Into Vermont

With the help of my sleep mask and ear plugs I managed to mostly sleep in until after 7. My hosts did a good job of keeping the kiddos off of me while I slept. And there was an amazing breakfast of pancakes and every kind of fruit available by around the time I got up. I felt bad that the four year old boy wanted to play Legos with me, and I had to tell him no because I was leaving. My host directed me in the direction of the trail, and I was off again.

It was not so hot as yesterday, but not as cool as I had previously hoped. It got up into the 80s, but at least not the 90s of yesterday. For the start I was on a nice, paved, shaded trail along the river until I had to cross over the river and head east at Troy. Then it was highway from there, but the scenery was nice and the shoulder decent.

I arrived in Bennington a little before 3 and took some time to do some sightseeing. There's an old cemetery with some impressive graves, including that of Robert Frost. And there's a remarkably tall monument commemorating a significant Revolutionary War battle fought here. I shouldn't have, because I know better from previous experiences, but I duped myself into paying the $5 (which a website had led me to believe would be $3) to take the elevator up to the top, where you'd think you would be able to get an incredible view, but much like the tower near Niagara Falls (though that one I had to climb the stairs), your view is pretty well obstructed out the narrow windows at the top. Oh well, hopefully I'll just actually learn my lesson on spending my money wisely.

Speaking of which, I am not out seeing a play with my hosts right now, because I didn't want to spend the $28. I feel bad, because I know they feel guilty leaving a guest behind, and they are getting little out of my visit when they aren't seeing much of me (this is Couchsurfing and they have generally different expectations than with Warmshowers). But I need to be smart with my money. ...Like spending it on this calzone I'm eating at a little place in town, because damn I need hot, cheesy, greasy food at the end of this day.