Escape to Vermont.

Our original plan was to haul out Pegu Club for the season on September 3rd and then head west on our cross-country camping trip.  Hurricane/Tropical Storm Henri had other plans for us, however.

We had been tracking Henri ever since Chris Parker started mentioning him in his tropical weather e-mails. He showed up as a blob just south of Bermuda, and when we were first made aware of him I remember saying to Jeff that I hate it when storms develop in that area.  Instead of following a fairly predictable path, they just wobble and wander around with the potential to cause trouble. 

Sure enough, several days later Shenny had initiated its hurricane operations procedure and we were debating whether to haul out or not.  After deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, we found ourselves out of the water a full two weeks earlier than we intended.

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Pegu Club, hauled out for Henri. We were SO glad Henri didn’t damage any Shenny boats.

Fortunately, in literally he final hours of his approach Henri veered a bit east of us so all of the boats at Shenny, including Pegu Club, were unharmed.  Less fortunate (I’ll never call it unfortunate because we avoided a direct hit), as one of the first of over 85 boats to be hauled out it was going to be awhile before the boats in front of Pegu would be put back in the water.  Hurricane haul outs don’t include unstepping the mast, so leaving early to head west wasn’t an option.  But living on the hard for several days wasn’t appealing in the slightest.  What to do, what to do?  It didn’t take long before we decided to go camping in Vermont for a week as a shake-down of sorts for the big camping trip.

Reservations secured at Emerald Lake State Park, we filled up the V-Dub with our camping gear and headed north.  What followed was an excellent week.  We figured out what gear worked well and what needed to be tweaked, we made lists of additional small things we still wanted to buy, and generally settled into a routine.

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Our campsite with a lean-to that was very handy on a rainy afternoon.

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The sign said this creek running through Manchester, VT leads to Lake Champlain.
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There are sheep in the distance. My friend, Vanessa, called it “yarn in its natural habitat.

We’ve enjoyed camping in the past, but it had been literally over a decade since we last pitched a tent.  As we’ve been buying equipment over the summer and making reservations, a little voice in my head kept saying, “I sure hope we still enjoy camping as much as we think we did in the past, or it’s going to be a LONG trip out west.”  I’m pleased to report that we both LOVED it.  Being outdoors, going hiking, hopping in the car to explore, campfires and stargazing at night, listening to the owls as we fell asleep in the tent – the whole thing was great, even when we had some rainy weather.  We’ve been kicking around the idea of traveling full-time in an RV after we’ve decided we’re finished with boating (SEVERAL years from now).  After the week was up, we knew that was something we’d like to do in the future.

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An encouraging mushroom on our way up the trail to Lye Brook Falls.
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We joked on our way up that these were the falls.
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Lye Brook Falls was well worth the hike. It’s one of the highest waterfalls in Vermont.

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I will say that anyone who thinks that cruising in a 30 foot sailboat is the same as camping, has clearly never been camping.  The boat is substantially more luxurious.  On the other hand, with camping we had an unlimited supply of water, a car we could hop into whenever we wanted to go somewhere, and the ground didn’t move underneath us no matter the wind or the weather.  So I suppose there are pros and cons to each.  Without a doubt, however, cruising for almost three years in Pegu Club has ensured that camping out for almost two months as we drive across the U.S. should be a pretty seamless transition.  After all, we’re certainly used to small spaces!

10 thoughts on “Escape to Vermont.”

  1. Hi, sounds like you are enjoying yourselves. Have you checked about the closure of parks across the country? Because of covid. Love you

    On Sat, Sep 11, 2021 at 2:44 PM Adventures on the Club wrote:

    > Kimberly posted: “Our original plan was to haul out Pegu Club for the > season on September 3rd and then head west on our cross-country camping > trip. Hurricane/Tropical Storm Henri had other plans for us, however. We > had been tracking Henri ever since Chris Parker started ” >

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    1. Thanks, Peter. We’ve been using a combination of Reserve America, Recreation.gov, and state websites so far. There will definitely be more Pegu Club posts once we get back in May – we’re hoping to get to Maine for the first time, and another trip south next winter is a frequent topic of discussion. 🙂 Kimberly

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  3. Hi Kimberly, Looking good! Syl and I have been discussing getting a small RV trailer for going north in the summer. Have you ever gone boondocking? While camping what do you do for showers, etc.
    I haven’t camped in 60 years.
    Norman

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    1. Hi Norman! A small RV/trailer sounds like a splendid idea. It’s definitely in our future one day. We aren’t planning to boondock in the tent (I draw the line at not having a proper toilet), but we’ll definitely do that when we have a trailer. With solar and the composting toilet, it will be just like being on the boat only the trailer won’t be moving. 🙂

      So far our campsites have had showers, but for the ones that don’t we’re planning to use a combination of washcloth showers and wipes – just like when the cold catches up to us on the boat when we head south! Let me know what you guys end up with – we’d love to see you if you end up in the northeast next summer!

      Kimberly

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  5. Reinhard and I have been camping for a couple months now, through the Smokies, Blue Ridge, Western PA, and White Mountains of NH, peppered with stops to visit family and friends in New England. We’re about to start a slow trip back to Miami but we haven’t decided whether to take a coastal or mountain route! Lots of similarities to boating and delightful advantages to having a car and especially our bikes! Keep in touch, maybe our paths will cross!

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    1. It’s a nice change of pace, isn’t it? And you’re right about the similarities to boating/advantages with camping! Given my preference to stay warm, I’d probably pick the coastal route at this time of year. 🙂 Hope to see you both again, whether on land or in an anchorage. Kimberly

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