TAKIN BETZ: DAY 27 - THIS AND THAT

July 25th

The feast of the Lobsters was outstanding . Mark did a superb job of cooking them up. In addition to the lobsters (as if you need one), we had zucchini bread, corn on the cob, half a lb of melted butter and fresh fruit salad for dessert. Not to be outdone ….. we brought down a bottle of Ancient Ancient Age purchased from Buffalo Trace and Mark broke out his Woodford Reserve and we did a taste test. Ancient Ancient Age was the winner. In addition, Mark handed me a glass of beer he made from the hops growing alongside of the house. It was great…..I love hoppy beer.

All in all, it was a great evening and we were ready to call it a night when the rain starting seeping out of the sky. By the time we cleaned up and were back at the MH, it was coming down pretty good. Can’t remember the last time it rained here.

Spent the last two days working at the Ranger’s Hut. Not much going on in the campground during the week but hikers and bikers were making their way up the mountain road.

Lucy and Mark are gardeners extraordinaire! Flowers are blooming around the Ranger's Hut. What a treat it is to come down to the Ranger's Hut and pick some thyme or oregano or rosemary that grows in the garden alongside the building.

Aside from growing their own hops to make beer, Mark and Lucy are growing wonderful vegetables. All along the side of the house are tomato plants and cucumbers and squash.

It's getting close to being ready to eat.

The weather turned beautiful with low, low humidity and low, low temperatures. A north wind came through Tuesday night taking all the clouds away so the views up the mountain on Wednesday were the best. However, Thursday brought more rain, which we sorely need. The more rain we get, the more mushrooms we’ll find and Mark and Lucy have promised us a mushroom hike…. so pray for rain!

This weekend is the big BBQ/Beer Fest at Harpoon Brewery so our campground will be full and the whole area is abuzz.

Wednesday night we went over to Claremont to Ramuntos for pizza. Harpoon was on special so for every beer you bought you got a ticket and a chance to win prizes. After four beers and four tickets, one of our numbers came up!!!!!

We got two large 16 oz beer glasses with UFO lables, two Harpoon bumper stickers which are now on the MH and two Harpoon beer openers/key rings. We were happy. They were still pulling numbers when we left so passed our remaining tickets to the next table …. Hopefully they got something too.

July 27, 2012

Friday started off with rain. It rained all night and was still raining this morning. By noon it tapered off but still was a gloomy day so we decided to take a ride over towards Killington. Just down the road from the Plymouth turn off we saw Long Trail Brewery looming up! Oh my ….another brewery! It is located in Brigdewater Corners VT. Just in time for lunch so we stopped right in!

The name Long Trail has great significance here in Vermont.

THE LONG TRAIL is a hiking trail running the length of the state and is the oldest long-distance trail in the US constructed between 1910 and 1930 by the Green Mountain Club.

It starts near Williamstown, MA and ends at the Canadian Border near North Troy.

The Green Mountain Club is still the primary organization responsible for the trail. It runs along the ridge of the Green Mountains coinciding with the Appalachian Trail in southern Vermont. It traverses almost all of the Green Mountains ‘major summits including Glastenbury Mountain, Stratton, Killington Peak, Mount Abraham, Mount Ellen, Camel’s Hump, Mount Mansfield and Jay Peak.

Rightfully so, Vermont is very proud of this trail. With a little luck we’ll get to hike some part of it before we leave …. I think we’ll skip the major summits, however!

Finishing up lunch we headed down to Plymouth Vermont to see Coolidge State Park.

This park is beautiful. It was created in the 1930’s and sits on the side of the mountain. .

The tent and RV sites are wooded and secluded and there is an entire loop of lean-tos .

Some of the sites have the most beautiful views looking across the Black River Valley and Green Mountains.

There are several remote lean-to campsites far away from the rest of the campground. Camping in this remote lean-to, you would be looking at this............

The picnic area is beautiful looking out at Killington Mountain. Unfortunately we did not have a very good weather day and could not get the best shots.

KILLINGTON MOUNTAIN IN THE CLOUDS

Our plan is to come back on a nice day to hike the miles of trails in the park and visit Plymouth Notch, the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge.

Coming back through Plymouth, we could see the effects of Irene. This town suffered through the flooding. Plymouth was cut off with Route 100 wash out and other bridges leading to town being washed away.

The Black River which hardly has any water in it now, flowed over the banks and took out bridges and, in some cases, homes. Trees were toppled as the ground got so saturated the roots couldn’t hold them up. Unlike Florida where the water can drain quickly through the sandy soil, there is really no place for the water to go once it becomes overwhelming.

Hardly any water running in this creek now .... but it did some serious damage to the building below!