06 Vermont Vacation

July 16-22, 2006

July 16, 2006   Sunday   Drive Pennsylvania to Vermont

Starting at 7:09, Anne and I drove from Hermitage, PA 626 miles to Ludlow, VT arriving at our rental house on Lake Rescue at 5:55. Our route followed I-80 east to I-81 north to I-84 east to I-91 north to VT-103 to VT-100. Kara and Jason with Logan and Maggie had arrived on Saturday and opened the cottage. Kevin and Looraine with Kelsey and Sean had also arrived on Saturday. Allison Mawe had arrived earlier today from New York. Kara was responsible for a group Mexican dinner and served tacos. It is very warm as it will be all week.

July 17, 2006   Monday   Hike to Echo Lake Overlook

Got up at 6:00 and ran a hilly 320' up and down 4.75 miles around Lake Rescue. I slipped my CLC West River 164 wooden kayak into Lake Rescue turned right through the narrows down the lake. I circled Discovery Island and stayed close to the right shore down to the Red Bridge dam overflow. Returning along the other shore I spotted the ski runs on Okemo protruding above the far shore. Passing back through the narrows I circled close to shore the upper lake. About an hour after putting in the water I had leisurely explored and photographed the lake covering about 3 miles. I did not explore for the Black River which feeds the lake.

Kevin had arranged for a group hike so everyone loaded into Kara's van and Kevin's station wagon and drove to Camp Plymouth State Park. Eleven of us started on the shore of Lake Echo and climbed to a high overlook of the lake. We ate blueberries as we climbed, even Logan ate some. Returning we passed through a cemetery with many stones with flags and metal stars marking the graves of soldiers killed in the civil war. We returned to our cars after 1.5 miles, half of it steep climbing, not bad for 2.5 year old Maggie and 8 months pregnant Kara having breathing problems.

Again it is very hot so we drive to the nearby Buttermilk Falls. Actually Buttermilk Falls is a series of three falls. We settled on the less crowded lower falls where we swam, explored the rocks and falls and the kids rafted in the current of the Black River. We stopped for a picnic lunch before moving to the now desserted and bigger middle falls. We spent a lot of time swimming here in the large pool below the falls. Everyone enjoyed the large rocks and being buffeted by the powerful falling water at the bottom of the falls. Before we left, I made a quick exploratory trip to the upper falls which were higher but split in two streams so not as spectacular.

Back at our cottage we all paddled to Discovery Island for a swim in Lake Rescue. Everyone enjoyed the rope swing and drop into the lake. Kelsey and Sean got into it and really enjoyed it. The wise mom's packed for an adventure snack to tide the little one's over until supper.

Anne and Dan were responsible for an Italian group meal so we had a chicken pasta salad which was nice in the hot weather.

July 18, 2006   Tuesday   Billings Farm and Museum

I got up at 6:00 and ran 4.75 miles around Lake Rescue in about 45 minutes including a stop to pick black raspberries. Anne and I rode our bikes 4.9 miles into Ludlow stopping at Java Babba's where we ran into Jason who had been using the internet. I had a milk and bagel, Anne a coffe and bagel all costing $6.29. We biked back to the cottage completing our 9.8 mile bike trip.

We drove to Woodstock in the two vehicles and stopped at the White Cottage for lunch and ice cream. The kids played in the river behind it. We continued on through Woodstock to the Billing's Farm and Museum. It is a working dairy farm of Jersey cows. The















cows are specially bred to be very boney looking emaciated, to produce more milk and are larger than the Jersey cows I grew up with in Pennsylvania. We went into the nursery and saw a calf 5 days old. There was a demonstration of how the milking machines worked presented with some statistics on

the cows. We walked around the manicured farm petting sheep and watching the diverse breeds of chickens in a coop. We saw one of the large ice houses where ice from the river was cut in the winter and stored for summer use. We went into the old house which is a museum. People in period costume were performing various chores in the office, kitchen, laundry, creamery, etc. The kids got to wear some of the clothes and participate in the various tasks.

On the way back to our cottage Long Trail Brewery located next to the river in Bridgewater Corners. We enjoyed some handcrafted ale with free popcorn and the kids played inside as we had periodic rain storms. I enjoyed the extensive collection of beer can from around the world including several Iron City beer cans with Pittsburgh Steeler pictures from their glory days in the 1970s.

Back at the cottage the kids went swimming again on Discovery Island as the weather had cleared and it was hot again. We ordered pizza delivered from Wicked Good Pizza that turned to be so so. The kids were tired and went to bed. Kara was craving ice cream so Jason and I drove to Ludlow and bought packed ice cream for everyone. It was good chasing the pizza.

July 19, 2006   Wednesday   Adventure Day at Killington and Pico

I got up at 6:00 and ran 4.75 miles around Lake Rescue. I'm beginning to develop friends as I see them out walking or running alone or with their dog. I have my usual orange juice, milk and bagel with cream cheese.

We drove to Killington and purchased adventure passes for Killington and Pico mountains. My senior pass for everything including bikes on the lifts was $35. My mountain bike rental was an additional $30. Allison, Kevin, Jason and I were moutain biking. Everyone took the lift to the top. We four biked down the easy green trails while the others ate at the mountain top restaurant. The trail down was mostly on rough old dirt roads with some neat single track through the woods. Back up to the top we ate a picnic lunch in the restaurant with the others. As we made our second run, the others descended to the bottom to play in the huge water slide and other activities. We split up with Allison following the same route down. I took a series of green trails that involved a little climbing and more single track. Kevin and Jason came down a short black diamond trail and then a couple of blue intermediate trails. We four returned for a third run. I tried the blue trails and more circuitous route near the bottom that involved some climbing, more than I wanted on this hot day. Kevin and Jason tried some black diamond trails with a lot of single track which caused them some difficulty.

