To Market, To Market...

Just had to try one of those local farm markets today, what a great way to get to know the town and townspeople! Quite a few vendors at the Danville, VT farm market today...Jasper Hill cheese (delicious!, Gourmet Gardens, Palm Cottage North (fiber artist--that's what I'd like to become in my retirement, a fiber artist) Dye your own wool, rug hooking, punch needle hooking and rug crafts...there's something about being in the countryside of Vermont that brings out the crafter in me. It could be because I've seen the crafts of the local people, which are fabulous, and it just makes you want to set your hand to making something! I saw an elderly gentleman with oxygen hose attached, knitting socks, he makes sweaters, too. Saw all kinds of different sorts of vegetables--purple broccoli, golden yellow cauliflower..it all looked wonderful--much of it was certified organic..we talked for a long time to a lady with a produce stand about traveling in Alaska, she lived there for 19 years, I think she said. We bought some of the most beautiful tomatoes from yet another stand and a little 6 year old girl was helping her mother AND making correct change as well! As one customer said, "You go, girl!" There was an entertainer, a man who was singing wonderful songs and they seemed to be his own writings...delightful, breezy day at the farm market in the center of town. Home again, home again, jiggedy jig....

A "Gorge-ous" Walk to Remember

We are drawn back to the White Mountains today, which are 45 min. away from the Sugar Ridge Campground in Vermont. We decided to explore Franconia Notch State Park. It is a spectacular mountain pass with a parkway winding between two mountain ranges. The Flume Gorge and Cannon Mountain (approx. 4180 ft. high) are the star attractions here. Eldy decided he wanted to ride the tram to the top of the mountain. Guess it wasn't too scary the time we rode the ski lift without the bar down as he wanted to ascend the mountain in this tram. Enclosed car, brand new brake system and completely overhauled this year, I can go for that...24.00 a person gets you a tram ride to the top of the mountain and the observatory up at the summit, AND a paid ticket to traverse the walkway along the Flume Gorge, about 5 miles further down the highway. There are several trails around the mountain's summit if you feel adventuresome. (We weren't quite up to it today) Some sad news to report today---the Old Man in the Mountain's craggy granite face (Great Stone Face) is no longer there, he "died" in 2003, when erosion and water forces chemically eroded the five ledges naturally arranged to form a man's profile. I remember seeing something about this when I was younger, but it's a really big deal here in Vermont. There's a whole museum devoted to the "passing" of the historic site. On to the Flume Gorge...AMAZING!!! The Flume Gorge was discovered in 1808 by a 93 year old woman who went fishing and look what she found! It is a natural gorge with beautiful waterfalls, vistas and covered bridges. We are starting to feel like New Hampshire is one of our country's most beautiful states and we've only been to MA, ME, VT, and NH so far! ou could take a photo one right after another as you drive through the countryside. We went back to the old time general store in West Danville to mail some things and pick up a couple of things. Joe's Pond General Store--that's where the post office boxes are more than 100 years old and they have combination locks on them. It was a great day with great temperatures, about 83 degrees and very little humidity. It's going to be hotter tomorrow,(high of 89) wonder what we'll do? I'm sure Eldo will think of something!

Just Call Me a Vermont Cheesehead!

We went for a beautiful drive along scenic Vermont highways to get to the Cabot Creamery, the Vermont company that makes great cheese...the tour was interesting and very inexpensive, (2.00 a person) but there wasn't much cheesemaking going on. they had one manufacturing line making low fat white cheddar. I thought it was interesting that they will not use any milk from local dairy farmers with any traces of antibiotic in the milk. They have to wait three days until antibiotics clear the cow's system before bringing milk to the plant. The guide talked as if antibiotics were only used to treat sick cows, and that may be true in Vermont, but you certainly hear about antibiotics being used routinely in raising beef and other animals. Who knows? Another interesting fact we learned was that regular cheddar is white. New Englanders eat their cheddar white, but other parts of the country want the cheese to be colored, so they use something to color the cheese orange/yellow. There were so many flavored cheeses to choose from, it was amazing! Chipotle cheddar, Tuscan cheddar, and many many others. (These were cheddars seasoned with spices) They had a ton of free samples which we gladly consumed and enjoyed, and of course, we bought more cheese than we really needed! While we were on our drive, we noticed not only the beautiful, photographic worthy landscapes, but that 99% of all roofs in this area are metal...(for ease of snow removal). On our way back, we stopped at a true Vermont General Store...a little bit of everything..including an old fashioned post office with old fashioned boxes. Back to the campground for relaxing and reading about Vermont, and learning about hiking trails and biking in the area. We were excited to learn of an 8 mile trail just behind our campground that was on an old rail bed. What they DIDN'T tell us was that it was an unmaintained trail and an old rail bed means rather large sized rocks. Our bike tires were not suited for this rough trail, so we decided to wait another day for a better trail. The weather is wonderful here...low 70's today, but I understand much of the midwest and east is cooling down as well....if for some reason, you don't hear from us for a day or two, don't worry! The wi-fi is a little iffy in the hills here, and our own air card signal is very weak. But for the most part, we will post something every day if we can!

Back in Moose Country

On the road today for about three hours...we are in Danville, Vermont, w-a-a-a-y up north, within 50 miles of the Canadian border. We are on the western side of the White Mountains. We are staying at Sugar Ridge RV/Campground, which seems like a nice campground. It's very well rated in both the Woodall's Camping Directory, and the web review site RV Campground Reviews. We have someone very close to us almost on a diagonal on one side, and our picnic table is right outside their living area window. The sites are not very level, it appears, and the roads going to the sites are very hilly and twisty, but we got in ok. The area in and around Danville appears to be an economically depressed area. Tomorrow we will see what hiking trails are around. Although we passed through the White Mountains on our way here, they are now quite a bit farther away and so we will investigate and see if we can find local areas to hike and bike. The Green Mountains are southwest of us, and I hope we stop off and stay around there before we most likely go to New York and look at the Lake Champlain area. We were in New Hampshire for a couple of hours today while traveling, it is a beautiful state, the mountains and the view thru our large RV windshield were just awesome!

