I couldn’t come up with anything clever or cute for the title this round, though White River Junction sounds like the proper setting for a western, replete with saloon, general store, and train bandits. Alas, this village on the Vermont-New Hampshire border does not hold the excitement of a duel at high noon, but we’ll get to that in due course.

Leaving Cooperstown Monday morning, there were some mixed emotions; though lamenting the fact we only had three more days to adventure, we still had lots of miles/kilometres to go and plenty to see driving through the mountainous state of Vermont. During the initial draft of the itinerary, I had wanted to stay in the state capital of Montpelier, until we looked at the tourism page for Montpelier. If you are a fan of the outdoors, there are plenty of hiking and camping opportunities in the mountains. Other than that, the Vermont History Museum looked interesting but is closed on Mondays, and the state house might have been a draw except we didn’t know anything about Vermont politics besides US Senator Bernie Sanders and his mittens.

Instead we opted for the more direct route along the interstate up Vermont’s eastern boundary, saving us some significant time.

Leaving due south on NY-28:

• Turn left on NY-166 at Milford.
• Snake your way to Maryland (the town named after the state) and turn left on NY-7E
• Merge onto I-88 at Schenevus and continue 47 miles past Worcester, Richmondville, a place actually named Lawyersville (a hamlet northwest of Cobleskill village), Quaker Street (also a hamlet), and Duanesburg.
• Branch off onto the I-90E at Rotterdam
• Continue east towards the western outskirts of Albany, NY, the state capital and head north on the I-87.
• After about 5 minutes north of Latham, veer to the right back onto NY-7E (the same one as before)
• Cross the Hudson River into downtown Troy, NY, a city of approximately 50,000 that was first chartered way back in 1816.

Our foursome opted to make a pit-stop in Troy before crossing into the lovely green mountain state of Vermont. We were about 90 minutes into the day’s journey and the route ahead appeared sparse of rest areas and other services. I like to learn some about the surroundings, so here are a few fun facts about Troy:

1. Named after the legendary Greek city of Troy, made famous from Homer’s Iliad.
2. When central NY was settled in the post-revolutionary years, Troy followed the same trend towards the choosing of classical names, with other examples being Syracuse, Utica, Ithaca, and Rome.
3. Samuel Wilson (1766-1854) was a butcher and meat-packer during the War of 1812 and supplied the military. From local lore, he would stamp the meat barrels with U.S., which was interpreted as United States or Uncle Sam. Troy claims to be the historical home of Uncle Sam, and Mr. Wilson is buried north of the city.

It took some searching, but I managed to find the plaza contained in the purple square below:

Contained in this plaza are a Dollar Tree and a Market 32, a grocery chain under the banner of Price Chopper. They have a pharmacy department within the store. I thought it would be a great opportunity to scope out another pharmacy chain and perhaps find something for Dad’s wonky back. In all fairness, sitting for extended periods was taking a toll on all of us.

Proceeding through the front doors, the pharmacy was in the left front corner just past the small liquor section. Combing the shelves for common products, I scanned for first aid remedies, cough and cold, vitamins and finally hit the pain relievers, only to find that Robaxacet or similar were notably absent. Striding up to the pharmacy counter I asked where they kept muscle relaxants. The assistant looked at me quizzically and repeated the question with an inflection that suggested a degree of confusion. She then called over the pharmacist who informed me that I would need a prescription. Incredulous, I mentioned I was traveling from out of state and didn’t realize. She correctly surmised my Canadian roots as it was a common misunderstanding. At this point, my brain raced through an inner narrative that went something like this:

Wow! Back home these items are Schedule II, in a self-selection area of the pharmacy department. As a pharmacist myself, these products are routinely recommended for minor muscle-related injuries, helping with symptoms ranging from spasms to broken sleep. As scope expands for pharmacists, we are seeing an increasing number of orphan patients and are prescribing for a steadily growing number of health conditions. We are more than capable to appropriately provide these products with proper counseling and follow-up. It seems backwards that the States would be more restrictive than we are up north.

What actually came out of my mouth was simply, “Wow! You folks sure are backwards down here.”

I don’t believe it was rudely delivered, but more with an air of disbelief. As I walked from the counter it dawned on me that 1) I failed to share that I was a pharmacist and 2) they had not developed keen mind-reading abilities to deduce that I had a strong opinion on how their practice in this instance compared with ours. I then spent the next 15 minutes kicking myself for being such an ass and becoming one of ‘those’ know-it-all patients whereby the team would wait a few beats until I was out of view, then gaggle together and slag my behaviour. It was well-deserved.

A quick trip to the Dollar Tree netted a 6-pack of Ted Lasso-themed socks (thanks Mom!) and we were moving on:

• Continue along NY-7 E for a half-hour towards Hoosick NY.
• Once you hit the Vermont welcome sign, take the VT-279 E into Bennington where the exit directs you north on US-7.
• Begin your ascent along the mountain ridge for 20 minutes to Manchester and exit east on VT-30S / VT-11E
• For almost an hour, the route travels through the mountains through Peru, Londonderry and Chester before reaching Rockingham on the other side of the state. Unfortunately, we encountered very little in the way of rest stops or lookout points, similar to passing through the Catskills. We are spoiled living in eastern Canada!
• Jumping on the I-91 due north along the New Hampshire border, we see our first mention of Montreal directing us closer to home. We arrived in White River Junction in the early afternoon.

Another one of those Census-designated places, White River Junction is a small unincorporated village of 2,500 people within the Town of Hartford. It’s quite small, but two minutes across the bridge spanning the Connecticut River lies West Lebanon, NH, with twice the population and services.

We decided to take the leap and visit our sixth state for supper, finding ourselves in the proper city of Lebanon, the only city in the county. Downtown wasn’t much, a series of 3-storey buildings that ringed a commons park. Circling this land are 3-lanes of one-way traffic and diagonal parking spaces. We were told that accidents are frequent due to a combination of poor visibility and unfamiliar drivers.

Once parked, the sky began to open up. I managed to get a shot of city hall before getting soaked.

We ate at Salt Hill Pub, a popular Irish-themed establishment with a laid back vibe. The menu is varied and the portions were large. I ordered the Pub Mac with buffalo chicken and Gorgonzola. I have a love/hate relationship with blue cheese; the taste can certainly complement dishes but when it overwhelms the palate, some meals have been ruined. Thankfully, this arrangement was amazing. The perfect blend of kick from the buffalo sauce and a sharp tang from the cheese. The plate was bigger than my face so half of the portion came for a car ride back to the hotel.

On the way back, we found an outlet liquor store and decided to satisfy our trip allotment. I was in awe; a full service grocery store space filled with any booze you can imagine, with no state sales tax! I happened to be on a bourbon kick and wrestled away a bottle of Bib and Tucker’s Double Char. Interestingly enough, Whistlepig distillery is local to the area, but unfortunately, their tasting venues were closed during our stay. Some of their lineup is making its way to boutiques in our neck of the woods.

Tomorrow we bid farewell to our neighbours to the south. With two days in Old Quebec left on the itinerary, we looked forward to the perfect end to a perfect trip!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, employer or affiliation.