06:51. Sleeping In
The best thing about taking A Nero is the fact that you can sleep in a little bit later in the morning. That was the case on this morning before we hiked in to meet my cousin Kathy near Bennington Vermont. Sauce was still sound asleep as I found myself sitting on top of Harmon Hilll overlooking the town of Bennington below. 
08:52. Woodford, Vermont
It was a short 1.7 mile hike down to highway 7 where we were meeting Kathy. Even that became a challenge as the last half a mile was an extremely steep high rock climb down to the edge of the road. Our plan was for Kathy to pick us up there. We would then drive to Bennington to resupply and then drive on to Brattleboro, Vermont where we would meet Hawkeye’s wife Mindy and her friend Tina. It was going to be a long NERO and a very much needed ZERO.
10:02. Hope for the Future
Once Hawkeye and I made it to the parking lot on the highway we found a large group of young people who are training in leadership positions to work with children. They all seem to be extremely happy about the trip and interacted well. As I watch them I realized just how many young people we are fortunate enough to have that give us great hope for a great future.
It was so great to see Kathy! We are stonewall 1st cousins. Born about 5 months apart I am the older and therefore the wiser, better looking, more squared away, eat more ice cream, been married more often, get in trouble more often and have more nose hair. In spite of that she allows me to be her 1st cousin. Living next door to each other in New England meant, of course, that our parents homes were separated by a stone wall. We had a path connecting our homes that led to each other’s house. Along the way her father had set up a swing set next to a large rock in a stand of pines. I seldom made it to her house without stopping there. Today that rock looks so small. As a matter of fact the new owners have bulldozed their home away. What is still there is the stone wall and the memories of the countless hours we have spent together for almost 3/4’s of a century. Wow! That thought is rather mind boggling!!! Well…. we didn’t need the stone wall or the swing set….. we were about to spend another day and a half together.
She drove up to Brattleboro where we met up with Hawkeye’s wife Mindy and her friend Rita. It didn’t take long to see that Hawkeye has a great taste in women and she has a great taste in friends. I’m a little concerned about her taste in men but that’s Hawkeye’s good fortune. It didn’t take long to see that when this break in the action came it was going to be very difficult for him to “hike on”. It was time to heal, and relax, and recover with family and friends.
Wanderings With Wayne 
Nothing like family ❤️
LikeLike