Cavendish, VT --> Springfield, VT

Sabbatical Day 20 | June 16, 2011
Cavendish, VT  -->  Springfield, VT

Today my dad and step-mom took a half day off of work so Matt and I made sure to be up and ready by noon when we expected them to be home. After they got home and changed clothes, our first stop was Downer's Four Corners for lunch (YUM) and then we headed towards Claremont, NH so that we could have ice cream at Wade's. Both the restaurant at Downer's and Wade's are "roadside" restaurants where you drive up, place your order at the window and then you can either eat in your car or at a picnic table outside that they provide. I guess you could liken it to a mom and pop version of Sonic except they don't deliver your food to your car for you. And the food is much better than Sonic =0)

After we ate, my step-mom had to go feed her sister Charlotte's cat (Emma) and being that I am pretty homesick for my little fuzzy friends, I went with her. Matt came too!  On our way to her house (she literally lives just up the street), I saw a black body/butt dash off into the woods on my side of the road and I said "Was that a bear?!" just as my step mom was about to ask the same thing!  It was a black bear cub!!  Freaking cute!!  Sadly I didn't get my camera out in time. We did try to find him again but he had already disappeared into the woods =(  Matt doesn't believe that we saw a bear because he didn't see it and I didn't get a picture. Then he jokingly suggested that it was a cow since I told him that the "bear" he saw earlier in the trip was really a cow LOL!!

My step mom fed Emma while I spoiled her rotten (I think Emma thinks she's part dog - she REALLY liked having her tummy rubbed!!). I tried to give her a treat but she declined. Weird! Carolyn said that normally she can't get enough... but she definitely couldn't get enough petting!! Once Emma was fed and the litterbox emptied, we headed back to the house. On our way back from Charlotte's house, Matt spotted the fox family hanging out in the cemetary. I think there were maybe 6 running around up there? I did get some pictures of them, but the picture that I really wanted I didn't snap in time *pout*. I really wanted a picture of one of the fox that was running toward us to get away from some ladies coming into the cemetary and he looked up, saw us and froze for a moment and then took off like a shot into the woods. It would have been the coolest photo! Darn it!!

After we got back from that errand we hung out for a minute we went to my nephew's 5th Grade graduation ceremony and reception. Unfortunately there was a "structural issue" with the chairs (they weren't really made for 6' 5" guys apparently) so Matt and I hung out in the back but we were still able to see everything! At the reception I actually ran into a friend that I used to teach skiing with at Okemo and I haven't seen him in 10 years! It was great! I also ran into my high school Spanish teacher ... Okay, he teaches Spanish at my high school. I took French ;0) ha ha  What makes it kind of funny is that he lives across the street from my dad but I never see him when I come to visit. Go figure.

Once the reception finished, it was dinner time so we headed from Springfield into Ludlow and ordered pizza at the Village Pizza. Which, is where I ended up running into even more people that I knew LOL It was nice to see them though. While they made our pizzas, we ran to the grocery store really quick. Then, we picked up the pizzas and headed home!