LEAVING ISN’T THAT EASY
Our final day at Mt Ascutney was spent running around getting
in everything we wanted to do before leaving this wonderful area. Originally we planned on leaving Monday but
pushed it off to Tuesday so that we could visit Stella’s one last time for
lunch. I started the morning off my
washing the remaining items one last time before we left and Ed came over with
Cooper, his four month old Golden Retriever that he had gotten when we first
arrived. Cooper was a little butterball
of fur when we first met him at 8 weeks and now at four months he’s a beautiful
40 lb lanky puppy, very light colored, and will be a beautiful dog.
We then headed over to Stella’s for our last lunch. From Stella’s we went to Simon Pearce where I
had to purchase something to bring
back and found two beautiful candle bowls that will light up like snow
cones. These were my most expensive
purchase of the year! Nothing at Simon
Peace is a bargain but it sure is beautiful.
From Simon Pearce we went over to the Farmstead Store and
bought up Vermont cheeses to take home as well as some special Maple Syrup aged
in bourbon barrels. Yum! On to Harpoon Brewery to see if we could find
IPA Rye but they didn’t have any more.
We drove over the Cornish Covered Bridge one last time to
Claremont, NH.
This is where it got interesting. As we drove toward Claremont along the
Connecticut River on the NH side, the cars came to a stop and some guy, in a
road crew vest with a shovel in his hand, was following a bull across the
street. Then I noticed there were cows in the cornfield behind a house
At this point traffic was backing up and I saw someone lying
in the street. Apparently the bull gored
its owner and he was down. That was why
the guy with the shovel looked like he was about to beat up on the bull!
Taken in June after a St Gaudens visit.
This was in the same spot where I watched a farmer direct his
cows across the road. I think it was the
same guy.
Traffic was directed around and we headed into Claremont to
the NH Liquor Store purchasing enough liquor to get us to FLA … maybe!
Came back and picked up laundry. Gave a bottle of the bourbon aged maple syrup
to Mark and Lucy and Mark gave me a case of Harpoon beer samplers which
included IPA RYE! THANK YOU!!!
For dinner we wentto the Weathersfield
Inn to get a light dinner in Lucy’s Tavern. During dinner, a woman came into the lounge area and introduced herself as the new
owners (as of today) of the Weathersfield Inn.
She was born and raised in Southern California and lived in various
places, most recently Boston, and they just bought the Inn.
I said, “So, you’ve fulfilled the dream of
running an Inn in Vermont?” She laughed,
“Just like Bob Newhart!”. Hope they are
successful as it is a very, very nice old inn and the food is superb.
FINAL
GOODBYE TO ASCUTNEY
Wednesday morning we packed up and moved out, in no big
hurry. Our only schedule was to be in
Bennington by 6:30 to meet my cousin Sharyn and Mike for dinner. It was
rainy and foggy and the whole trip over to Woodford State Park was in the fog,
especially when we got off I91 and headed west on Rte 9.
Came into Woodford State Park around 3:00 and
made our way slowly to our campsite down by the water.
This campground is on the Adam s Reservoir and is at 2400’ in
elevation, the highest state park in Vermont.
It is a large park and very pretty especially once the fog clears and
the rain stops. The colors are beautiful
but very, very wet.
Wednesday night dinner was wonderful. Catching up with Sharyn and all the family
news was great. When we parted, we vowed
to stay in touch .. this time! Not let
20 years go by without seeing each other!!
Thursday we woke to rain and it didn't look like it was going
to stop so headed down into the Berkshires. The ride down was enjoyable and even in the
rain and low hanging clouds, I could see how beautiful the area was. My memories were correct …. It
really was a beautiful place to live.
Once we approached Pittsfield, I had to think about where we
were as new roads and intersections had been put in over the last 30
years! Wound our way down into the area
where I last lived and passed through the neighborhoods looking at the house I
lived in.
Caution -- houses appear larger in your rear view mirror!!!! As usual, it looked smaller
than I remembered, but still charming. Drove over to Dalton where I had a home and was surprised at the build
up of houses in that area as well as shopping centers and stores in the
town. Pittsfield has grown up.
FULL
SERVICE …. WOW
We stopped for fuel at a gas station that was probably there
when I lived here. A young man came up
to the car and asked Dave if he was paying by credit or cash. Then the guy proceeded to pump our gas. Hadn’t had full service gas in years and
years!
Since the weather wasn’t clearing we decided not to continue on to Stockbridge but to swing north towards
Adams and North Adams and was surprised at how pretty those towns looked now. Some of the old mills have been turned into
artist workshops and galleries. They seemed to have figured out how to put their
best face forward.
Adams Reservoir
Dave doesn’t like museums so he probably sped up as we went by!
We flew through Shaftsbury and Arlington but when we got to Manchester I saw Orvis and gave him plenty of warning to pull over. After telling him three times that, yes, I wanted to go into Orvis, he pulled into the parking lot. I was just glad to get out of the car.
I LOVE THE FALL ARRANGEMENTS.
Since we don’t fly fish and most of the clothing is too warm for our climate, we just breezed through the outlet side of the store. I found a unique gift for my Great-Niece Natalie so felt it was worth the stop. We kept going north and there was major construction going on in the center of Manchester that was creating havoc. Don’t know how they are going to deal this weekend when the peekers arrive in full force.
The colors on the mountains were beautiful, however there has been so much rain lately, many of the leaves are on the ground. Still, the mountains look alive with reds and yellows.
On our way home we hopped on Route 7 (bypass) and made our way
back into Bennington, heading for the monument park to give Billy an
opportunity to run.
This is Columbus Day weekend and it’s a big event here. All the motels and B&B’s were full with leaf peekers heading up Route 7.
We walked around the monument and then headed down to the
Covered Bridges.
Route 7 Pilgrimage by the Flatlanders to leaf peek!!!!!
The buses are arriving!!!
(We don't count the RVs)
Now this is where it
got funny. There were so many people
congregated around the covered bridges getting pictures, there was hardly a
place to park! Figured I had enough
pictures of covered bridges, so didn’t even stop.
Ate at the Madison brewery in Bennington for dinner and got another stamp in our
Brewery Passport.
Spent our last night in Vermont cozy in the MH listening to
the rain fall. The weekend could be a
washout for the leaf peekers.
October 6th RHINEBECK NY
Saturday morning the sun was trying to shine. We packed up and left Woodford around 10:30AM
heading over to NY down Route 9. It was
a very pretty drive, would have been prettier if it wasn’t raining! Picked up the NY Thurway heading to Kingston
NY with the ultimate destination of Rhinebeck.
What a beautiful area this is.
We have been continually surprised at how beautiful New York is…..from
Niagara Falls through the Finger Lakes …. Up to the Thousand Islands and
through the Adirondacks and now the Hudson Valley.
We are staying at Interlaken RV Park in Rhinebeck, about 6
miles from the village. This is their
Halloween Weekend and the park is going all out for the kids this weekend with
haunted houses, games and trick or treating.
Most of the campers are here for the party and have their RV’s heavily
decorated with Halloween decorations.
Our site is below the Recreation Hall and we could hear the kids
screaming and yelling all evening. By
10:00, though, all was quiet.
We drove into the Rhinebeck Village for dinner and ate at a
very good Mexican restaurant. We are
only 100 miles north of NYC and you can feel and see the difference.
Rhinebeck is a small town with limited
parking. As we drove around looking for
a spot, I noted that just about every
car had NY plates. Just a smattering
from NY or MA. Guess the southerners
have already headed home!
Hopefully the weather will hold and we can explore this area over the next two days.
Miss You.......Vermont!!!!
Life is Good!
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