[at-l] a sobo remembers...Bennington, VT

["southwalker99" <southwalker99@alltel.net>]

a sobo remembers....

Bennington, VT

The town stop that shouldn't have been


Nothing in the books I read when planning my hike suggested that Bennington was the place to have a food drop so I didn't. And that meant I had absolutely no reason and no plan to stop in Bennington. 

I was walking with 3 other hikers that day and when we arrived at Melville Nauheim Shelter they decided to go into town and wanted me to go. It was only a short distance to the road, it wasn't near dark, we could save money by sharing a room, get a bath -which I dearly needed- and have a change of food. The possibility of washing my only set of clothes made the opportunity irresistible. 

The 4 of the us and the dog, Spanky, hitched for perhaps 20 minutes before a young woman pulled into the parking lot across the road and motioned us over. As we approached the car we realized that there was a problem. The car was small, the trunk tiny and the woman had a mid-to-large suitcase and a pile of stuff already in the trunk. We suggested that she take 2 of us and the other 2 would hitch separately. She would hear nothing of it and began to shove stuff from the trunk into the car. Finally, by taking everything off the outside of the packs we got 3 of the packs into the trunk. They went in sitting upright, which meant the lid wouldn't close so we tied it down with a bandanna. Three of us got into the tiny back seat and held my external frame in front of us, totally blocking our view. Dave took shotgun and held the lady's suitcase upright in front of him with Spanky at his feet. 

The woman left skid marks as she launched out of the parking lot. As we flew down the road she asked us where we wanted to go. We knew the name of the motel but didn't have an address. That didn't really matter since the woman had never been to Bennington before and wouldn't have had a clue as to where it was anyway. We stopped and asked directions 4 times, made a couple of U-turns, went once down a one-way street the wrong way and finally arrived at the motel. After we had unloaded and the woman had peeled out of the motel lot we noticed the sign which very clearly and brightly said, "NO VACANCY". There were perhaps 6 cars in the lot and 50 rooms in the motel. Thinking there might be a mistake I inquired at the desk and was told that all rooms were booked and paid for in advance.


On a brighter note the motel lady was quite helpful and made a several calls around town before finding a motel that had a room that we could afford. The only problem was that the motel was as far from town in the other direction as we had just come. Nobody had a courtesy car. Someone asked about an ATM and the lady suggested we walk a couple of blocks to the Wal-Mart, use the ATM and call a cab from there. 

So we went to the Wal-Mart and while the others made for the ATM I went to call the cab from the pay phone. The cab was closed for the night; it was now past 7:30. When I returned to the ATM I found that it wasn't working.


Pack Mule and I decide to work the Wal-Mart parking lot and see if we could yogi or purchase a ride to the motel, which by the way, we didn't know where was. As we stood contemplating our approach we heard someone yelling from across the street. Turning we saw a short, skinny guy with a full red beard and a lot of hair everywhere else, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, you guys wait for me. Here I am, wait for me" With that he disappeared into the Pizza Hut and we looked at each other. He looked like a hiker but something didn't seem right. As soon as he got back outside we knew for sure something wasn't right. He came at full speed across the street, dodging cars and ran up to us, carrying a boom box and a large plastic garbage bag. 

"Man, I am glad you waited for me" 

We just looked at each other. 

"You know where it is?" 

Finally Pack Mule says, "Who are you and what are you talking about?" 

"The gathering. You are here for the gathering aren't you? 

"What gathering" 

"The Rainbow Family" 

With that we understood, turned and headed for the center of the parking lot. The little guy just wouldn't let up and followed, attempting to entice us to join him at the gathering and when that didn't work wanted to know if we had any "grass" for sale. Finally Pack Mule and I managed to run him off and started on the patrons who were leaving the store. Within a few minutes we found a NY firefighter who was on vacation, had a large pickup truck, would be delighted to take us to the motel and wouldn't think of taking money. Things were beginning to look up.


We arrived at the motel at 8:15, their restaurant closed at 7:30 and there was no place to eat anywhere near. The room was OK but there was no washing machine. While the others called a different cab and went to town, I took a shower and washed my clothes in the sink while waiting for the large pizza I ordered. It arrived along with the 2 liter Sprite and I had a feast. 

The next morning we got a ride into town. The others stopped at a Laundromat and I decided to walk on toward the trail while hitching. It hadn't been a worthwhile town stop. The room cost $20 each, the pizza and Sprite most of $20, I got very little rest and I am bitching to myself about it. 

I couldn't get a ride and finally stopped at a store near the edge of town and the day was saved when I discovered that they had ice cream on sale. 4 large scoops cost me only $1.50. Suddenly Bennington wasn't so bad after all. 



southwalker99@alltel.net
ME-GA '99
In hiking there is no special recognition given for speed, style or 
finesse. There are only those that do the hike and those that don't.



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