Vermont Part 3, Meeting Rachel

It is more than a little hot in here, but I am continuing on my quest to fully document my journey this weekend.

On Sunday, we left around 11 to go to the farmer's market in Brattleboro, and then meet Rachel, a friend I have known a long time online. She also has Asperger's and writes the blog Journeys with Autism. The farmer's market was lovely. Not much there as it was a special Sunday market and a lot of the vendors couldn't make it. But the ones that could were interesting indeed, and the area they had it in was so very lovely. I got some rugelach for Grandma that she really liked, and some maple candies, for Marion and Nate.

A stand selling maple products.

A beautiful, hand painted sign

We then went to meet Rachel. Her house was easy to find. She has the most amazing and beautiful gardens outside. Lots of wonderful purple flowers. We sat on her front porch and talked a while, and then she let us try the Thumper massager she had.

My friend Rachel

Her beautiful purple and white flowers! I love them!

We were going to do a walk in the Retreat area of the town, but when she mentioned that
it was only a 10 minute walk to New Hampshire from her house, we just had to do it. I love the idea of walking to another state. Rob had just biked to Connecticut that morning (2 miles from my Grandma's house), why not walk to NH?

I just loved being able to see the green mountains everywhere we walked in Brattleboro!

It was a lovely walk through town and over the Conneticut River. After, we sat on the benches by the co-op for a bit, and I also got to see a street musician in tie dye playing the Beatles right outside the co op! That was awesome.

Tie dye guy outside the co-op!

There was a small waterfall right outside the Co op also, and a pavillion with benches to sit on. What a lovely area! All of Brattleboro is beautiful - it's what I thought Burlington would be like, but wasn't. And 10x better than Burlington.

Rachel and I sitting in the pavillion by the co-op

After a very pleasant and enjoyable couple hours with Rachel, Rob and I sat on her porch for a bit to regain energy, and then decided to stop in Amherst on the way back. Well, also at Whole Foods cus I had a hankering for that banana peach mango sorbet, and needed some bottled water. We got crepes in Amherst....me to photograph, him to eat, lol.

My grandparents and I, who were gracious enough to let us stay there for the weekend!

On the way back to Maine on Monday, we stopped in Portsmouth and walked around a little there, too. Pretty city, much nicer in the daylight and spring.

Downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire

So now we are home, and it is good to be home! But it was a great trip and worth doing. All the factors came together to make it work out. Next, my brothers are coming to visit, and in July, my mom. So this summer shall be an interesting one, it seems.

Also, PS to the weather gods - this heat wave can go away anytime it likes!

Thanks for reading!