We discovered this new bike trail in Newport today, The Beebe Spur'n Spin. We happened to have this map, Biking in Kingdom, Routes for Road Biking in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. We followed the directions but ended up parking at the hospital because there was a sign at the IRS parking lot saying not to park there. Guess too many people parked there during business hours.

The trail was easy to find, turn left from the Hospital and head past the Internal Revenue Service huge empty parking lot and the trail is easy to see on your left.

It was a nice flat well kept trail...just like we like!

It is a 11.2 miles round trip departing from downtown Newport and 7.6 miles round trip departing from IRS parking lot on Prouty Drive. It is a flat ride recommended for energetic beginners to advanced. Mountain bikes are best. Hybrids may work depending on trail surface conditions.

I like these trails because there are no roller bladers and none of those 10-speed racers who zip around the L'esplanada Bike Trail as if they are training for the tour de France!


It is a very beautiful trail along the Memphre Magog Lake with a marsh and cute houses. There were nice flowers and berries (DD resisted the temptation and thought it best to leave the berries to the animals...and locals). People we passed by were polite and so friendly and a couple even waved at us from their porch. We were very impressed by the people's attitudes and it makes us sad to hear so many judgemental comments about Americans. At home, people don't want to be looked at or smiled at or talked to. It must be a big city mentality. We must also admit that driving through downtown Newport we did see some tough streets. But the people living along the trail are living the Dolce Vita!

How can they not be happy? I'd be so happy to live there!


We were surprised to find a hidden mountain bike trail entrance along the way which is actually used for country ski in the winter. We decided to go ahead and give it a try on our way back: now that's where all the SPIN was!

And that's also where DD left her gloves along with her Ryder's glasses during a pee break...and got muddy! We almost got lost and DD thought this must be a tourist trap! It was like riding through a maze and she kind of got afraid we could get lost. We decided to always keep left and that was a smart decision, we got back to where we had started! DD was so tired she didn't even have the energy to cheer. Back at the hospital parking we both thought that if ever we would have been injured we were at the right place. We will sleep very well tonight!

Oh! We were almost forgetting to mention that we saved a turtle before turning on Prouty Drive towards downtown. We got out of the car and put it back in the grass where it went across the high grass tossing the leaves left and right, it was too sweet. Our spirits lifted up immidiately, we love animals and today we have had once chance to show it and make a change in a small turtle's life!

We Loved Brüno!
Vassup?! DD and I went to see the movie Brüno! We drove to the Dix-30 on opening night. After watching the different movie trailers and all the YouTube videos we could find, we were so pumped to see the new movie! It was a warm night and just perfect to see a premiere of a movie! We got there early to make sure we had a ticket but there was no problem...the theatre was only half full! Before the movie we went for some General Thaï chicken at an outdoor restaurant and then strolled around the shops looking at the stores. DD bought The Complete Idiots Guide to Buddha. It is a nice shopping village!

It was so funny and hilarious! We were both laughing our heads off! DD was slapping her knees, stomping her feet, crying and laughing, it felt good! Brüno was crazy! The first scene of him with his lover and their sexual games was crazy! DD said she didn't recall ever laughing so much for any movie or comedian in her life.

What the hell was his Google Sack or Coogle Sack or Kugel-Sack that Bruno was obsessing about??

Bruno had this crazy velcro suit and had Paula Abdul sitting on human Mexican furniture and he was Straight Dave the redneck ultimate fighter turned gay! He was in the army and adopted a little Gaybee named O.J.! He was getting whipped by some crazy woman at a swingers party and was almost attacked by some hunters when he tried to sneak into their tent at night. WTF!! Shut The Front Door! (I wonder what Stacey and Clinton from What Not To Wear thought about Brüno if they saw it?!) How in the world does Sacha come up with this stuff...he's a crazy performance artist for sure! "Vatever"!!

That Bruno has got a lot of courage to be doing those crazy things! He was putting himself in all kinds of dangerous situations really...I'm surprised he wasn't beaten up or even killed!

We had a great Friday! We drove home with visions of Brüno dancing in our heads! We can't wait for the DVD to come out. Hopefuly there will be the deleted scene with LaToya Jackson.

Thank you so much Sacha Baron Cohen and all the crew for your movie!
See the Bruno Movie Official Website

We drove down to Stanstead, QC to do the first section of the Tomifobia bike trail today...what the heck is Tomifobia...the fear of Tommy?

The Tomifobia Nature Trail (TNT) is a 19-km rail-trail in the Tomifobia River Valley, between Rte. 141 in Ayers's Cliff, Quebec and Rte. 247 in Beebe (Stanstead), Quebec. Sentiers Massawippi, a non-profit charitable organization, purchased this property in 1993 from Canadian Pacific.

Commonly known as Sentiers Massawippi and running all the way to the U.S. border, the Tomifobia Nature Trail offers a ride through the heart of the Eastern Townships’ natural and architectural heritage. Running along a former rail bed, this trail offers cyclists a gentle excursion to Stanstead, where you’ll find the Colby-Curtis Museum, the Haskell Opera House and famous Canusa Street, with one side in Canada, the other in the United States.

The week before we started the search for the perfect nature trail in Ayers Cliff where we did a half dozen km's through the nature preserve...it was awesome! The first leg of the trip, from the information center to km 7 to be more specific, was lovely and flat and the sun shone as we drove along the Tomifobia river through forests and saw cows, ponds and flowers... it was so beautiful DD almost had a collision with another rider coming in the opposite direction. The second leg, from Stanstead to km 15 we had bike problems and I thought DD was going to rip a telephone pole in two pieces because her brakes jammed and the kick-stand was rubbing her tire!

Growwwwwl!!!

Next time we ride from Stanstead we will start at the head of the trail at km 19 instead of winding through town although we did get to see the locals and the houses for sale!

I think I liked the first section best but all in all it is a real nice bike ride on unpaved hard packed trails...no worry about roller bladers or high speed racers here...it's all about the beauty of nature!