We regrouped and drove about 5 miles to Pico. Lorraine climbed a climbing tower reaching the top. We headed for the alpine slide lift where I made 3 runs, two with Logan and one with Sean. Kelsey, Allison an Lorraine were enjoying the bungi corded trampoline. The guys and Kelsey played miniature golf.

We returned to the cottage and the kids headed for Discovery Island swimming with some adults. Kevin and Looraine were responsible for the group dinner of grilled salmon, salad, corn on the cob and blueberry pie with ice cream.

July 20, 2006   Thursday   Woodstock and a Hike

I got up at 6:00 and ran 4.75 miles around Lake Rescue. Anne and I biked to the Sweet Surrender bakery in Ludlow. There is a 7 day 500 mile charity bike ride in progress with a rest stop next to the bakery. The workers get us confused with the participants and we end up talking to them for some time. In the bakery I talked to the owner who just returned from Scotland. I have milk and a bagel with cream cheese and Anne has coffee with hers for breakfast costing $6.19. We returned to the cottage in 9.8 miles descending and climbing 175' in a leisurely 11.6 miles per hour round trip.

Today we are headed back to Woodstock so the girls can shop while Allison and the guys take the four kids on another hike. We drove through Woodstock to the village of Quechee and The Mill. We watch the 6-8 craftsmen including a glass blower making chimneyed



















candlabras. They are very friendly explaining what they are doing and answering questions. Everyone is fascinated. The candlabras were selling for $220 each in the Simon Pearce retail shop. We watched a potter making bowls and talked to him. We went down to the basement to see the 500 kilowatt hydraulic generator used to power The Mill and supply power to the grid. The decommissioned generated was restored in the mid 1980s with a 7' tunnel dug in the rock to provide a water supply to drive the mill. Outside we saw the restored dam and a covered bridge downstream.

Anne, Kara and Lorraine stayed for lunch at Simon Pearce while the rest of us drove out to see Quechee Gorge and then back to Woodstock. We ate a picnic lunch in a park. We started hiking from that park on what we thought would be a short and easy hike up to an overlook of Woodstock. It turned out to be many times further than we thought and much steeper. The kids did well as we hiked about an hour before Logan and time ran out. Allison, Sean and I hurried ahead to see if we could reach the top. We stopped at an overlook just short of the top and returned to the rest of the group. We retreated quickly back down the mountain while Jason adroitly handled simultaneous minor crises with the kids.

We prearranged to meet at the Long Trail Brewery on the way back to the cottage. The weather was beautiful so we sat on the deck while the kids played in the river next to us. We ordered some 6 beer samplers and then I had a pint of ale and a nachos platter.

Back at the cottage we grilled hamburgers and chicken which was served with salad and corn on the cob. Logan and Kelsey will be celebrating birthdays before we get together again so we opened a few small gifts and ate cake and ice cream.

July 21, 2006   Friday   Golf and Horses

I got up at 6:00 and ran 4.75 miles around Lake Rescue followed by orange juice, milk and a bagel.

Kara and Jason are packing up to head home today as is Allison. Kevin, Sean and Dan are headed the Tater Hill golf course in North Windham to play nine holes of golf. Sean is keen as he just won the best putter medal recently at golf camp. The course is beautiful and typical of the New England courses. Kevin and I would drive and Sean would tee it up beside the best drive and play the hole in from there. Sean hit some terrific shots over 100 yards and almost chipped the ball in from about 50 yards on #9. We returned to Ludlow to explore some narrow dirt mountain roads to find Lake Ninevah with no success. We returned to Ludlow for lunch at the Wood Fired Pizza which was very good. Sean ate a fourth of the 16" pizza which is a lot of pizza.

Meanwhile Kelsey, Anne and Lorraine went horseback riding. They got mounted on their horses and were immediately soaked in a deluge of rain. Disappointed, they drove to Rutland for lunch and manicures/pedicures to salve their feelings.

Kevin and Lorraine packed up and headed with Sean and Kelsey to the Fanconi Anemia camp at Camp Sunshine on Sebago Lake in Maine. Anne and I were alone at the cottage so we tidied up the cottage and packing things up to leave tomorrow. We drove to Shaw's in Ludlow and returned the many bottles for the deposit. We drove on VT-103 a few miles to Proctorsville where we stayed a few years ago on a Vermont bike ride. We returned to the cottage and ate leftover hamburger, chicken, salad, corn, pie, ice cream, etc. for supper. I packed the car with bicycles, golf clubs and kayak. Finished packing and went through the cottage room by room checking for things left behind and closing windows and each room as I went.

July 22, 2006   Saturday   Drive Home

I got up at 5:00 and ran 4.75 miles around Lake Rescue. I drank some orange juice and showered. We loaded the car, removed the trash and locked up a before departing at 7:02.

I drove east on VT-100 to south on VT-11 to south on VT-7 to south on VT-9 to south on NY-7. We stopped at the Country View Diner near Troy, NY for big brunch at $19.70 for two. We soon picked up I-87 south and missed our exit on I-84 so we continued on to I-287 south in New Jersey. We exited onto US-206 through Princeton to I-295 south to I-95 south in Delaware and into Maryland. We stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Bel Aire for supper at $27.02 for two. We continued on to the Baltimore Beltway I-695 to I-70 west to US-29 south to Columbia arriving home at 6:50 after 459.8 miles. We ran through periods of very heavy rain in New York, and Maryland interspersed with some sunshine,