We spend the last evening and next day at Nancy brother's, Jim's place in Williamsburg, MA.  Jim is the builder chronicled in Tracy Kidder's "House".  His wife Sandy, is a highly experienced educator of children who has equally high curiosity about most anything (usually served with a side of educated opinion).  They live in a traditional New England house with old, wide plank floors and a wood stove.  They maintain a superb garden, mini-orchard and bees.  To our delight, we arrived at the height of the fall raspberry season.  We had fresh raspberries, frozen raspberries (think chilly M&M's) and Sandy's homemade raspberry tart.  Delicious!   While Nancy spend time with them, I took off on a last ride.  I headed up to Ashfield where Nancy once lived in a converted silo avec geodesic dome.  It was Ashfield's fall festival (New England is very big on fall festivals and Halloween).  The festival offered fresh foods, flea markets, games for kids, a bandstand and flea market-like booths such as the "Vacuum Peddlers".  

Our last day in Vermont was covered in clouds. Bad as that sounds, it was supposed to be raining heavily.  We started out with a route provide by our grumpy host at the only B&B which billed itself as a cyclist's retreat.  Our experience was not good; nor was his route.  So we quickly adjusted what was a dead flat ride into nearly 3,000 feet of climbing.  Most of this was on a dirt road.  All the dirt roads we've been on are well backed and feel cushioned much like those people mover's in airports that have a rubber belt and are a little bouncy.    The steep grades in the back country always seem to touch 14% at some point for a short period.  Usually not long but always a bit surprising as you think you're spinning your way pleasantly to the top of the roller.  Had another nice soup and bread/sandwich lunch in the Moon Dog Café.  Why do people outside of California adopt California Surfer Speak when naming places?  As the photos show, even the fruit is showcased as from California.   After our 41 mile, we drove to Nancy's brother's house in Williamsburg, MA where we'll be until we leave.

We decided to take on a relatively flat ride (2,300 feet ascent) around Mt. Ascutney.  Overall the color has not changed as much as up north but it's also uneven as you can see in the photos.  Sometimes it's just as vivid though with fewer reds.    We started off with a mild climb around the north edge of Mt. Ascutney complete with sheep and meadows.  As we rounded the northern edge, we rode above a stream that paralleled a 1% downhill for a couple of miles.  This invites lazy cruising.  After lunch in Springfield, we headed back north along the Connecticut River.  Today's ride took us along streams and rivers more than any other. 

No we're not talking about the historic music festival or the little bird that bedevils Snoopy in the Peanuts strip.  This is Woodstock, Vermont.  A seemingly more wealthy community in the central part of the state.  We went to sleep expecting rain in the morning which it did.  After a late breakfast, the sun began poking through so we headed out for a loop that would take us north over a ridge to West Hartford and then back through Pomfret.   Leaving Woodstock we quickly ended up on a packed dirt road.  Turns out that nearly a third of the roads in Vermont are like this.  Seems to be a clay-like material that has some pot holes but is very ride-able for road bikes.  Our Garmin seemed to seek these roads out including a few that led to dead ends.    After the rain, more of the trees were semi leaf-less but still there was much color around.  The climbs were stair-stepped with some steep sections but nothing like the Lincoln Gap ride of Monday.  We had lunch in a local General Store and little traffic throughout the day.   There's a video posted (hopefully) that captures the panorama at the top of the Pomfret climb.  As usual, photos don't capture these well. 

We came here to ride in the fall colors and they're all around you.  As was pointed out to us by a British couple, the shading is mostly towards yellow with a sprinkling of reds.  They said that New Hampshire had more reds but we're in Vermont!  The most common view is looking at the hills that rise up in the distance.   Rather than green, they are blobs of colors that the camera doesn't capture well.  As you'll see, photos show them better when focused up close.    As for our travels, we left the Yellow Farmhouse in Waitsfield and headed to Waterbury where we parked and headed north.  Immediately we passed Ben & Jerry's but did not stop for the factory tour.  We rode Route 100 for about 45 minutes and while it was safe, the traffic was noisy.  In Stowe, I went for a short romp towards the ski village while Nancy found us a route to our next stop, Morristown, that took us off the main road.   The ride to Morristown was far less traveled and gorgeous   We pulled into Morristown for lunch and great soup, salad and muffins.  Our ride back was long and with far less traffic.  Despite rolling up and down, it had a few more downs than ups.  That brought us into Montpelier.  A quick ten mile ride, with a stop for a scone brought us back to the car and a small bike shop.  From there we drove to Woodstock where we are now. 

This was our first day in Vermont.  We rode up the Lincoln Gap and the