I had ambitious plans for today, the heart of my trip. But yesterday involved so much driving and so little time "on site," I decided to give Vermont the bulk of my day. Even then, I could only schedule five or six places to stop from the Roadside Guide. And two of those were missing, by which I mean the book described them, but I couldn't find them. That's just as well because what I saw took plenty of time, and there was at least one impromptu stop.

Anyway, they say (or they should, since I'm not sure they do) that you aren't having a good enough time in the field if you don't bark a shin, pull a few muscles and step in something you didn't mean to. Also if you don't find a righteous roadstand. Check, check, check and check. And then you need to talk about it over dinner. That's coming up in a bit.

Vermont was very cloudy today, with intermittent rain. That's no problem, but I felt that even though I was getting to know it in one sense, Vermont was not ready to unveil itself to me in full today. But Vermont is still beautiful.

By the way, I'm in the field this week, trying to see and absorb as much New York/New England geology as I can before Friday. Look for some posts during the week, maybe even photos.