After my time in the woods, I headed to northern Vermont to meet my friend Violet and a group of her friends to celebrate her birthday. We were all going to ride together to an abandoned four story geodesic dome in the woods. The dome had been built by a robotics engineer out of recycled material. He lived in the dome for a while, before moving out of the country. He left the dome open for the public to visit. There's a welcome sign when you enter, along with a guest book.
The dome itself is four stories high. The third story is a trampoline, with a slide leading to the second story. The fourth story is just a tiny room with a lookout, only accessible by a ladder that is held up by ropes over the trampoline.
Since I had the biggest vehicle, I offered to drive. We all loaded up on the bus. There were seven of us, plus three dogs and Thomas the Cat, and it made for a cozy ride.
We hiked up through the woods carrying all our belongings. The hike was about three quarters of a mile, and the last bit was a steep, rocky area with a rope tied along the trees to assist with the climb. When we arrived at the tree house, there were already four others there who we ended up hanging out with.
We tested out the trampoline first. Five of us jumped on it. Pineapple, one of the guys who was already there, commented on how ballsy we all were. He had been scared to try it after it had been sitting for so long, afraid it would break, but it was fine.
It was dark and the dome had no power, so we had to explore by flashlight. We all hung out enjoying the space and each other's company. We found a picture book downstairs that was written by the man who built the dome. We brought it upstairs and pineapple sang the book as he played his banjo.
We had little cupcakes for the birthdays. Not only was it Violet's Birthday, but it was also Violet's friend Holly’s. They each got a cupcake with a candle and we sang to them.
There was a little fire going outside, and toward the end of the night, we all gathered around it. We played music from a speaker while we danced and sang along.
Everyone slept scattered throughout the dome. Some gathered on the trampoline, but I slept on the floor next to it with a few others. The three dogs cuddled up with us. The next morning when I woke up, I could fully see the glory of this place. With a trampoline for a floor we were able to see through it to everyone below. It made me a little sad because there was trash and broken glass scattered on the first floor and outside, and in the back of my mind I thought how nice it would be to come back sometime and clean it up, but this time I was on someone else’s schedule. Even with debris spread about, it was still a magical place.
It was a chill morning. We all lounged around, tired from our late night with little sleep.
We were enjoying the morning but knew we couldn't stay all day. My bus was parked in someones driveway and we didn't want to over stay. We had planned to park on the road but when we arrived we saw signs promising a tow. Some kind people who lived nearby let us park there after we knocked and asked.
We cleaned up our mess and made the hike back through the woods. I dropped everyone off at the house we had originally met at, then headed to Brattleboro, Vermont.
I had passed through Brattleboro on my way to meet everyone, and had thought the town looked cute. Not only that, but a few of the girls were meeting there to get burritos. After burritos we went to a few nearby shops. My favorite was called Beadniks. They had all sorts of crystals, and you could also make your own jewelry. There were bowls of beads throughout the store, every kind you could imagine, such as beads made of wood, crystals, clay, and glass. I didn’t make a necklace that day, but instead picked out a few crystals that I just couldn't live without. Everyone else had to get back on the road, so we said our goodbyes, and I found myself in a big parking lot overlooking a river.
It was such a nice spot that I decided to stay for a few days. It had everything I needed. Along with the beautiful view of the river, there was a water-fill station, a porta potty, and even a nice hiking trail along the river.
The dogs and I went on hikes multiple times a day, and there were spots where we were able to get down to the water. It would have been the perfect summer location.
Thomas loved it there and spent most of his time lounging in a little grassy boat launch area.
I went back out into the town and explored more stores, and also went back to Beadniks where I ended up making a necklace. I collected all earth-toned stone beads, using a sliced walnut shell as the center, and made them into a choker. I love my necklace and haven’t taken it off since.
As much as I loved my cozy little spot near the water, I knew it was time to move on. I had so much more to see and a lot more people to visit. I continued on my travels, setting out for Hadley, Massachusetts.
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