We’ve been here a week now and are loving it. I’m working in the Ranger’s Hut and Dave is doing whatever needs to be done around the campground. The temps have been warm but it does cool down at night so sleeping is fine.
IT’S A DOG’S LIFE….AFTER ALL!
Billy has his routine pretty well set. We go out in the afternoon to play….I hand him his tennis ball and he carries it over to the athletic field. We make sure there isn’t anyone else there, especially if they have balls of their own because that NEVER seems to work out, and then I release Billy from the leash, he drops the ball and we begin the game of catch. He’d make a great outfielder … loves to catch the balls in the air before they land or just after the bounce. He doesn’t know how to pace himself, so after about five minutes or so, his tongue is hanging out and he sags to the ground cradling the tennis ball in his arms. We leash back up, he picks up the ball and we go back to the MH. Not a bad life for a dog!
When he goes
down to visit Gus he is much more interested in Gus’ toys than actually
interacting with Gus. Gus , on the other
hand, is a dog’s dog and loves to play.
Billy beelined it to Gus’ three toys in the yard, a large yellow bone, a
Frisbee and a ball. At first Billy tried
to put all three toys in his mouth at the same time; then he tried to herd them
into a circle so he could keep track of them.
All this time Gus is trying to play with Billy. Billy was beside himself trying to figure out
which toy to guard and finally had to pick one and sat on top of it.
Actually, Gus could have cared less about the
toys, he just wanted to play. It was
hell getting the leash on Billy and getting him to release the toy so we could
go back to the MH. It’s a dog’s life!
WOODSTOCK VT ….QUINTESSENTIAL NEW ENGLAND
VILLAGE
Friday was our
day off so we drove over to Woodstock to check it out. Woodstock is the quintessential New England
Village. It is the Shire town of Windsor
County, the county seat. The homes in
this town are beautifully restored and the town’s central square, called the
Green, is bordered by homes dating back to 1801.
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| 1830 ... LOVE THE WOOD CARVING ABOVE THE WINDOWS |
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| BUILT IN 1801 - REMINDS ME OF WINDSOR CT WHERE I GREW UP |
We parked and
walked around a bit. Shopped in the
Woodstock General Store where I picked up some more maple sugar candy….can’t
get enough of it!
We then walked down to
another shop and tried Farmstead Cheese which was delicious….purchased some
wonderful local Vermont cheese.
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| LOVELY QUAINT SHOPS IN BEAUTIFUL OLD BUILDINGS |
Mark
told us we had to get some ice cream at the Creamery so of course we headed off
across the street. I love that when you
go into a crosswalk all the traffic stops.
Makes me feel important…makes me want to rush across the street…makes me
want to thank the drivers for stopping!
I had a bowl of …. Vermont maple walnut and day had a bowl of
strawberry. It was very, very , very
good!
We drove out of
town to see what else there was to see.
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| WOODSTOCK WOODEN BRIDGE 1969 |
I found a covered bridge, it was built in 1969. Guess that’s old by today’s standards.
As we drove west I could see some of the
damage caused by TS Irene. The river
barely had water in it idly flowing over rocks but way up the bank you could
see where the land had been gouged out and trees were still down. It must have been roaring through here.
We stopped at Woodstock Farmers Market which
is a standing store with wonderful organic vegetables and meats and lots of
other stuff. Reminded of Poppy’s Market
in Brevard where I loved to shop.
Smelled their tomatoes and they smelled like tomatoes so bought a couple
at $4.79/pound. It was worth it. Picked up some stunning zucchini and yellow
squash so was a happy shopping when we left.
Even happier when I found out it was all less than $10!
They had pictures of the flooding and this place was not spared. Amazing how a little stream can turn into a torrent!
We’ll definitely
come back here. Want to take pictures
of all the beautiful old homes.
HARPOON ….. AGAIN
The drive back
to Windsor was beautiful….as was the drive over. We headed for Harpoon Brewery for dinner. Still love that IPA Rye, then home to our Mt
Ascutney home.
Did some laundry
and hung out at the Ranger’s Hut.
Sometime just before
dark a couple came in on their touring bicycles. They were from Seattle and flew their bikes
to Boston, took the Fast Cat ferry to Province Town, MA, biked up Cape Cod and
down the Connecticut shore and then up to Vermont heading for Montreal where
they will return to Seattle with their bikes.
Soooo cool.
JULY 7th
….Saturday we worked and it was a steady stream of day use coming in to drive
to the top, hike around the top and bicycle to the top.
Had a guy come in from South Jersey who was
going to compete in the Mt Washington bicycle race. He said he wanted to get a feel for the elevation
gain so thought he should try Ascutney.
Ascutney is ½ the length of Mt Washington. Sometime later he was standing at the window,
dripping wet, looking at the map and asked how far the parking lot was; that
was how far he had gotten and figured it was about three miles. I have my own version of the map with details
on it and said it was 1.9 miles. He
sagged and said, OK. Off he went to go
again. Caught up with him later in the
afternoon and he was successful getting to the top and managed to fulfill his
goal.
Several other
cyclists came through and biked to the top and we had hikers of all levels;
some going back out to hike the Weathersfield Trail and some driving to the top
to hike Brownville Rock (where we were July 3rd) or the lookout
tower; and some were just going up; bringing their visitors to see the beauty
of the Connecticut Valley from the top of Ascutney.
Had a guy come
in to camp for the night. He was heading
over to Rutland to do some practice hang gliding. He was just getting started so wasn’t ready
for Mt Ascutney yet.
In the evening we rode
up to the top to “clear the road”; make sure no one was still up there before
we closed the road. A car was parked
alongside the road; said they were letting their brakes cool down. When I first got here I smelled a funny smell
that I thought might be some bio-fuel the cars were burning. What I was smelling was burning brakes from
coming down the mountain.
On the way up I
saw a HUGE porcupine. I had seen babies
along the road but this guy was big. I
got out of the truck to get his picture; didn’t want to get within “quill
distance” but got close enough to see his head quills start to rise. He then waddled off into the bushes. It was a hot sultry day so the views were
hazy from the top but still breathtaking.
When we got back
down to the bottom there was a family on touring bikes….mom, dad, two girls
about 7 and 12. They were biking all
over Vermont. It was fantastic to see a
family out here doing this. The father
had a tandem bike so the younger girl road behind him while the older daughter
had her own bike. Their saddle bags were
full and they were all smiling after riding from Killington to Ascutney. The family is from Savannah GA with a summer
home not far from where we were in the Thousand Islands. They drove into Vermont, parked and then took
off on the bikes. Mother said they were
playing it by ear; could be five days or three weeks, however it turned out. I LOVE IT!
Reminds me of
sailing in the Bahamas and how many families we met, taking a year or two off, homeschooling their kids so they could have the experience. I firmly believe….families that play together
… stay together! and you can't give your family too many outdoor experiences. It truly prepares everyone for a lifetime of appreciation and conservation.
There is so much beauty and energy here. The appreciation for Vermont and all that it has to offer is evident with each individual coming in.
LIFE IS GOOD!
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