Impromptu is the word of the day....

Well, at last report, we were going to go to New York. But, Eldy in doing his daily browsing and Internet research on this and that, said, "Hey, I think this area looks kind of interesting, what do you think?" My form of research as far as where I want to go next is, after hearing from my brother that Vermont has fabulous cheese, that was it for me, CHEESE! Let's go to Vermont! We just happened to mesh our thoughts on that one...that and the current roasting temperatures out in the midwest and east keeps us wanting to stay north. When you are full timing, you can do that...isn't that great!? We don't seem to have any trouble agreeing on where we want to go next. We're lucky in that we both like the same kind of climate, cool! I would think it would be important to lay out some of those things before you make a commitment to hit the road. You really have to have your partner be flexible and understanding about individual needs for space, entertainment, quiet time, TV time, things like that. Everything is magnified in a motor home, even if it is 38 plus feet! We're both flexible, right, Eldy?...We like places where you can go hike and bike, and be near water or mountains to help moderate temperatures during this hot spell. We seem to be ready after about four or five days in one place to go somewhere new...after awhile, full time RVers tend to spend more time in places, several weeks or more after they've been doing it for awhile. But we're still exploring...Eldy does a GREAT job of finding the general area we think we'd like to go explore, then he gets on the website RV Campground Review, and fellow campers tell you exactly what to expect from the campground you are thinking of staying at...I've done a few reviews myself. We also use Woodall's Campground Directory for different sections of the country. They rate the facilities and tell you what amenities are available. I am really going to miss the quiet and beautiful campground at the Minuteman Campground in Littleton, MA, but I can honestly say, I won't miss the subway...the oldest in the country, by the way! (photo today is view out our back bedroom window at the campground and a few extras of Boston visits) We spent today relaxing by the pool, grocery shopping and one last visit with my brother in Lexington...it's about a three hour drive to Danville, Vermont tomorrow, to the Sugar Ridge RV and Campground.

Still in vacation mode...

We are off to the subway again today...we drive on route 2 from the campground about 30 min. to the Alewife Station, where the red line takes us to the center of town. Overall, it takes a little over an hour to get to the heart of Boston, driving part way, then taking the subway line. It still amazes us that this beautiful campground, so quiet and peaceful, is so close to Boston.

We have been full timing for just over a month now, and we certainly won't be able to afford to continue doing all these fantastic things on a continual basis. After Boston, we will be slowing down, conserving our costs on where we stay. We hope to stay in more places that are at least 30.00 and under,we have some great deals in other locations that we can use discount cards for, senior passes, etc. By conserving more on where we stay, then we can afford to try some great restaurants and enjoy local tourist attractions now and then.

Today was wonderful. First, lunch with Eldy's nephew downtown, next we visited the Public Gardens (the setting for Make Way for Ducklings book, a popular children's book), which was absolutely beautiful, then we visited the Boston Commons, another park across the way AND we did the Freedom Walking Tour with a guide who was a descendent of James Denton, an inhabitant of colonial Boston. He was so much in character, and very funny, with a really great sense of humor. Great stories, much more in depth than the trolley tour. The trolley tour was a great way to get the very basics, then the walking tour was a wonderful way to get much much more information about the characters from our history books and the time of the Revolution. We got caught in the rain forecast for today, but the guide was great about getting us in and out of the rain and where we needed to go. We decided to have a drink at the oldest tavern in town, the Bell in Hand, which was built in the early 1700's. Then, back home on the subway..We are now experts on the Boston subway system, ask us anything you want! (just kidding)..tomorrow will be our last day, we decided we needed one more day to just to sit and enjoy the campground. We've been on the go so much we haven't even had a campfire yet!

Oh, the places we go...

Thursday, July 22...we enjoyed navigating the Boston subway system so much yesterday, that we decided to head back downtown on the subway again today to explore Boston today. I was born in Boston but moved at the age of two, so I really don't know my birthplace very well. We are really getting the hang of the subway...now we look at each other, and point to the direction of the different lines we need to get on at the same time, and no more chasing up and down the stairs to find our line...it really is quite an organized system, once you figure out the tickets! Today was Trolley Day...take a historical tour on the trolley, get a free harbor cruise/tour ride on top of that...so we did all that...We stopped off from the harbor cruise to see the WWII destroyer USS Cassin Young, and actually got to go on board and walk in and out of portions of the ship. Way cool! Then we toured the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides"...excellent tour...interesting facts...55-65 cannons on board, weighing 6500 pounds each, three layers of wood make up the outside hull of the ship, that's why the enemy cannonballs bounced off the ship and did very little damage. The USS Constitution was in 33 battles and won every one of them. The destroyer was really really interesting, you really felt the presence of the 400+ men that served on that ship..their quarters were really small...the stories and explanations posted around the ship were very informative and interesting. I will post more stories and photos tomorrow about these tours, there was so much to learn and so much to see! We sauntered over to Faneuil Hall (Quincy Market)looked at the Holocaust Memorial (6 glass towers to represent the concentration camps with the numbers of all those who perished etched on the glass towers, watched street performers and then headed home. Final coup de grace at the end was a terrific meal at the Bull Run Tavern near Shirley, MA, just a few minutes from our campground. The tavern is an original tavern from 1745 or so...very reasonable prices and wonderful food.