Brandon to Shoreham Vermont

There was a chance of rain overnight and into the morning. Fortunately, it rained a bit during the night and the front had moved on by morning. Soon the sun was out, it started out in the 50's and was a beautiful 70 degree day. Donna, at the Gazebo Inn, makes the most wonderful breakfasts and she had us filled and ready to bike. She has beautiful dishes, and if you know me, I LOVE pretty dishes! She loves to cook and bake and we enjoyed eating her delicious food.  We got our luggage packed and ready, put the things we didn't need for the week in our van which we left behind at the Inn, and left our luggage for the week with Donna and someone would come by and move it to our next Inn in Shoreham. We are very thankful for the company that organizes the routes we ride (detailed maps and turn by turn directions) and gets our luggage from place to place. We took some photos of Gazebo Inn in Brandon and Donna before we left.

We started riding out of Brandon about 10 am making stops now and then

to rest or take a picture or two. We had a few up and down hills but was a pleasant day of riding.

Sometimes the hills can be very steep and I walked a few times when I got to the lowest gear and had a hard time pedaling. Life can be like that you know, sometimes we coast and sometimes circumstances can feel like an uphill battle. Sometimes we can use the power we feel from the downhill rides to power up the "mountains" in our lives and sometimes we just have to stop and walk awhile. Walking with God and realizing He is with us through the coasting, the struggles, the ups and the downs is so comforting. Today I was reminded once again

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13

 Each day we have options in the distance we ride and today we decided to take the short option of 18 miles. We passed many farms, the countryside is very beautiful. Some of the leaves on the trees are just beginning to change colors. You can see Russ riding ahead of me up the hill.

We rested in the yard of a church in Whiting. We had just climbed a steep hill into the tiny town,

just a crossroads, really, at the top of a hill. As we sat there several bikers were struggling up the hill from the north that we would soon be coasting down.  

 We arrived in Shoreham shortly after noon. The Shoreham Inn is very old (1790's) and has lots of character. Some people are staying in the "Sheep barn" out back that has nice rooms in it as well as the rooms in the main house. Molly & Dominic are the proprietors

and I believe they said they have 19 rooms.

 

We had leftover pizza from last night that we'd packed for lunch,

so we sat on the nice deck to eat. It was a beautiful day.

 Dominic told us the story of the dog a friend had carved in remembrance of a
favorite border collie they had, his name was Bran.  

 There was a colorful cow in the back yard.

 This afternoon we walked around the small town. There was a congregational church on the corner.

 Another church was down the street and just beyond that was the school

where children were playing on the playground.

 As we walked to the edge of town we had a beautiful view

of the mountains in the distance.

 We walked down the road to an apple orchard.

 The trees were loaded with red apples.

After returning from our walk we sat on the deck once again and were joined by several other cyclists that had made their way into town this afternoon. They arrived from Middlebury, we will ride there tomorrow. Their trip is also through Seth, our organizer, but is opposite of the trip we are doing. We had a great time visiting with two couples from South Dakota and three couples from Arizona. With the stories, sharing and recommendations we made to each other we all look forward to the destinations we plan to see in the days ahead.

Dominic (from Ireland) is also the chef at the Inn and we had a fabulous dinner. I should have taken some pictures of the food, it was a delicious three course meal. Russ had salmon and I had a Dijon chicken dish. We tried some apple pie ala' mode and chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert.

It's time to relax and rest for tomorrow's ride. We look forward to another great day. 

The church on the corner has a bell that rings every hour and we just heard 10 tolls.

With that I will say good night and blessings for tomorrow.