Drive to Vermont

For the fifth year in a row, I have driven my Honda Accord to Vermont for a vacation which included visiting family and friends, playing golf, eating at new restaurants, drinking new beers, and enjoying the summer weather in the beautiful Green Mountains.  This year was special for many reasons including the addition of two new relatives to the family and me turning my age to the next decade. I turned 60 years old while in Vermont, but I do not feel a day over 57. My brain still works like I am 25 but my body is not keeping up with that. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I would like to share it in a few posts on this BLOG.

First, visiting family and friends is important. The problem is I only have so much time and I know very many people. Even family, I do not get to see everyone.  So let me start with family...

Of course, I get to see my brother Tom in Middlebury. I stayed with him for most of the vacation. There was some camping involved but that is a Post unto itself. No foreshadowing here.

Tom and I were entered into the Neshobe Member-Guest Tournament. So I did play a practice round with him and Tyson Zecher. Tyson is 16 years old and lives in California with his family. His Mom is Genny, daughter of Karen Phelps. I took a picture of Tyson and Tom on the tenth green at Neshobe.

I mentioned that there were two additions to the Provoncha clan. The first is Harrison, son of Izzy and Kayla, and he had just turned four weeks old. I drove over to East Bethel to see him and his mom. His dad was out working but I was so glad I got to see and hold my new grand nephew. Here are a few photos.

Grand-nephew Harrison

Kayla with Harrison

The other addition to the family is 8 months old Paislee, daughter of Jared and Sarah. While Harrison was still trying to figure out this new world, Paislee has started to enjoy the wonders of her environment. I met up with the family at Mr. Ups in Middlebury. Tom's youngest son Josh was there, so we made it a family table on the deck next to Otter Creek. Here are a few photos...

Paislee

BJ, Paislee, Sarah, Jared, and Josh

Paislee with her mom Sarah

Great-Uncle BJ with Paislee

Paislee with her dad Jared

My brother John was suppose to meet us but he was sick that day. John has been battling a few illnesses the last few years and now he is living with kidneys that do not work. I did go see him in Bristol, where he is staying with my cousin Becky Shackett. Although he looks very thin, he says he feels okay. I wished I had visited him more but I did see that he made it to Maine with the Dows and Jared.

I should have gone and seen my Aunt Peggy and my cousin Marcia, but I did not. Tom and I did see my cousin Courtney when we ate dinner at Paddler's Pub at the Waterhouses on Lake Dunmore. She works there and I did get a great hug from her. My friends Crocky Leggett and his wife Sue (a distant cousin) were also having dinner at the Pub, so I got to talk to them for a while. The connections are strong between the Leggetts and Provonchas and I consider him an almost relative.

I did text Jerry Atkins when I got into town. Last year his family had gone camping so I missed them. This year they were home and they invited me over for a beer. The beer then turned into dinner and we had a great talk on the back porch. Jerry's wife Cindy is also a childhood friend so we had lots of gossip to share. They kicked me out at 10 PM because Jerry said something about having to get up early and go to work. I did not understand the concept!

A good friend of my nephew Josh is Rob Fenn and his wife Laura. They had visited me in Florida a few years ago (they were not married then) and we had a great time. They call me uncle BJ. One evening they invited me out to their new home for a visit. Josh and Rob played with the tractor.

On my birthday, I took Tom to Jessica's, the restaurant at the Swift House Inn. Rob happens to be the head chef and said if I stopped in for a meal, he would knock my socks off. It did not work, I did not wear socks. Laura is the bartender at the Waybury Inn in East Middlebury. I visited her for a meal and took this photo of her behind the bar, working to take care of me.

There will be more information on the food at Jessica's and the Waybury Inn in a follow-up post. New restaurants for me!

Although I plan a separate post on the golf, I did want to share a few photos of friends. There is Carla, keeping me filled with beers. When I took this photo, I did not realize it would be a self-portrait in the mirror.

 I had dinner with my good friend Vern Riley (in the middle) and his nephew Raymond "Bucky" Danyows (on the right).  The third person is Woody who was playing in my flight during the tournament.

I had to include this photo of Jimmy Pratt messing around, too funny!

And these three friends who I have known all my life. Left to right is Roger Paquette, Norm Bicknell, and Allan Pratt. Norm's wife Carole is in the green shirt with her grandson and his wife. I think the dog belongs to Carla or Rodney Bicknell, son of Carole and Norm and the PGA pro at Neshobe.

Although I did not get to see everyone I wanted, I did see many people including relatives, old friends and new friends from the golf. I have more photos to share from the trip and will include them in future posts.