expedition56

Connecticut – Wednesday, Sept. 26

As a quick postscript to the driving woes of yesterday, I wanted to mention that there actually was one section of road that was unexpectedly pretty – and that was the freeway running parallel to 95 to the north. It’s the Merritt Parkway, and I found it because I refused to get back on 95 for the drive to Yale. It really was a parkway, all green and commercial-free. I began to notice the bridges I was driving under – all concrete, but all different, and many of them incorporating works of art. I wished I had taken this highway in the morning, instead of the one closer to the water. But, I will be making this drive again in a few weeks, so I’m happy to know about it now!

I had stopped for the night near Branford, and decided to head along the coast to the east, figuring that things couldn’t be as crowded and congested as they were yesterday. The first town I stopped at was Guilford, and my faith in Connecticut was restored. Many towns have historic districts, but Guilford is actually listed on the National Historic Register of Places. It was a nice-sized town, with broad streets, plenty of parking, and a big green park in the center of town. It was wonderful to get out and walk around the park and town, and then we walked all the way out to the harbor. There were people fishing, and pleasure boats and work boats in the harbor. We covered 3.8 miles and I loved the whole walk. While walking back into town, I noticed a pretty stone house set in the grounds of a park, and there was a little visitor center, so once I had Tula back in the van, I drove out there to see what that was. It turned out to be the oldest stone house in all of New England; built in 1639 right on that very spot. I paid the admission fee to be able to go in and wander around the 3-story house, and listen to an introductory talk. It was a museum of life back then, although one house wouldn’t have had all the items that were shown in this house. Back in the early 1600s, there were still elements of medieval living – a fireplace so wide and deep (as the only source of heat and light in frigid New England winters) that there was a bench IN the fireplace where people could sit to try to stay warm. This house has been preserved because it was also built with defense in mind, and was a source of shelter in battle. It had 3 stories, and there was a big loom up on the 3rd floor. It was falling apart a bit, but it kind of boggles my mind that a loom hasn’t really changed too much in 400 years. After looking around at everything there, I went to the barn, which had a nice display of the local lighthouse (on an island, not accessible to tourists) – commercial ships don’t run aground on the shoals there anymore, but despite a working lighthouse, every summer a pleasure craft or 2 still runs into trouble. After the barn, I went into the small museum area in the visitor center which had some nice displays on the origins of Halloween and Thanksgiving. I never knew that Halloween had charitable roots – way back before the Victorian era, people used to give food to the poor on behalf of dead souls; in return for prayers for them. Those charitable roots were kind of lost until until about 1950 when a group of kids decided to collect spare change for the poor, using empty milk cartons. And I remember those little Unicef milk cartons!! It was a wonderful memory – of course, I don’t really remember if I actually collected spare change; I know as a kid I was much more interested in trick-or-treating for candy! But I remember taking the little milk carton along once or twice. The little museum had a donation box for Unicef (United Nations Children’s Fund), and that had to be my donation of the day – learning about the charitable roots of Halloween, and the fun memories of the Unicef boxes (they were passing them out yesterday too so I have one – don’t know how long it’ll survive on the journey!) made it a logical choice for a donation, even if it isn’t Halloween yet. The time and the place were right 🙂

I continued my pretty drive along the coast on Highway 1 – also called the Post Road because it was originally Indian trails, and then used as a postal route between Boston and New York – it still took a long time for mail to get that far. I purposely did not get out to walk in some of those towns, knowing I’d be back over the weekend at some point when some family is around. Then I came upon a causeway with a pedestrian sidewalk, and I did have to park and get out to walk across that. There was a swan in the water right next to where we started walking, and it was hissing up a storm – not a happy swan. At first Tula was oblivious, and then she was very intrigued with the hisssssing swan, and she kept putting her front paws up on the top of the little stone wall as if to say “Stop hissing – I only want to be friends…” It’s a good thing she was on her leash – not quite sure what she would have done! While crossing the causeway, I saw a little lighthouse, and wondered if I could make my way out near it. So after we were off the causeway, I turned into a beautiful yacht club/golf club area and there was a sign saying dogs were welcome as long as you pick up after them. We walked all around that area and there were some gorgoeus private homes with cedar shingle siding (I think!) I saw the lighthouse from a distance again, but couldn’t figure out how to get there. But it was a pretty walk and we got in almost 3 more miles by the time we walked back across the causeway. I finished off the last mile and a quarter in the next town before it got dark, then I decided since it was still in the low 70s, that I would camp near Mystic at the Seaport Campground. I got things organized before it started to sprinkle, and it was very cozy inside the van listening to the rain on the roof during the night. It was a wonderful day. By morning it was no longer raining. I didn’t love the campground – perhaps I’ve been a little spoiled by camping in the pretty state parks. I sure hope Connecticut is one of the few states that doesn’t allow dogs in their state parks!

