Friday April 12th 2024 - Spring Vermont Family Trip - Derby VT (near Stansted QC) - not really about the walk

Family obligations come in all sorts of forms.  When my grandmother died a few years ago, she had made it clear that she wanted me to inherit some of her household belongings.  In her end of life period, she lived in an assisted living facility and she took almost nothing from her normal adult life into that facility.  The family helped her furnish her little apartment but nothing in there was anything that had any meaning to anybody since it was all new stuff and very unremarkable almost dorm like furniture.  When she actually died, most of the 'grandma and grandpa' furniture was already gone and I couldn't/wouldn't or didn't make the effort to come get any of it from Oregon.  To be honest it all seemed to happen in silence and I wasn't really aware of the process but even if I was fully aware I'm not sure it would have changed the outcome.  Still, I wanted to make sure that I did end up with some things that had that sense of family history.  Thankfully, my grandmother gave my mom a small hope chest many years ago and my mom is herself in the downsizing phase of life.  My step-mother also had a grandma hope chest, I think hers was actually just left in the house since grandma moved out.  So, in November of 2023 I made a pilgrimage back to Oregon (via Idaho oddly) and picked up the 2 hope chests and drove them all the way back to New York, blogging about it along the way.

This long weekend is Brian's corollary to my November trip.  His mother wants him to have a certain china cabinet and we get asked about when we are going to come get it each time we visit.  So, finally, we've rented a minivan and come to get it.  We also brought with us an entertainment cabinet that we have been using (somewhat awkwardly) as storage for our Pyrex baking dishes etc.  This provides them with something they can use so we don't leave a big hole in their living room when we take the china cabinet.  We left home Thursday the 11th and got as far as Plattsburgh New York where our good friend Jim came over from Burlington (Plattsbugh and Burlington are nearly across from each other on Lake Champlain which forms the NY/VT border) to have dinner with us.  If the weather had been remotely friendly we would have had a great hike somewhere in the Adirondacks which we drove through for hours but since it was very wet we just enjoyed hours of amazing scenery and empty fun curvy roads.  The rest of the drive was pleasant the next day and we went on a walk at a beautiful spot that none of Brian's family (all of which grew up in this town) knew about.  We had 6 people walk and it was wonderful.  Later in that same group of 6 we went out and feasted on delicious Thai food.  It was one of the best days we've ever had on one of these Vermont trips which have a reputation for being challenging days for Brian and I usually.

Lodging in the Northeast Kingdom (the part of Vermont nearest to Canada on the Eastern side of the state) is very challenging.  There aren't a lot of choices, some of them are really lackluster and none of them are a great value.  Last time we stayed somewhere that involuntarily 'upgraded' us into a better room and then charged us for the upgrade. It took a month to straighten out.  Previous lodging adventures have included rowdy trashy guests up at all hours, threadbare rooms with plastic patio furniture and sleeping above a bar and restaurant with a shower smaller than that of most RVs, etc.  This time we're trying a Bed and Breakfast in Quebec.  It's actually less than 7 miles from Brian's parents despite the international border crossing and, from all the crossings I've done at this location over the years, the crossing is truly a non-issue.  So far that's been true for us.  Our B&B room is directly above a bakery (a boulangerie if you will) but that closes at 4 PM and the conditions are more cheery and hospitable than the place above the bar.  Yesterday it was, amazingly, above 70 degrees and stayed pretty warm most of the night.  This made our room pretty warm and challenging to sleep in but it's not going to be as hot today so hopefully we sleep better the rest of the days.

So that's the trip so far.  Today we are meeting Brian's parents and Brian's brother's family for breakfast then going to visit one of Brian's relatively newly wed cousins at his new house.  Then we'll come back and have some family time at the parents house.  Sunday, Brian and I intend to get a genuine hike in and then we'll go back to his parents house for a last visit before heading home Monday morning.