Family and Class Reunions

West Rutland, VT

A walk down memory lane

The sun was finally shining after two months of frequent rain and our first stop, as we pulled into Rutland, Vermont was Gills Delicatessen, a favorite of Mike's when he was growing up.

 

We had a full line up of activities and reunions for the weekend planned. You never know how things are going to turn out. They could be fun or boring, happy or sad, satisfying or disappointing. But we were here and ready to get to it.

Growing up in small towns where everyone knows each other meant that your parents would soon know what you had been up to sooner than later and is how both of us grew up.

White Rocks Recreation Area

Our first morning, we headed up to White Rocks Recreation Area to hike a section of the Long Trail that intersects the Appalachian Trail. Mike's family would have picnics here when he was growing up. The trail was very wet, slippery and steep in many sections. I thought to myself a time or two that I should have brought my hiking poles. I was right. On the way down, I slipped and fell twice but fortunately, didn't injure much except my pride.

An old spring house

Through hikers on the AT

 

White Cliffs Overlook

 

 Amazing views of the valley of the Green Mountains.

Funky fungi

Kind of an eerie figure in the forest.

 

I wasn't sure if we were being avoided or just special with all of that space for us. 

Lake Bomoseen

 We took a ride out to Lake Bomoseen where he spent many summers. The fish were jumping and biting.

 

A walk back on memory lane called for a visit to his parent's resting place. 

 There is something special about growing up in a small town. We spent a morning driving and going down memory lane. I could see his mind going back in time as we drove past his boyhood home.

His graduating class had 76, the largest for this school. This year they had 27 graduates. 

 

 It seems the classmates has a bad case of attention deficit. Getting a picture of them looking in one direction didn't happen. They seemed to have reverted back to their times in high school as I watched their interactions.

 Everyone was welcoming and I felt at home right away. I think many of them don't  think we are in our right minds living on the road. That's ok. We are fine.

A short excerpt of Carl Wener's poem

 

Who would have guessed that this time would arrive

Some fifty years later and yet we survive.

To just be together to laugh and to smile

And share some old memories; celebrate for a while.

We were thrown all together through no choice of our own

And started off strong in this place we call home.

 

Yes, our world has sure changed, on this we agree

Experiences different as leaves on a tree

We draw from the past and the things we have known

It filters our thoughts as we've aged and we've grown

But one thing's for sure, through our lives as we  roam

We got a great start in this place we call home.

The mandatory family lineup

 

 It was quite a nice long weekend of family and class reunions with plenty of good food. On our last day, Mike went for a long bike ride with his brother and a friend while I took a nice walk on the back roads and had some down time before getting together with everyone in the family.

Mike's brother in law's sweet ride.

 

The weekend not only turned out to be happy and fun but very satisfying. We were glad that the timing of our trip east allowed us to be a part of this great June weekend.