm calling it early and might, just might, watch a little TV. (If that doesn't seem noteworthy to you, you probably don't know that I don't own a TV. And yes, I am an American.)