Pittsfield, MA – Unanticipated interlude

Cousins – Roger, Jeanette (standing); Sam, Sue, Helen (seated)

We are occasionally reminded that our life on the road includes more than just traveling about, and no part of life is left out. It was with great sadness that we learned of my cousin Richard’s sudden and unexpected passing.

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South Ontario

Lake Erie, Middle Island

So yes, the most direct route from Kalamazoo to Vermont goes through South Ontario, from Detroit to Buffalo. We’d not yet visited that part of Canada. And we had the time for one more adventure!

Of course, as is our nature, the first thing we did was make the direct route a little less direct… This tiny slice of Ontario touches three of the Great Lakes. We can see them all! And to do so, we used our proven-based-on-vast-experience, late season approach to planning – where can we find places to stay.

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Jammin’ in Portage, MI

Doug & Tom

The more we travel, the more places there are that we have been to, and the more likely we are to cross a path we’ve followed before. Such was the case as we figured how we were going to get from St. Louis to Vermont. Suppose we went up to Michigan, then back into Canada and around the north side of Lake Erie? Well, looky here, that path might go right by Kalamazoo!

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Get your kicks…

Less than 10 miles outside of Tulsa, we started seeing signs for Route 66. Our band back home does that classic song! With so much of our travel on back roads, we’ve crossed Route 66 at least a few times in Arizona and New Mexico. As we rolled out of Tulsa we recognized that for the first time we’d be traveling right along the storied route. And it goes through St Louis – like it says right in the song!

So we started following signs. This could be fun!

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Tulsa, OK

Sue, Dave, Mardena, Doug

When my uncle Joe retired from a career in the military, after having lived in many interesting places around the world, he moved back to our small home town in NH. So, unlike Joe’s older sons MikeGary and Steve, Dave and I graduated from the same high school. Dave was only 11 when I left our home town, so I never really got to know him back then. During his own stint in the military, Dave met Mardena. They married, moved to Oklahoma and raised 3 kids. Like his brothers, Dave and I had only seen each other once or possibly twice as adults.

We contacted Dave and Mardena on our trip in 2016 hoping to visit – we could easily head to Oklahoma from southeast Colorado. *SIGH* They had just retired and moved to Costa Rica.

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A slice of New Mexico and a speck of Texas

Angel Peak

As we entered northern New Mexico on our way to Albuquerque to visit friends, we received word that, sadly, our friends had to cancel our visit. We’re very sorry to miss them. Now, at this point in our trip we really are heading for Vermont, so rather than continuing south to Albuquerque, we looked around for a place where we could stop for the night and consider route options.

The nearest campground was called Angel Peak. It was a few miles up a dirt road, run by the Bureau of Land Management, and it was free. And it was… Wow!

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Telluride, CO

Sue, Zoey, Howard, Doug

Howard was the first snowboarder we ever got to know. The year was 2000 and a dedicated group of us were all skiing with the Black Diamond Club, a Sugarbush program for expert adult skiers – and one snowboarder. According to Howard, he switched to snowboarding so he could ride with his young sons. Still, he didn’t want to give up hanging with his friends in the BDC. Howard, with his characteristic big grin, had the best of both worlds! For so long a part of our tight-knit Sugarbush community, we love Howard!

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