Vermont - Day 1 - getting here

Greenwood Lodge and Campsites
Friday, 1 June 2018

today's route

As usual, I got lost again.  I misunderstood a sign about a closed ramp onto the Taconic Parkway and had to travel quite a ways before I could get off again.  And then I encountered seriously insufficient signage on one of the state routes, which wouldn't have been a problem if the sun had been out so I could have been sure which way was east, but instead we had very low clouds and rain and I ended up going miles out of my way before figuring it out.

However, I learned that far eastern NY has towns that are so small they shouldn't even rate a mention on the map - they aren't even hamlets but instead a few houses, maybe a gas station.  But the countryside is lovely.  Outside one of the largest of these little places I saw a sign that said, "Welcome to the only Stephentown on earth."  How about that - I've been there.

I kept hoping to find a place with maybe a church with a parking lot or a park or somewhere I could stop and let the dogs and cats out for a bit but I got to Vermont before I found anywhere.

At 80 miles wide and 160 miles long, Vermont is ranked 45th in size among the states.  It's also ranked 49th in population.  Montpelier is the state capital with the least population, and Burlington, the state's largest city, has the least population of any other such city in the US.  In other words, there ain't too many folks up here.

And they see things differently: a highway sign near Bennington warned me of "scarified pavement," which turned out to be paving with those little grooves in it they always warn motorcyclists about.