Connecticut – Tuesday, Sept. 25

Southwest Connecticut – ugh!!! Heavy traffic, construction, too many people, hard to park, can’t see anything good because it’s so built up and commercial. Spent too much time in slow traffic…I KNEW the ocean was out there, but could barely get anywhere to see it!

My plans in the morning had been pretty simple. Since I was already in the middle of a small state, I thought I would head to the southwest corner of the state, on the Atlantic coast, and make my way east across the south end of the state. The most efficient way to get down there was the freeway, and that was probably my first mistake. I knew that the area I was headed for was a corridor for NYC traffic, but figured rush hour would be over by the time I got there. I now believe rush hour is never over in that part of the state, ever!

I got off the freeway several times to try to find a place to walk, but couldn’t find anything that looked semi-interesting, or safe for that matter. Just too much traffic! I got off again somewhere near Saugatuck, where a walk by the river looked okay, but I could only see the river for the first 100 yards or so, then it vanished behind more commercial buildings, people and traffic. The sidewalks got skinny (apparently nobody walks anywhere in some of these places!) and although I did get 2 miles in, they will be pretty far down on the ‘enjoyable walk’ list. Although I was going to go all the way down to Greenwich, I had had enough of the traffic, and decided to head inland. That was a bit better. I came to the town of New Canaan, and although that was at least a nice place to walk through, it was still crowded with lots of traffic so I didn’t go too far. I headed north out of town to the New Canaan Nature Center, and that was a welcome refuge after the morning’s chaotic mess! This was a place that welcomed dogs (even had water dishes out for them, and treats on the front desk – how quickly Tula learns!) There were 2 miles of trails and we walked on all of them, and some of them were nice boardwalk trails. They often host school and scout groups for nature events, although only a few other people were around today, which was fine by me! It’s an environmental education and sanctuary sort of place, and I was very happy to give them my donation today! They definitely provided a sanctuary for me!

Feeling recharged, I decided to end the day as I had originally planned with a long walk around Yale and its town. Considering some of the neighborhoods I went through on my approach to Yale, I began to wonder if my map was correct. It was. Two very different worlds seem to live side-by-side. Since it was after 5 (bad traffic again to get there) I was able to get a nice parking spot right in front of the School of Music (still had to pay the meter-which takes credit cards!)and we spent over an hour and a half walking all around the campus area and a little bit of town. We walked all around the blocks and quadrangles of buildings, and then when gates were open, we went into the quadrangles – so grassy and peaceful and so much pretty architecture. We walked on all those sidewalks too. There were lots of foreign students – I heard several different languages. I think I walked by everything twice as I was wanting to finish my miles, but didn’t want to venture too terribly far from the campus. By dusk security officers were coming out and just standing around in numerous locations. I asked if there was some event going on, and he said they were just there as a deterrent. I knew it was time to leave. Traffic was still pretty heavy, and I just headed east a ways to get out of all the congestion, and called it a day.

Ironically, my brother had sent me a message about southwest Connecticut and to avoid it if possible – he has apparently had the same experience that I did – but, I got the message the morning after I’d already been there. Thanks for trying, Erik!!

