Better Late............Or Maybe Not

About a hundred years ago my parents took me to Vermont.  Ok.  It was last month.  It feels like a hundred years ago. I did "compete" in a triathlon, but I also was a tourist as this was a tri-cation.  We had a ball.  It was so much fun having my parents all to myself.  Usually I am wanting for attention while they throw money and candy at my children and tell them how cute they are. 
We left outta Houston on Thursday.  All day my MIL who was at home taking care of the kids was searching for the keys to my truck.  I can just picture her searching every nook and cranny because she is focused like that.  Not like me.  I start looking for something and while I am doing that I find something I had previously lost, like a book, then I start reading it and forget what I was doing.  (Kinda like this story........)
Anyway right before I checked my luggage I got an idea.  I opened up my suitcase and there were the keys to my truck.  Shaye had been helping me pack.  I was worried about what else she might have stuck in there.

My mom and I turned into a giggling mess while the safety precautions were being recited on the plane.  My dad tried to pretend he didn't know us.

Oh!  It's been a long time since I have pushed my mom around in a wheelchair.  I guess she had forgotten she permanently fired me from that job.  Hey!!  I only let her go down an incline once.  I only ran into another person once and I did do ANY donuts!!

Once in Vermont we made plans to see the sights.  My mom told my dad.  "We are not going to ____________.  If we take her there she will tell everyone we only took her to lame stuff!"  FINALLY!  I have struck fear into the hearts of my parents with my blogging influence.

First we got lost in Burlington.  I think part of the problem was map scale.  We were looking at the map of Vermont as if it were the map of Texas.  I guess maybe we should have paid more attention to the scale and less attention to the beautiful GREEN around us.
Second we got lost in Burlington.
Third we got lost in Burlington.
:)
Friday before the race we headed to New York and see Fort Tygonorrhea. 
Who knew you could take a thirty minute car ride and be in a whole other state.  Cool.
Fort Typonderosa is a fort used in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.

Apparently they shot boats invading from Lake George.  I was just trying to sound smart there.  I don't know the name of the lake.

My dad broke off from the tour and was clearly trying to decide if he could round up the necessary materials to fire this cannon. 

This is my reenactment of a boat landing at Fort Ticonderoga.  (Yes.  That is the real name.)
After the race we tried to go see the house of Ethan Allen.  There are no pictures of that because we never found it.  It was three miles from us and we drove thirty miles to try to find it.   Again....scale.  During that trip we did go visit what my parents insist was an island, but it was clearly connected to Vermont by a strip of land.  My parents and I are just going to have to agree to disagree.
The landscape there was gorgeous.  Everything was so green and lush.  I hate the cold, but I would love to return for a (short) visit in the winter to see it all covered in a blanket of snow.

The food in Vermont was delicious!!  The night before the race we went to a diner and I was afraid to order anything good because I didn't want to puke on the course.  Soooooo. We returned immediately after the race and I pigged out.

This was my first lobster roll and it was DELICIOUS.  Also it was 1400 calories.  I know because they had the calories listed on the menu.  I noticed that last time I was up north too.  I wish they would start doing that here in Texas.  I feel a need to know how many calories are in chili con queso and guacamole.

My dad refrained from ordering the 2000 calorie dish he really wanted the first night, but he dove into it the next day.

Sadly he had to abort his mission.  He just couldn't finish the meal. Really he barely made a dent in it, but he was exhausted from trying.

All in all I had a great time.  It was so very incredible of my parents to haul my adult butt up there and entertain me and watch me race.  Next year the race is in the same place and I hope to be able to return with The Coach.
My parents stayed in Vermont after I left and got out just in time to miss the bad weather that plagued the area.  I hope that Vermont bounces back from the flooding soon.  It is a beautiful place and all of the people I ran into there were super friendly and welcoming.