The phone sitting on the seat of my Tiger rings.

“Hey, babe. What’s going on?”

“I’m standing in a gas station eating a turkey sandwich. I’m at my turn around point. I just rode 300 miles to take a photo.”

On Sunday I opted to make the most of the waning summer weather and set off to Burlington, Vermont. My plan was to take a photo of the Whispering Giant that stands there in Battery Park.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. When you ride 300 miles to a place, you have to ride 300 miles back to return to where you came from.

Once I’d snapped my photos and had some Gatorade, I began my long trek back home. Knowing that I would be able to catch a late 10pm ferry if I had to, I opted to follow Vermont Route 100 south until the daylight ran out. No point in hurrying if I didn’t have to.

Though I’ve spent the last four decades going through the process, each autumn when the sun begins to set earlier it still smarts. That feeling of having to squeeze the last of the summer juice out of each day never gets any easier.

It was pretty great to spy a Tow-Mater made of hay along Route 7 in Vermont. There were several other hay sculptures along the way as well as a big metal robot-like man and a huge jug of maple syrup that I didn’t stop for. I hate when I do that. Now I’ll have to go back and check them out.

How many times do I have to tell myself – just stop for the damned thing!

I did manage to stop for this awesome jack-like sculpture made of fireplugs. It was right on the main drag in the town of Shelburne, Vermont. I had seen a photo of it on Tracy’s Instagram feed from when he was moseyin’ through the northeast. I couldn’t resist getting a closer look. Pretty nifty, huh?

This is Chief Grey Lock – the reason I found myself in Burlington, Vermont. There is something about the way his mouth and teeth are carved that I really like. He stands 24 feet tall to the top of his feathers and is in pretty good shape overall.

So after this visit, that leaves just one more Whispering Giant on my close proximity list, the one in Laconia, New Hampshire. Though I still have a few weeks before the grand tour comes to a close at the end of October, I’ll have to make a concerted effort to get up there to see it. But, I suppose anything is possible.