Connecticut – Monday, Sept. 24

I didn’t think I’d actually get into Connecticut with any time to do anything, but the drive through Massachusetts went faster than I expected – only about 50 miles! These states are small out here! So it was 6:40, and there was still enough light to be able to head out for my first Connecticut walk in Canaan, which was the first town I came to. It was a pleasant town with nice surrounding neighborhoods, and lights started coming on, and we actually hoofed along pretty fast and covered 3.2 miles. I was glad to get that much in. It was dark when we got back, and I made a quick preliminary check of state parks that have camping, and was somewhat dismayed to see that dogs are not allowed in any of them. Boooo! So I just made a few phone calls and got a reasonable pet-friendly motel room outside of Hartford, so I had to drive a little bit, but that’s never a problem!

Vermont – Monday, Sept. 24

Today is “state transition day” – finishing up with Vermont, and heading to……Connecticut! (This was not the original order of how I was going to visit states, but my sister and some of her family will be in Hartford this weekend for a wedding, so it’s a good opportunity to catch up with them for a visit, and some walking – haha!)

But before I leave Vermont, I still have my last donation to make, and a Covered Bridge Scavenger Hunt to go on. I had not yet sent a care package to someone in the military, and that’s something I want to do every week, so the unit I got an address for is an air force unit in Afghanistan – their requests were for green socks of all sizes (I couldn’t find those – may have to find an army supply store or something and mail another box); travel-size toiletries, especially shampoo; snacks; and puzzle books/books/dvds. I ended up getting 4 puzzle books, about 30 sample size shampoos and conditioners, body wash and lotion; trail mix, nuts and Halloween candy. The Wal-Mart I went to was one I had passed several times on the rainy night coming into town, but when I wanted to find it, was it easy to do so? No! I knew it was in town, and had to stop twice to ask directions – the GPS failed me for one of the few times so far. And then I headed south toward the Massachusetts border, and found a post office in Manchester, and took care of the customs forms and packaging up the goodies. Then Tula and I got in a couple of our few remaining Vermont miles of walking, and passed the flagship store for Orvis, and the American Fly Fishing Museum and the Orvis outlet – it was all in a pretty area on the outskirts of Manchester.

Then I was off on a scavenger hunt to find the 5 covered bridges in this local area before leaving the state. I had directions, but was following them backwards since I was going from north to south instead of vice versa. I drove through pretty countryside and small towns, and was successful in finding, and driving and walking across, all bridges. The last town before the border was Bennington, and Tula and I walked the last mile and a half, and then at 5:15 we drove out of Vermont, into Massachusetts en route to Connecticut.

I don’t know anything about Connecticut, and haven’t even looked at a map. All I know is I’ll be entering the northwest side of the state, since that’s logical from where I’m coming from, and I’m driving into a blank chapter that I’ll soon start filling up!

Vermont – Sunday, Sept. 23

I was staying 2 nights at this motel (my self-imposed rule of staying 2 consecutive nights somewhere each week to catch up with things…or try to!)and breakfast was included, so I didn’t have to pack up, and after a few helpful suggestions from the proprietor once he knew what direction I was headed in, I drove east to Woodstock. My intent was to maybe stay an hour or so and walk a couple miles, and then move on. But that didn’t happen! I loved the town, and the walk turned into a 7 1/2 mile, 4+ hour delight all in all. The town is very picturesque in a Norman Rockwell sort of way, with a nice central park, lots of pretty shops, and beautifully-maintained homes. I just kept walking! We ventured a little north of town and I stumbled across Vermont’s only national park site – the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. In the back of my head, I knew Vermont had 1 national park, but I had forgotten about it, and where exactly it was located. The grounds are extensive with a working farm and numerous museums and a house to tour. I couldn’t go into the visitor center at that moment since Tula was with me, but I headed up there anyway to see what the dog policy was as far as being outside on the grounds, and I bumped into a lady walking 2 large Bernese Mountain dogs. She told me about a trail leading up the mountain to a pond (all part of the national park property) and said it was about 2 1/2 – 3 miles. So we set off shortly behind her and even though it was uphill for the first mile or so, it was a beautiful walk. There were a couple places where stone fountains were available for your horse if you happened to be riding, but they work for big dogs too! They didn’t go all the way up and I met them again on their way down. Once they were out of sight, I felt like I had the whole mountain to myself, and I let Tula off the leash. The big pond near the top was pretty and there was another 3/4 mile trail around that. Once we were nearly done walking around the pond, Tula couldn’t resist a quick swim. I think it was pretty cold, because she scampered out quickly and then ran around like a wild little puppy! I was happy we had miles to go before getting in the car, and she dried off somewhat on our walk back down. I had grabbed one of the national park pamphlets in a garage/museum partway up the mountain that had several carriages and other conveyances behind glass. I read through that, and became aware that the 3 families who the park is named after were very forward-thinking in their ideas and practices of good stewardship of the land and its resources. So I started to think about looking into a donation of some sort connected to that. When we had made it back down the mountain, Tula was still a little damp, but that didn’t stop 2 nice ladies from stopping to chat. I do meet some nice people!

