Vermont to New Hampshire

We have covered a lot of territory in the last several days. We left the town of Bennington on Hwy 7, also called Ethan Allen Highway, towards Rutland, VT. Along the way we saw many homes decorated for fall with bright yellow mums in pots on doorsteps, cornstalks propped up by porches and pumpkins stacked in yards. We made a "grocery stop" at Hannaford Supermarket and then drove to Killington, Heart of Green Mountains. We checked into Gifford Woods State Park and set up. Gene turned on the propane and I fixed fried chicken, potatoes and peas for supper. We slept well with the pitter patter of rain on the roof.

Thursday morning we drove back into Rutland to the Norman Rockwell Museum. The clouds looked like white crowns on the mountaintops as we drove into town. The Museum contained many covers from Saturday Evening Post, The Legion, and The Country Gentlemen covering several decades of his work. Picture taking is allowed and we both took our fair share. It was a delightful trip back to the past. The admission was only $5.00 each with AAA discount. I highly recommend a visit to this museum if you are in the area.

When we returned to our site, we took a short walk to where the Appalachian Trail crosses through the state park. We walked about 1/4 mile on it, but because of the rain, the trail was muddy and slippery in places. At least we can say we were on the Trail, even if it was only a short distance.

The rain and bit of wind had caused the trees to shed some leaves. In the quiet of the park one could hear the whisper of the leaves as they drifted down to the ground. They covered the picnic table and ground like a beautiful colored carpet. It's a lovely place.

We turned on the generator and ran the heat pump for awhile - it was in the low 50's - and turned on the propane for hot water for my shower. I enjoy camping, but I don't do showers in unheated bathhouses! We take up the carpet and mat, take the plug out of the floor, pull the shower curtain around and presto - our own private shower. All the comforts of home.

Gene downloaded pictures from our cameras while the generator was running. We have some very nice pictures of leaves which we will get added to our web album, hopefully in the next few days.

Friday morning we headed towards New Hampshire. Part of the joy of traveling is stopping to enjoy the sights, which we did. We saw a covered bridge at Taftsville, VT and Gene stopped to take pictures. While there, we went into the Taftsville Country Store and purchased a few items such as locally made strawberry jam and sourdough bread. There we learned of a family owned farm just up the road - Sugarbush Farm. We drove through the covered bridge up the hill to the farm. Three generations work the farm making cheese and maple syrup. We sampled several kinds of cheeses and maple syrups, made our purchases and were on the way again. You can order online from www.sugarbushfarm.com

Our next stop was Quechee Gorge, still on Hwy 4, where we took more pictures and ate lunch at Dana's Restaurant. We were beginning to think we wouldn't make it into New Hampshire with so many stops, but we crossed the state line about 2:30, stopped at the Visitor's Center for brochures and continued on our way.

Our destination was the Lake Winnipesaukee area where my parents vacationed one summer.
We found a lovely campground in Wolfeboro and settled in for a few days stay.

I'll continue this post tomorrow as there's a lot more to share.