Grand Isle, Vermont

We have settled into another beautiful campground in a state park.  This one is on an island in the middle of Lake Champlain. We had the whole area for ourselves for the first night.

 The isle has small towns nestled between farms and ranches.  It is an idyllic area to spend fishing, hiking, bike riding, and, once a year, doing a marathon.  That is what Cheryl and Dave planned to do here when they arrived a few days later.

The woman at the park office gave Jerry and Anna Lee an inside tip on where to photograph the best fall foliage and our drive around Lake Carmi did not disappoint.

After our photo stops, we went to St. Albans for a good cup of coffee and a bit of shopping for local products (maple syrup included).

On their way north to Lake Champlain, Cheryl and Dave stopped to visit Jeff in Troy and went to Defazio’s Italian Market for way too much delicious pasta for dinner.  After all, a carb load before running a marathon is a good thing.  We look forward to the leftovers later.

We must have been hungry again in the morning, because on the Saturday before the race we had quite a shopping spree at the local farmers' market, where a Greek dinner for the evening was irresistible but the hand-painted cookies were wonderful.

We topped off our shopping at the excellent Burlington Central Market.

In addition to acres of grass, the campsite had a playground for Bennett to enjoy.

Saturday night before the marathon was a sleepover for Bennett. After a rough beginning, he settled down, and everyone had a good night’s sleep and awoke eager to watch Cheryl run her marathon and greet Dave at the end of his half marathon.

Cheryl was 1.8 seconds off of her personal best which she did 12 years ago.  Dave and Cheryl were each ninth in their age groups.