This morning we woke up to sunshine although the sky was not absolutely blue it is a change from the last few days. We slept late however due to Adrian waking us up late at night and early ours of the morning with his kicking and prancing around in his sleep. At one stage I woke up panicking feeling claustrophobic as it was pitch black outside in the forest. I peeled back enough of the door flap so that I could see the sky above the trees.

By 1100am we were ready to leave Jigger Johnson campsite with the mileage showing 68128. Alison asked where she should set the GPS for and after two days waiting to go up Mt. Washington I would have thought that she needn't have to ask. When we got to the entrance to the Auto Road the guard recognised us, as Tuah is easily recognisable in any case, and we joked about bringing the sun with us. He gave Adrian a magnetic badge for his bike …. when he gets one that is!

It was a steep climb all the way up the 8 miles road barely enough for two cars to pass. The road was built in 1861 and is only open from May to October weather permitting. We were fortunate to have a good day for the ascent as 300 days a year the summit is covered with clouds with zero visibility at times. It was in this mountain that the highest wind speed was ever recorded at 231 mph in 1934.

At the summit which is 6288 ft above sea level, there is a museum with no entrance fees for users of the Auto Road. Of course there is also the normal gift shops and an observatory. Prior to 1908 there was a few other buildings including a large hotel until a fire destroyed all the buildings bar one which is still standing next to the observatory. We only had nachos for lunch as we had a late breakfast which was quite substantial.

On the way down we stopped at various spots to take photographs of Tuah, and gave a bookmark each to the gatekeepers to remember us by. At the café I spotted the steam contraption of a car that first got to the summit and got Alison and Adrian to pose with it. By this time it was already 3pm and we made our way towards Montpelier. \

As we crossed the state border into Vermont there was a visitors centre and we stopped to get some brochures and a cup of coffee, Green Mountain coffee, a local brew. The coffee tasted great and not just because we didn't have to pay if we didn't want to as the centre only asked for contributions. Alison found two offers for Motel in Barre just before Montpelier and we headed for them. In the meantime Adrian was asking for food as he only ad ice cream for lunch, the poor fellow. We stopped at the McD in Barre to give him a treat as he had been behaving himself very well.

The first Motel we enquired was full but it was a nice one perched on top of a hill. We had no choice but to head for the Economy Inn (another Indian owned and run) which had a room quite a distance away for the office and of course no reception for the internet. Alison had a look at the room and said it was OK for the offer price of USD 60 including tax. Unfortunately the air-conditioner didn't work but the owner asked if a fan would be acceptable to us and we agreed as we didn't feel like moving after unpacking.