That last photo was taken near The Gorge in 1996. The Gorge is a really cool swimming hole outside of Burlington, Vermont... though the coolest swimming hole I've ever seen anywhere was in Costa Rica.
An unusual building in a land of the unusual: this round church is also found near The Gorge.

Vermont became my adoptive home after I completed the Appalachian Trail in 1994. As with Chapel Hill, I wanted to go somewhere I hadn't gone before, and this time I wanted some place colder! So I Amtraked up to Burlington and went about finding a room and a job.

Aside from a few weeks here or there, I've only physically lived in Vermont for five months in the winter of '94-'95 (when I found jobs hard to come by) and then again from September 1996 through June 1997, when I was a teacher at the Laraway School in Johnson, 40 miles northwest of Burlington in the Northeast Kingdom. In June 1997 I entered Peace Corps for what was to become four years of service in Ghana.

Two cyclists taking a rest. Cycle touring is big business in Vermont.
A cabin on Mt. Mansfield, along the Long Trail. I've been promising myself for years to hike the whole thing... I only need three weeks.