Our Last Day in Vermont

We got some rain from Hannah over night, but today dawned bright and beautiful for our last day in the neighborhood. We had several chores to do today as is always the case when we are preparing to move to another location. Our next stop is in Gardnier, New York were we will be close to the train for an hour and a half ride into New York City. Our primary purpose is to visit with relatives, although we are hoping to get to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and Ground Zero. We anticipate a very full week so we wanted to get as many of our upcoming chores done today as possible.

At times like this we choose to divide and conquer. So Gene dropped me off at the grocery while he went on to Walmart to pick up his prescription. You may recall a previous post in which I described the difficulty we had experienced with New York state law regarding prescription drugs. After that initial encounter and our doctors called in new prescriptions, we had not had a problem. That is until today. Because we are usually in a different location each month and therefore the prescription has to be transferred from a different store, Gene likes to go to the Walmart pharmacy in person rather than calling in for a refill. Yesterday, he stopped by the pharmacy on our way back from Wilmington and spoke directly to what he described as an “80 year old pharmacists and a 12 year old assistant”. Today, when he returned to pick up his prescription, he was told he couldn’t get it filled. I had been able to get my prescription refilled, I guess I’m special. The problem, it seems, is that Gene’s prescription was new (well of course, New York law requires a new prescription) so they would not transfer it to New Hampshire where our closest Walmart is to this location. Apparently, New York requires that a prescription be filled at least once at the pharmacy in which it is originally ordered before they will transfer it to another location. That even includes any other New York location. So he has two options—drive 300 miles back to Geneva to get it filled or have his doctor to phone in another prescription. Guess we will be calling the doctor.

My grocery shopping went well. I expected Gene to be a while at the Walmart, so I got myself a cup of coffee and browsed up and down all the isles which resulted in buying much more than we really needed right now. Our plan was for Gene to pick me up at the grocery and we would stop by the 99 for lunch to go.

We had seen restaurants around the northeast called simply 99. It looked like a fun place and there is one right here in Brattleboro. We went in one night last week for dinner. Our receipt, when printed, came up as a survey ticket. All we had to do was call the 800 number and answer a few questions and we would receive a free appetizer. Free is good so as soon as we got home, Gene called and answered the questions. Our plan was to stop by 99 and get our appetizer to go after grocery shopping. That would be our lunch. This plan was foiled by a minor detail which our waitress failed to mention as well as the person on the survey call—free appetizer with purchase of entree. Well, now that’s not free at all. Lucky for us we had a car load of groceries any number of which could become our lunch.

We spent most of the afternoon checking air pressure, stowing lawn furniture, making sure the dishes would ride safely, and one last trip to the vegetable stand next door for fresh tomatoes and peaches. We’re ready to head out in the morning. I hear the Big Apple calling.