For the first time in memory Dorothy and I will be spending Thanksgiving without members of our family at the table.  I wont be able to cook the turkey, she wont be required to make the cornbread dressing and Christi wont bring the fruit salad.  We wont have any friends at the table to share our bounty.  What has caused this tragedy? We have decided to travel this year and will head to the state of Vermont. Neither of us has ever been to the upper eastern states and we decided that sooner is better than later and certainly better than never.

She has been busy researching quaint places to stay and fun things to do.  This will primarily be a driving trip so we will get to see more of the countryside.  I much prefer this to air travel.  We will fly up there then rent a car.  We dont ski, we dont go hiking so we may spend a lot of time just driving up to the edge of the turnout and looking over the edge.  Thats alright, I will take a pair of binoculars and we will get to see a lot of new things.  It is a given that we will do some shopping in some small towns, taking advantage of hopefully some handcrafted items that we cant get at home.  I look forward to an excellent trip.

We will spend Thanksgiving day at a country inn that has been around since 1883 or thereabouts.  They will have turkey and dressing but the dressing will not be cornbread.  That should be the 8th deadly sin but i will try to muddle through.  Apple and sausage dressing is better than no dressing at all.  The rest of the meal will be typical pilgrim fare and that is fine with me.  A couple of the menu items will include maple syrup. Duh. We will be among people and will be very thankful for all our blessings.  We will remember, on that day, all of our friends and will wish them well.

We will, as usual, plan of sending pictures of our travels.  Dorothy will send pictures of what we see and I will photograph what we are eating.  The state fruit of Vermont is the apple.  The state pie is apple.  The state vegetable is the Gilfeather turnip.  I just hope I dont see the turnip in the pie.

Gary ( the wanderer) Cowan