I still had one other part of town to walk through, and there was another covered bridge, so I walked over that and into another neighborhood. Then we finished our long walk through the park where I read the historical sign, and learned that Woodstock was the site of the first ski-tow in the country, and is the only town in America to still have 5 church bells that were cast by Paul Revere and Company. And maybe the churches were part of the charm on this particular day – since it was Sunday morning when I first arrived, the churches were all crowded, and now and then the bells would chime, and it all added to the wonderful day. But, finally, our walk came to an end. After a little more research in the car, I discovered that The Woodstock Foundation is connected to the national park, and the funds are used for education, conservation and continued good stewardship of resources, so I knew I had to return to the visitor center to make a donation. They seemed very pleased, and also very interested in what I’m doing, and one of the ladies suggested I hurry into the theatre room where a 30 minute movie about the history of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller families was just beginning. She told me I might be even happier about donating to the Woodstock Foundation after watching the movie. And she was right!

After a quick stop at the general store to look around, and at The Village Butcher next door (which was also a deli) I ended up with some good split-pea soup and a corned beef sandwich before heading a few miles to my next stop – Quechee Gorge. On the way up, I passed a “broken” covered bridge (missing part of its span and I don’t know if repairs are under way.) The gorge was beautiful, viewed from the high-up bridge. I walked my last 1/2 mile there while Tula slept.

Then, about 15 more miles to the last stop of the day – the longest 2-span covered bridge in the world. And it was worth the drive. It was a huge beautiful bridge, with 2 lanes (most covered bridges are one lane bridges)and a sign warning people not to trot their horses on the bridge or there’ll be a $2 fine. No fines for me! The bridge spans the Connecticut River and connects Vermont to New Hampshire. I drove, and walked, across it in both directions.

I was happy to have a room waiting back at the Killington Pico Motor Inn.

Vermont – Saturday, Sept. 22

As soon as I had packed things up and put everything away, Tula and I went on a mile walk around the campground since we had walked on the trails last night. Then I left Island Pond and was off to Newport and Lake Memphremagog, which Vermont shares with the province of Quebec. This area of Vermont is known as the Northeast Kingdom. I had wanted to head in this direction on my 2nd day in Vermont, but I didn’t have much info on lodging and the weather was bad so I didn’t want to camp. That’s when I sort of backtracked (although that ended up well enough!) So I was happy to be able to get there after all. On the way, we stopped in the town of Derby and walked another mile along Main Street. I have already walked on so many Main Streets that I have lost count. Maybe I’ll try to keep better track of that!

Newport was only about 5 miles further along and it was a charming lakeside town, with pedestrian boardwalks, bike paths, lots of places to stop and enjoy the lake view, and since it was a Saturday, there were lots of big sailboats out. White sails, blue water and sunny skies – a beautiful day! Tula and I walked a couple miles all around town and down by the waterfront. Lake Memphremagog was named by the Algonkians, and it means “where there is a big expanse of water”. Folklore also suggests there is a monster in the deep, named Memphre, and Memphre has been spotted on occasion from the 18th century up until 2000. I imagine he’s just biding his time to make another appearance! I was going to head back to the town park and the Farmers Market, but I was a little too late for that. I stopped by the visitors center to see if there were any other good trails around, and the guy told me how to get to another rail trail that ran alongside the lake. And I’m so glad I asked! We did 4 miles of easy walking along the lake (that’s the thing about rail trails – they’re mostly flat!)and a lot of people were out walking dogs, jogging and riding bikes. Tula made several new doggie friends.

