One heck of a long day for me today. Woke up at 6:00 in the morning again in order to get on the road early and make some miles. Pretty much drove for the whole day with short stops only for gas and quick bites to eat. One nice thing is that it is Saturday and all my favorite NPR radio programs were on stations that actually came in pretty clear most of the time. The 'Car Guy's', 'Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me', 'Priare Home Companion', they helped pass the time as I steadily ate up the miles to the NE at a steady 65 mph.

    Was over by Albany, NY when I ran into a huge traffic jam on the interstate heading north. Lucky for me it was easy to exit that highway just as I came up to the jam and head a couple miles east and then north again on a secondary highway. Turned out that it was hwy 20 & 4 which run right along side the Hudson River, so more scenic and a lot less traffic. The only problem was one section of 2-lane right before I got to Vermont that was awfully 'bouncy'. It may or may not of played a part in what happened next.

    So I'm in Rutland, Vermont and I decide to stop for gas while it is convenient since I wouldn't have enough to make it all the way into Montpelier with out getting some otherwise. So I'm in the gas station pumping gas and the nozzle is one of those that won't stay on by itself so you have to stand there holding it. Usually I take that time to wander around the truck, wash windows and check to make sure nothing is going wrong. But this time I don't do that, just pump the gas, get back in the truck and take off.

   About 2 miles later a car full of guys pulls up next to me and one of them motions for me to roll the window down, which I did.... he yells out that my bumper on the trailer is starting to "fall off" and that I need to pull over and check it. So I pull onto a side street and get stopped, walk back there and sure enough my 4" square steel tube bumper, that my bike rack and portable generator are mounted on, has cracked some of the welds and is seriously dipping towards the ground. This is some serious stuff for sure since another couple of miles and it probably would of been all over the highway instead. Whew!!!!!

    Not sure what to do at first but finally realize that I need to find a place to pull in so that I can pull the bike rack and generator off, which should ease the burden on the bumper enough that I could then go the final 65 miles I needed to in order to get to the campground I would be staying at.

    I'll sure say this about my brother-in-law's design and welding expertise he used on the mounting plate for the generator and my bike rack... he sure builds things to last. He and I also made it extra hard for anyone to dismantle any of it with out taking an awful long time to do it.... and that's exactly what it took... lot's and lot's of time. Did finally get it all taken apart and stowed either inside the trailer or in the truck for the time being, and then finished up the last hour and a half of driving to Montpelier.

    Got in around 6:00 p.m. and located the park manager. Pretty low key guy, Bart... we'll actually do all the check in tomorrow some time which was fine with me. I also asked him if he knew any good welders and he pointed me to the RV sales and service place right next door. He seemed to think that they could actually bring a portable welder over and fix me right up without a problem.... as long as I have money for it any way. Will find out what it will cost later on I guess.

    Got the trailer parked and set up.... sure nice to be stable and stationary for a change. Got the water turned on and lit up the water heater so that I could finally take a nice hot shower again. Oh did that ever feel good. Grabbed a bite to eat, not much in the trailer yet, shaved, changed clothes and headed over to the contra dance at 7:40. Lucky for me the Grange Hall where the dance is held was only about 6-7 miles from where I'm camped so it was a real easy drive over to it. Still awfully glad I have Emma, my GPS unit though, I would of been lost dozens of times these last few days with out her.

    A fun, very crowded dance in a neat old building. Music was provided by Randy Miller, David Cantenie and Eric Eid-Reiner, so it was wonderful. Stayed and danced all the dances in the 1st half and danced and listened to a couple after the break, but to tell the truth I'm tired. I got back in time to actually make the bed with fresh sheets for tonight, so it is going to be wonderful to sleep in a real bed again instead of on the couch like I have been since leaving Colorado. (The reason for riding the couch is that I had stuff piled high on and around the bed that I couldn't easily put away until after I had unhooked it again).

    Going to sleep in tomorrow, stow stuff away, do some grocery shopping and just take it easy in general. It's my birthday tomorrow, (I guess it's already tomorrow right now), and I'll be 56. Still a good age I think, a few more aches and pains in the morning, but overall not to bad. I really need to go to bed though.... so good night!