Had a nice long conversation with an old friend.

Drove down to Shunk with a stop at Brant Lake, NY to visit Jason and Abby.

The woodpile had fallen over so i started making a new foundation for it.

Kept at it.

Drove the tractor out into the woods and cut some trees that were across the paths, then split all the logs.

Drove back up to Brant Lake (lost my sunglasses out the car window on I-87). Abby, Jason, and i went out to dinner and ice cream at a local eatery/ice cream parlor, then met up with the daughter of a friend of Abby's mother and watched a pretty good local fireworks show. It rained a little before the show started, but stopped just as the fireworks started blasting about.

After the show, Jason, Abby, and i played Scrabble, which i think i won... hmmm... I stayed overnight there and drove back to VT the next day.

I caught 3 baby mice in one of the drawers in my kitchen.

I hiked the loop along the VAST trails from the end of Wallingford Pond Road.

That night there was a big huge lightning/thunder storm outside and i sat out on the front porch digging it.

Hiked up the Homer Stone Brook trail.

Hiked a little further down the VAST trail (to a little bridge) from the end of Wallingford Pond Road.

The dogs and i hiked all the way up the Healdville trail to the firetower on the top of Okemo Mountain. Then i walked down one of the ski trails over to the Jackson Gore summit and cut through the woods back over to the trail.

Hiked along the railroad tracks to the bridge over the Mill River and Rt. 103 and there was a deer standing on the tracks on the other side.

Hiked along the AT/LT from the access point at the end of Wallingford Pond Road. Teco disappeared between two intersections in the trail and i spent a while trying to find him, then gave up and Seera and i hiked north up the trail for a couple miles. When we were coming back down to the intersection i could hear a dog barking. Yes, it was Teco. After trying to find a path that might take me to him, i finally gave up and set off through the woods. I found him sitting in the middle of a shallow marshy pond barking his head off at a deer.

Took a late hike on a VAST trail (Vermont Association of Snow Travelers) down past Wallingford Pond. Since the VAST trails are mostly for snowmobiles, they get pretty neglected in the summer and are very muddy. I hiked about 3 miles to a dirt road, turned left and walked to the end of the road and back onto another VAST trail which i was pretty sure would take me back to where i parked. I was right, but right after i got on this return trail, it started to rain hard and it continued raining until just before i got back to my truck. Wet wet wet.

John Donohue called me and invited me over to a party at the Hammer's house in Ludlow. Teco and Seera got to munch on rib bones.

Nice flower along the railroad tracks.

I didn't have any jobs to finish, so i packed up the truck and drove down to Shunk.

Went over to Jason's property and spent about 3 hours picking a bucket of raspberries, then made a couple batches of jelly.

Mommy and i took a walk around the lake. Saw a great blue heron. After that i drove down to Philly, leaving the dogs at the lake.

Got up early and drove down to Wildwood, NJ for the annual Wildwood Beach Ultimate Tournament. Our team was a bunch of the kids i play with in VT: Sarah (Millie), Eugene, Wheaton, Meadow, Nick, Nikki, Nora, and me. Sarah's dad Tim was also along as chaperone, since everyone on the team was 20 or younger (most were 17).

We won one game and lost 3, then headed back to the crowded campground for a cook-out dinner.

We packed up the campsite and headed back to the beach. We won our first game, but then lost our second 16-14 so we were done. After playing in the surf for a bit, i made the 3-1/4 hour drive back to Philly (took me less than 2 to go the other way). There was one stretch of 2 or 3 miles where i didn't get out of first gear.

Stopped at the hardware store for a while, then drove back to Shunk to see my pups.