We were both ready to sit for a while once we returned to the car since we had just walked 7 miles with only about a 10 minute break between towns. And that’s what I wanted because I was going to spend the afternoon driving down the center of the state through the Green Mountains.

I did not make a donation today – since Thursday was a double donation day, I let it go since I was ahead by one. I researched a little in Newport, but their aid programs are tied to the same organization that my hunger walk contribution from yesterday will go to, and although there’s no reason to not make a donation to the same organization twice, I decided not to.

It was a beautiful drive along the mountain range – passing through lots of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them-towns still served by small general stores. My goal for the day was Woodstock, but when I got to the end of the road I’d been on, I mistakenly turned west instead of east, and didn’t realize it for quite some time! By now it was raining and getting dark, and I got turned around in one town, and I knew I’d have to change plans and stop sooner. But many of the motels were full, or really expensive, or had just rented out their last pet room. So I was going to have to push on a bit. But then I stumbled upon a little gem of a motel with knotty pine rooms that still had a few available, was fairly priced and didn’t charge extra for Tula. All of a sudden I didn’t mind making a wrong turn and I was happy to come in out of the rain!

Vermont – Friday Sept. 21

I decided to head to the northeast part of the state – most of the
little villages I drove through were too small to get out and do any walking, and the dog and I were getting restless. Then I ended up in Cabot, another small village, but this one had a lot of stainless steel towers – it was a large dairy and cheese making co-op. I stopped in the visitor center and tours were just $2 and one was getting ready to leave, so I joined. The co-op unites 1200 farms in the area, and gives them all a market for their milk output. The dairy here not only made cheese, but also cottage cheese, yogurt and sour cream, and some special butter. The cheese making was nearly identical to what I saw at Shelburne Farm, and again, they were making Vermont cheddar. All cheddar should be a natural color like mozzarella, but for some reason, in some areas (like Michigan) lots of cheddar cheese is colored orange. I think I always thought cheddar cheese was orange, and it didn’t occur to me that that is not the actual color of milk! I asked the tour guide why some markets want their cheddar cheese orange, and she didnt know!

They had lots of different kinds of cheese to sample, and encouraged us to try as much as we wanted. I ate about as much cheese as I can in a sitting, and tried a couple of their dips too.

After driving a bit farther north, we came to St Johnsbury, which was a big town good for a long walk. They have a boarding school there – St Johnsbury Academy – and since it was quiet at that end of town, that’s where I parked the van. Tula and I got ready for a long walk, and as always, I double checked to make sure I had my keys before shutting the doors. I had the keys, so I carefully locked up, and we set out for a good hour’s walk around town and into adjoining neighborhoods. However, locking the door and actually closing it are 2 completely different things. Imagine my dismay upon returning an hour later to realize I had left the sliding door on the side if the van wide open the whole time, facing the road. And I hadn’t taken anything with me other than the dog and her leash. And nothing was missing. Of course, the door that was open was “Tula’s” door – she has a lot of space in the van, and from the dog bed and water dish, it was apparent that a large dog belonged in there, and that may have helped. I was so grateful that everything was where I left it, that I knew I had to make my donation in St Johnsburg. So I spent a little time researching some possibilities, and it came down to either a food pantry or an “umbrella” organization for women and children. Ideally, I would have liked my donation to have something to do with the St Johnsbury Academy, since my things were safe on their grounds, but I couldn’t find anything. So I decided to drive by the 2 addresses for the donation possibilities, but first I had to drive the route I had just walked to see how far I had gone, and I had covered almost 3 miles. As I returned to my original parking space, I noticed all the students gathering on a grassy area, and I assumed it was some sort of pep assembly since it was a Friday afternoon and I had seen cheerleaders and guys wearing football jerseys. But the kids kept gathering – hundreds of them – and they left their backpacks in piles under the trees. Then I began to see signs – and it became apparent that they were about to begin a hunger walk – the signs said things like “End Childhood Hunger Now” and I knew the kids often collected pledges to raise money to fight hunger. And my immediate thought was “perfect timing!!!” I wanted to talk to one of the teachers/adults about making a donation. But they were busy getting the kids organized, and I watched them all stream out – nearly 1000 of them. The police were out to stop traffic while they crossed streets, and it was an impressive sight. I eventually found a police officer to ask about the event, and he told me where the administrative offices for the academy were, so I drove there and made a donation – feeling very happy that I could make a donation to the school (which eventually goes to the big food pantry in town) like I had originally wanted to do after finding all of my things safe and sound!

