Driving to Boonsboro Maryland

Driving to Maryland  - The front closed in from the southwest bringing much relief from the heat of the summer. We packed the car under cloudy skies with temperatures in the 70s. This is the junior year for my daughter at Mount St. Mary's and this year with her acquiring an apartment on campus she has extra belongings to bring including a 40 inch flat screen TV she purchased. The car is full and the roof bag stuffed my wife's bike also stowed above and we head west to rte 84 for the start of a 8 hour drive. The clouds are ominously grey as we head out, a sign of things to come.
  In general, the drive is not a particularly hard one, all highway except the last 10 miles or so and I usually don't have to give up the drivers seat. This trip was a bit more challenging with heavy rain most of the way and at time mild flooding of the road adding hydroplaning risk to the trip. We still made fairly good time. The dinner stop was a pleasant surprise we stopped in Moosic PA and found a delightfully good Indian Restaurant called Amber Indian Restaurant. The atmosphere was decent with booths and tables in a large room but separated enough for a modicum of privacy. The decor was nice if expected for the type of establishment. The food was very good, we started with fritters Vegetable Pakoras and potato patties called Aloo Tikki.  Appetizers were reasonably priced between 4 and 6 dollars with some specialty larger sized apps around $13. The main courses were all very good, served with rice and with that wonderful Indian bread on menu as you would expect. Joy stuck to her favorite a high cream Tikki Masala, its large juicy chunks of chicken in the tomato cream sauce was not the best we have had but it was high quality. The Sabji Jalfrezi a mix of vegetables cooked with onion, bell peppers, and tomatoes spiced in a wok was just delicious, and Elisa's Chana Dal Fry was a truly excellent lentil dish. Reasonably priced the entres are between $14-17. The meal came at the right time in rejuvenating me for the final push to MD. If you are passing through the Scranton area and looking for a good meal try this place out and you won't be disappointed.
  Arriving at our friends house in Boonesboro MD at 10:30 pm made for a tiring ending to the day but all in all it was okay. It is a long haul though and I was looking forward to staying out of the driver's seat until we needed to head home. I wish there was more to say about the drive but really we are just hauling ass to get to the south. The only thing I would suggest is fill your tank in MA and then don't buy gas in CT and NY because with their gas taxes the price is close to .30 cents a gallon higher. I filled in MA and then waited until we were in PA before filling up again.

Something is going to happen here!

Yep I can feel it coming...

Montgomery VT

Driving up to VT this far north is a chore, 4 - 4.5 hours without stops. I instead of doing the long haul drove to our camp in Bethlehem NH on Thursday night. We have a trailer in Applehill Campground which made the Friday trip to Montgomery a more reasonable hour 45 minutes. In Littleton I went and sat with the local at the bar in the Italian Oasis and had dinner. The food is pretty decent there and there is a nice sit down restaurant separate from the bar area if you want full service. The sauce on the baked ziti was delicious and the bartender was very attentive to keeping my drink refreshed. The only drawback really was there are only stools at the bar, if you want a seat back you can take a small bar area table or go to the main restaurant area. I am not a drinker but my friends have told me the home brews that are served are very good.
On Friday I drove 91 to exit 26, rte 58 west to my next stay in Irasburg VT and the Tree Corners campground. Irasburg is still 45 minutes from Montgomery and I should have spent more time looking for a place to camp closer to my destination. It was nice though. Containing two pools one shallow and one a bit deeper, electricity and water hookups at all sites as well as the standard fire ring and picnic table. Designed for Winnebago and trailers I think I was the only tent camper there. One good thing about this is that the site although narrow was large. I asked for some shade and had some nice birch trees in my well groomed grassy site. The price of $30 a night is pretty standard for camper sites but was a bit pricey for tenting. It is even more expensive for larger vehicles. I was not unhappy with the choice but would try to find something much more secluded and less commercial in the future. Lots of children, and older folks made for a not so quite experience, also the lights scattered throughout the campground was like sleeping with a dull lamp on. If I had been in a camper I could close the shades so it was definitely a tenting in a camper place that created the problem. The other problem with the choice is there is nothing for miles around that area. I actually drove the 16 miles to Newport VT to get dinner choices. I have been eating vegetarian and there are only so many salads you can eat and the choices around the campground are very limited.
Montgomery is a small village with one supermarket, small store really, and a bunch of artsy stores that people make up business models to make a living. Surrounded by farming and now discgolf, it is a place you go for recreations, mountain biking, hiking the long trail, or in the winter skiing Jay Peak, and snowshoeing. The two course Black Falls and Cherry Hill are tough to find but here are some directions that should get you there.
Rte. 118; follow signs to Montgomery (not Montgomery Center). Right on Black Falls/N. Hill Rd. (before Fuller Bridge), 0.25 mile to a left across river on Black Falls Rd., 2 miles to course on right, 2356 Black Falls Rd. Parking area at top of driveway. If full, lot B is 400' up the road. Cherry hill is another .5 of a mile on the right for front nine and left for the back nine.
While playing in the Run for the Border Discgolf Tournament I was able to get a few pricey $8 veggie wraps from the caterer Montgomery Pizza and Subs they were good even if a bit overpriced. Everyone I ran into in stores and restaurants were friendly and talkative. In the morning on Saturday I rolled into town early and stopped into the only open place a small restaurant a few buildings east of the Pizza place on the main drag. I walked in and sat down and there were a bunch of locals talking about farm stuff and making their own ammo. No service, wierd? Then another local walks in goes behind the counter and gets a mug and pours himself a cup of coffee. He then gets me a cups explaining that the service does not start until 7am that it is self serve until then. There is a lively banter between the guys as you only hear when people know each other well. Very nice.

