Peggy to the Pedal: On the Road… the Way Home…Vermont Views

I have to say I was surprised at how good it felt to be back in the U.S. Pretty silly considering how friendly Canada can be. But I think if you were to take Canada and separate it from the U.S. people might feel its ‘foreignness’. Anyway, I am glad I took the trip and will definitely revisit, I would like to spend more time on Prince Edward Island, it was easy to take it all slow, since it is small.

Here I am, cruising through beautiful, green, hilly Vermont. First, though, I started in New Hampshire, driving and camping my way through the White Mountains.

I really wanted one of those bumper stickers “This car climbed Mt. Washington” so I started out early heading to the starting point.

The gentleman that was collecting the fees (to drive a mountain road?!?) laughed when I told him what I wanted to do. I have driven over Independence Pass and all those other MTN passes in Colorado, after all. He said, “Our little mountain road is not equipped to handle your van. This is meant for cars.” I was quite disappointed sadness filled my eyes, hoping he would change his mind. He just told me to pull ahead and move out of the way. (!) Well, I would just carry on.

I drove slowly and enjoyed the views. It would be spectacular in the fall. I camped at Crawford Notch right along the Saco River. Those tent sites were like a dream, riverside, rocky bluffs across, the river shallow enough to wade in, just the right sounds to put one in dreamland. Really beautiful. RV sites? Pretty unwonderful. Right by the highway, crowded together, close to the dusty camp road. No RV, trailer, or van no matter how self sufficient or small gets to go anywhere else in the park. I enjoyed one full day walking along the river, sitting and reading, and wading a little. AND I also got to have serious pet time with a white standard poodle, playing in that pretty river. I spent the next few days winding my way through the White Mountains, camping along the road. There were many pretty pull offs with enough space so no road noise, one even along a river.

Pretty road side fall-
I parked right along side
for the night!

So soft moss

Camp flowers
pretty little daisies.

One campsite, nicely
tucked away.

Yes, this is about Vermont…So, what’s the most important site one has to see in Vermont? Of course, Ben and Jerry’s Factory Tour! I arrived about 9 Friday, just pulling in you get this sense of happiness and silliness. It is a fun tour, really short though. They make ice cream 24 hours a day, but only Monday through Friday morning. Everyone who works with the factory gets the weekend off. For us it was unfortunate, they closed the assembly line about 9 on Friday mornings to clean everything. That didn’t stop me from getting an ice cream cone-no way! I would go back again to see the ice cream being made and packaged. (and another cone)

This is the view from the
'cemetery'.

A history of ice cream
scoops! All I need is a
spoon and a container.

Happy cows.

The retired flavor cemetery.
Pretty funny!

My touring driving day was very rainy so I didn’t do any hiking in the Green Mountains. It was all very pretty with some beautiful waterfalls. Once again I did roadside camping with pretty views and sounds for the night. Oh, and Lake Champlain is in Vermont! It is really beautiful, I felt like I was in a foreign country, the view across was pretty, the lake gorgeous, and the docked boats worth dreaming about! I met my friends, Martha and Charles, along the lake for a farewell camp gathering. They had owned a boat and traveled leisurely that way for 12 years. This was the perfect setting for those boating stories and thinking about what it would be like to travel at 8 miles an hour! They sold their boat a few years ago and are now traveling by a class B rv to see the land side of all their port stops. I look forward to seeing them again this winter. I wondered my way along the lake eventually crossing into New York.