Day Trip

Machinery at work in riverbed

Monday we took the dog for a trip around the state to see how well Vermont was doing a month after the flood from Irene.  Jeff wanted to know if he would be able to hunt in his favorite place as he had heard the road was washed out.  When we got there we found it open.  It looked very recent as the machines were still there, working to reshape the river as it was a mess of trees and boulders.

Man and Dog

We drove up the mountain, stopping for a short walk up an old road to stretch our legs while letting the dog have a run.  MacTavish is in his element in the woods.  Continuing up and over we found several places where the road was still one lane, with a pile of gravel dumped, waiting for the road crews to fill in the washed out places.   Then on into Ludlow where we got grinders to eat down the road.  It seemed like Camp Plymouth State Park would be ideal, so we headed there, only to be greeted by an awful sight--- it had been hit hard by flooding.

Sand filled State Park

We sat at a lone picnic table and ate anyway, as we took in the amount of havoc wreaked by raging waters.  It did not prepare us for what we would see later as we continued our trip towards West Bridgewater.  Some of the road is still one lane, but that is because the other side is being worked on.  It is absolutely amazing how much clean up and restoration has been done in just one month.  The saddest of all is to see the houses that have had to be abandoned.  Just heartbreaking.  I only took a few pictures of those as I couldn't bear it.
When we reached Rte 4 we headed west toward home,  traveling the same roads we did when we were driving through the storm.  It is mind boggling to think how these placid little brooks could become such instruments of destruction.

The day was a beautiful fall day.  It was an awesome trip--not only to see the disaster areas, but to see how much has already been done to repair and rebuild.  I'm glad we took the drive.  Makes me proud to be a Vermonter.

So sad

Fall colors