Montgomery VT

I am getting ready to leave on a weekend trip to Montgomery VT for the Run for the Border discgolf tournament. I will travel tonight to my place in Bethlehem NH and then onto northern VT tomorrow morning.

Rutland VT 6/12-13/10

Rutland VT - An overnight trip to a cheap and rundown motel to watch my daughter Joy play for the New England select rugby team. The motel the Ramada Limited was just that, limited. The inexpensive rate was for a somewhat noisy, somewhat maintained place to sleep for a night and not much else. The thing that kept bothering me was small but significant, the door in my room had to be pulled closed so that it did not stay ajar. Small I know but a small thing I would think that hotels in the new century would have figured out. Still for 65 a night I was willing to check the door when I went out.
It was a rainy day with some serious steady rain throughout the game but the reason I was there was to watch rugby. Joy's first game was a tough loss in overtime, I checked in with Joy and then went off with my Mom and her cousin Paula to a local sandwich shop. Gill’s Delicatessen is a very popular place where the line at lunchtime was about 25 people. After twenty minutes of shuffling towards the front I got to order my sandwich, the hot meats, Spiced Ham, Peppered Ham, Italian Salami, Provolone cheese and all the veggies, which include shredded cabbage. The sandwich was large and delicious with large portions of cold cuts on a soft sub roll. I downed my large thinking I should have ordered a small and can not imagine going for their largest sandwich the Huge.
From lunch I headed out to Warren Vt and Sugarbush mountain ski resort. The NEFA disc golf finals will be held there this fall and I wanted to get a round of practice in on the base course. I hooked up with a couple locals so I would have a guide, we played the white shorter tees. I played well shooting a 51 and came away feeling that although I was soaking wet that the practice will benefit me in the future.
I chose not to go out to dinner and settled in to the motel for the night. The place was loud, partly from the rugby girls and partly because of the bikers downstairs. I watched some television and actually got to sleep by 10pm or so. Joy's team kicked some ass the second day in the consolation game and then we trusted the TomTom to get us out of there. On the way we were lucky enough to find good BBQ for lunch. We were not seeking it out but as we drove, we pull into Curtis' All American Restaurant,in Putney VT and immediately saw the grill smoking away outside the building. A plain building held some great BBQ. We settled in with our pork rib plates that were gigantic and delicious. Joy got the four rib platter, with canned corn, a tasty coleslaw, and decent corn bread. Joy got the sweet honey BBQ sauce and said it was excellent. Not knowing the size of the ribs I ordered six with baked beans and slaw, I could not finish the plate. Using a spicy sauce I was more than pleased with the portions and quality of the ribs. A deep smokey flavor and a tangy sauce made the rib experience stellar. The sides were definitely not up to par with the meat and I had the trouble of first not being able to get a root beer, then no chocolate milk, both on the menu by the way, finally having to settle for either Pepsi or Dew. You drinkers can get a refreshing beer on tap. The BBQ would be worth a side trip if ever you are in the area, I made a point to store the location in my GPS.

Gritty McDuff's Auburn ME

It was a very busy night at Gritty's and I was the person who got the last seat at the bar. The dozens of staff working were hustling about without a minute to spare. My bartender found the time for me and with a drink and a order in I settled in for dinner. I was at the server end of the bar and got to hear them plan and execute serving a wedding party. In fact it is the same wedding party that is having a reception in my hotel. They are a large group and drinking lots of beer. I order a cup of chili and a BBQ burger for dinner. The chili has tooild a flavor without heat at all. A mix of light and dark beans with beef and sasauge it could use someore chili powder and hot pepper. The burger was great with a big perfectly cooked patty, melted cheese and BBQ sauce. The accompanying fries were crispy and salted to perfection. Even with the business of the place my bartender was attentive and I was not left wanting anything.

Auburn Maine

Travelled up north from my home in Lincoln MA to this central Maine city for the Dragan Disc golf open. It is a small but lively city and I am staying right down town in the Hilton Garden Inn. I spent the early afternoon at Dragan and Enman Field playing practice rounds then checked in here at about 4 pm. It is very noisy outside the window. Here on the fourth floor, I am about to venture out on foot for a walk and then some dinner. I am thinking Gritty McDuff's but I willI have a look around first.