On that happy note I headed north to Lyndonville, where I got another couple miles of walking in. It was a beautiful day in the low 70s and I decided to camp at Brighton State Park by Island Pond. The campground was about 75% full – probably because it was a weekend night and a warm day. I got a good spot, then we went out and walked on all of the park’s trails to finish off the 8 miles. We got back as it was getting dark and got everything set up. I heard some really strange loud noises from some animal or bird that I couldn’t identify – must have been some kind of bird, but nothing I’d heard before!

Vermont – Thursday Sept. 20

After my chilly night, I headed down the mountain, and soon came to Waterbury, which I had driven through yesterday but this time I stopped to walk. Before walking though, I called the Vermont Food Bank, which is part of the feedingamerica.org network since I was in the vicinity. The guy I spoke with said they can always use non-perishable goods, but he mentioned peanut butter, tuna and diapers in particular. So I knew I would be shopping after my walk. Waterbury was a fun town to walk in and I walked all through town and into the nearby neighborhood, and covered nearly 3 miles. Along the way, I happened to run into another lady out walking her dog (and it was a slightly smaller version of your dog, Erik) and both dogs were friendly and as they were getting acquainted, she and I began to chat. Her dog had been a therapy dog that she had fostered and she got him back because he had some health issues. Then she told that she’s an occupational therapist and does some equine therapy for a relatively new program. She wondered what I was doing in town from Michigan, and as I explained, I knew that I would be making another donation for the day to an equine therapy program. So it was a double donation day, and I didn’t have anything to write with, but managed to remember the name of the business and got the check sent off a day or so later. We each continued on our way, and then bumped into each other on the other side of town! I really enjoyed the fact that a random encounter while out walking dogs led to a fun donation opportunity.

By and large, Tula gets lots of comments – lots of “Hi Buddy” “Hi Puppy” “I like your dog” and people are very complimentary about what a nice looking dog she is. For the most part, she’s good with people who want to pet her – the only group she is shy around is the 5-6 yr old range, and then she just tries to hide behind me. At a train station, we encountered an emotionally impaired young lady with a companion, and they asked permission to pet her, and the young lady was mesmerized – kept stroking her head and Tula was very tolerant. Everybody loves a lab!

Anyway, I had parked at the train station, and there was a little cafe inside, so I enjoyed some broccoli quiche before finding a Price Chopper store to do my shopping for the food bank. And then it was quite a drive up a mountain to find that place! They were tucked away in an industrial complex. Like the other feedingamerica.org place I donated to in Pennsylvania, it was big, and serves a wide variety of programs. Once I got that dropped off, I realized I was only a stone’s throw away from Rock of Ages – one of the biggest granite quarries in the nation (I actually think she said the quarry I saw was the deepest one in the world.) I made the short drive over there, and the tours didn’t cost much, so I hopped on the bus and we went up to the quarry. It’s mind boggling. The granite at this locations is such a smooth, fine grained granite, that the majority of it is used for headstones and monuments in cemeteries. Every quarry has a different color and grade of granite, and this one is prized by artists because of its texture. It’s extremely heavy – a cubic foot alone weighs 170 pounds. They don’t use dynamite anymore because that led to a lot of waste; instead they use big drills or wire saws to carve out room-sized chunks that weigh tons, and that is then cut into slabs. It can take 6 weeks before a “chunk” is sufficiently drilled or sawed to hoist out. And the. They need trucks with special gearing, and even the surrounding roads were built with the granite in mind. Then I went into the cavernous warehouse – like the size of a football field or bigger – and could watch everyone at work on different phases of projects – from cutting to sandblasting to carving and the other artistry. They have a nice pulley/cable system to move the heavy pieces relatively easily. It was fascinating – again, one of those things I never really thought about before. So that was a fun little detour.

