Chapter 17: Not An Invitation to Refuse

Day 9: Sunday, July 2, 2017 (Continued)

62 miles

Ticonderoga, NY, to Essex Junction, VT

I met Wendy and her husband, Steve, at Maine Fiddle Camp the week before we started this adventure. Maine Fiddle Camp is the kind of place where, after you go through the food line and pick up your dinner, you can sit down anywhere, strike up a conversation with the folks sitting around you, you find out you have a few things besides music in common, and you’ve made some new friends. That’s how Wendy and I met. And when she found out Rob and I would be bicycling through Vermont, past her house in Essex Junction give or take ten miles, she told me to stop in and stay overnight.

I was a little hesitant to take her up on the offer. Maybe she’d have second thoughts. Or the timing might not work out; we might hit her neighborhood in the morning and not want to stop for the day.

I sent her an email, trying to word it in a way to be both noncommittal and to give her an easy out, at the same time being appreciative of the offer:

“It was really nice of you to offer us a place to stay while we are bicycling through Vermont. It's looking like we'll be hitting Burlington either next Sunday or Monday (July 2 or 3). I know you mentioned that you may be hosting folks sometime soon so if you can't put us up that would be fine. We may also be hitting Burlington early in the day so we'd be wanting to get in more miles and head to the islands.”

Looking at the email now, it feels a tad bit rude to me. But I really was trying to be as diplomatic as possible, honest.

Here’s what Wendy sent back:

“Pleasure to meet you at fiddle camp and we're delighted you and your husband can come stay with us! We have a friend likely coming from Boston­ very nice French gal ... (no promises but she is the maker of the best pear tart I've eaten outside of Paris) but we have plenty of room so that's no problem. There's also a good selection of playables - ­mandolins, guitars, a tenor banjo, and, of course, my fiddle!

“There's a chance that Steve and I will be helping a friend bring in his hay over in Waterville at some point but that depends on the weather and I don't think that would interfere with your plans. Great to get your blog address.

“We'll be sure to leave the house open for you ... We have two Maine Coon cats that are indoor cats but we keep some bedding and pillows that are cat free ­so tell us if you or your husband are cat sensitive/allergic and we'll figure something out. Do you or your husband have any dietary restrictions?

“Enjoy your biking and let's be in touch closer to the time you'll be visiting us! Here's a picture of our house as you see it from the road. There's a sugar shack closest to the road and a long drive leading to the house.”

How can you pass up an invitation like that? We couldn't.

We exchanged a few more emails firming up the date of our stay. And days before Wendy wrote: "ALSO we have a bike rack and can easily pick you up wherever you are. You may call on us in this filthy weather."

And again, later: "We can easily pick you up from the ferry if you would like."

I guess she meant it.

The last big hill before the ferry ride did Rob in. And since we would be getting to Burlington after six o'clock, I was ready to call it a day and call Wendy and take her up on her offer of a ride.

Wendy and Steve's hospitality was every bit as gracious as Wendy's emails promised. What every cyclist wants at the end of the day is a beer and a shower and, especially as rain-soaked as we were, the chance to throw in a load of laundry.

We were offered all of it and more. Raw vegetables and dip to go with our beer and then time to relax.

Nothing beats drinking beer and watching cows and the sunset in Vermont.

Wendy and Steve transplanted themselves from Boston to Vermont recently when the property next to Steve's parents came up for sale. They don't own the cows in the picture above, but they own the fields they're grazing on. In return one of the cows finds its way into their freezer every now and then. And they've put in a dance floor in one of the old barns so when they feel like it they can invite their musical friends up for some jamming and dancing.

Bruce Springsteen put out a CD awhile ago called We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. It's very different from the usual Springsteen fare and, to my way of thinking, one of the greatest CDs of all time. He got a bunch of musicians together to play the American folk songs that Pete Seeger made famous, recording it in several sessions with no rehearsals, just jamming on his New Jersey farm. 

Steve, Wendy, Rob, and I sat outside enjoying good conversation, beer, and the serene Vermont countryside laid out in front of us. The songs from that CD sang in the background in my head and I thought, it must have been recorded in just this sort of place, cows listening in the distance with the sun sinking behind the hills.