And right in front of the warehouse was a nice bike/walking trail, so I got Tula out of the car, and we walked another 3 miles. I knew I wanted to backtrack a few miles to walk in Montpelier, the capital. On my way there, I found a reasonable motel to stay at. Part of the motel is under renovation, and the proprietor told me it was Vermont’s first-ever motel back in the 50s or 60s.

Montpelier was a fun town to walk through, with a very elegant Capitol building tucked right up against the side of a mountain. It had more of a small-town feel than most of the state capital cities I’ve visited. So the last 2 miles of the day were very enjoyable.

A few pictures will follow when I have wireless service!

Vermont – Wednesday Sept. 19

It ended up raining most of the night, but was sunny and clear this morning. I had read a little about the Shelburne area, and I wanted to do some walking at Shelburne Farms, which is a 1400 acre working farm, with an on-site organic bakery and cheese-making, and nearly 8 miles of trails around the farm. I decided to do the 4.5 trail that sort of looped around a lot of the farm, and had to leave Tula in the car because of the animals and visiting school groups. The farm was gorgeous, and the huge building that housed the education areas, bakery, cheese-making operations etc was one of the most interesting buildings I’ve seen. My walk took me around the animal enclosures, big gardens, bigger meadows, through the woods and by the shore of Lake Champlain (again – it’s about 120 miles long). When I got back to the big barn building, the cheese-making process for the day was well under way, and they were getting ready to drain the whey from the curds. They use over 5000 pounds of milk, a day, from their own cows, and end up making about 500 pounds of Vermont cheddar 7 days a week (as the guy said, they haven’t been able to train the cows to give milk only on Monday – Friday, so it’s a 7-day-a-week operation). Once the whey was drained, the cheesemaker started working on packing it to squeeze even more liquid out – it’s a very labor-intensive process that needs a strong back! I sampled some of the different cheeses.

I also stopped by the bakery where they’re baking and cooling bread on big wire racks all day – I can say the chocolate croissants are very good!

The farm had several school groups touring, and they have a whole education wing in the farmhouse, and their mission is to “cultivate a conservation ethic for a sustainable future.” It was pretty much a no-brainer that Shelburne Farm would be my donation of the day.

After the farm, I drove a short distance to a big park to get Tula out since she’d been left in the van for a couple hours – I got in another 1 1/2 miles of walking with her. Then I began to suffer from a severe calcium shortage and I knew I had to go on the Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour where I would be fed ice cream – I was miraculously cured! The tour was fun and I learned a lot about the background of their ice cream and we got to watch the plant at work – the flavor they were making today was their version of mint chocolate chip, which I wrongly assumed would be the sample of the day. Instead, the sample of the day (we had no choice) was perfect for my American adventure – it was AmeriCone Dream – vanilla ice cream with a little caramel and chocolate covered waffle cone chunks stirred in – YUM! I had not realized that this company strongly supports Fair Trade and environmental practices – it was nice visiting 2 businesses today that think beyond just their profit statements.

At this point I was close to Stowe, and I figured no visit to Vermont would be complete without visiting Stowe. And oddly enough, it did not live up to my expectations. Maybe it was the time of day or something, but I found it to be crowded and congested (and the leaf-peepers are not out in full force yet because the colors haven’t changed a lot), and almost difficult as a pedestrian to have to frequently cross busy streets – it just wasn’t the enjoyable walk that so many of them are. I had to pay so much attention to traffic and other people, I didn’t enjoy the actual town as much. And maybe snow and holiday lights add more to the charm. I finished my 2 miles of walking, and didn’t mind leaving town!

At this point I needed to figure out where to stay. I am finding that Vermont doesn’t seem to have as much “affordable” lodging as PA and NY had. There’s plenty of choices if you want resort-type accomodations, or historic inns, or bed-and-breakfasts, but those types of places don’t suit someone on a budget with a dog! And I didn’t want to drive halfway across the state in the evening (not that that would have been so far considering it’s a skinny state!) So I decided to camp nearby at Little River State Park, even though I knew it would be a chilly night. I got everything set up, and then spent an hour in the van writing in my journal while Tula slept on the air mattress – if I’d been out writing at the picnic table as usual, she would have been lying on the damp cold ground, and I didn’t want to do that to her. I heated up the van good before trying to sleep, but it was chilly, and I had to start the van twice throughout the night to warm up enough to fall back to sleep. Serves me right for being stubborn about motel costs!

Vermont – Tuesday Sept. 18

Tula and I headed out for a walk in the state park first thing before we left – it’s an overcast day and rain is in the air. We got 1.8 miles in and finished just as it began to rain. So I finished my drive south through the rest of the islands in a light rain – cozy inside the van though. I got a breakfast sandwich at a little general store on one of the islands, and we crossed over into civilization – near Burlington. As long as it was raining, I decided to research different charitable organizations in the area, and thought the local Ronald McDonald House would be a good one for the day. I called them to see if there was anything in particular they needed, and the lady I spoke with told me how to find their “wish list”, but what they were most in need of at the moment was laundry detergent and paper towels. I found their wish list, and added a couple other things to my list. I really enjoy doing this, and it’s more fun after I’ve talked to someone to see what the needs currently are. But then I had to find a store – ended up finding a WalMart a little outside of Burlington. and bought 4 big bottles of laundry detergent, 2 8-packs of paper towels, a couple boxes of garbage bags and some tin foil. Then I drove the few miles back to Burlington, and found the Ronald McDonald House. I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen one before (thankful once again for healthy kids), and this one is for the families of children who are receiving treatment at the Vermont Children’s Hospital at the Fletcher Allen Health Center. Ronald McDonald Houses provide temporary lodging, emotional support and comfort.

By this time, the rain had let up temporarily, so Tula and I got in another 1.8 miles – it’s a college town and was fun to wander the main streets and they’ve totally closed off one of the streets to cars so it’s only pedestrian traffic. Tula delighted in frightening the pigeons looking for crumbs – even on her leash she was able to make a short dash for them. It was still wet out, and misting a little, so it was a good thing I have towels along.

Then I headed north to St. Albans, and left Tula in the car and got in another 2 miles of walking around that town, around the park in the center and down “church row”. There’s lots of churches in these towns – sometimes 3 or 4 nearly right next to each other. And sometimes the chimes toll the hour, and then follow with a hymn – it’s pretty when that happens. I headed out to the east shore of Lake Champlain and followed it up to Swanton – the last town before the Canadian border (many of the signs around here are in both English and French, since I’m close to the province of Quebec). I wanted to stay there for the night and finish my walking in that town, but their one motel was full, and with the weather being a bit iffy, I didn’t want to start heading across the northern border of Vermont where there’s not a lot of towns. So I turned around, and briefly considered camping at another state park on this side of the lake since the rain had let up a bit, but the winds were picking up and skies were still gray, so I abandoned that idea. But I did stop at KillKare State Park to finish most of the walking – the park seemed mostly to be a boat ramp, but I left the van there, and Tula and I got in a mile and a half of walking by the lake in a very light rain, but winds that were really beginning to pick up. I was relieved I wasn’t camping. The lake was rough – whitecaps and pounding waves, and I was in a bay! So different from yesterday when it was calm and smooth. Tula and I got hit by falling acorns, and leaves and small sticks were being ripped off trees, so I figured it was time to end the walk, even though it was wild and beautiful. I ended up backtracking all the way to Burlington (finished the last mile of walking in the night-lit streets of St Albans in the rain (no available motels there either) and was happy to get into a clean dry room down in Burlington. It poured so hard on the drive from St Albans to Burlington that freeway traffic was reduced to 35-40mph. And it continues to pour, but should let up by morning. But, I got my 8 miles in! So, I’m kind of back to near where I started this morning; mostly because of weather; but maybe there’s a reason for that…but I enjoyed the northwest corner of the state that I spent time in.