Tag: Vermont

Our road trip to Vermont

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Thought I’d share some camera phone pics from our road trip up to Vermont, first vacation sans Gage 🙂

We stopped in Westfield, New York, for lunch. Ate a a cute local diner and then decided to take a walk through the neighborhood before getting back on the road. As we were walking through this cute residential neighborhood, we saw this

IMG_3815Really?  I stopped, curious.  Jason refused to even acknowledge what he was seeing until I said I was going in and then he refused to come with me into some stranger’s house just because there was a sign in the yard. (I blame this on The Never List that we were listening to in the car)  Well, as soon as he refused I was even more determined.  I assumed that I was going to walk up that back deck and in.  Um, no. As I got closer I saw that I had to go down these stairs to the basement and once there I had to ring a doorbell.  Lucky for me Jason got nervous and followed me down.  The man was very nice and we left $200 poorer.  You just never know what places you will find to spend your money 😉  (we bought Gage’s birthday present – a Thomas Lionel train set, plus some other cute train stuff)

We spent the night in Syracuse and went to Destiny USA , which was awesome.  It was an incredible place to spend time, a mall/movie theater/entertainment experience.  Jason raced a car and we went to Wonder Works (LOVED) where I did fun thinks like get in a space shuttle and lie on a bed of nails.

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The next day we arrived in Burlington and enjoyed finding the Earth Clock without a map (hey, it was at least a few miles from the hotel)

earth clockBy the time we got there the sun was setting over Lake Champlain and there were a few people there talking about gods and goddesses. When they started beating the drums they brought from home we decided to try to find the hotel again.  We enjoyed our few days in Burlington, great city that I’d visit again.

On our 15th anniversary we headed to Stowe, but with two quick stops. One at the Ben & Jerry’s factory where we took the tour (I am a loyal fan now. They are doing it the right way).

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Then we stopped at the once home, but now hotel of the real von Trapp family.  The family still owns the inn and they are also starting a beer label. There were no tours but we walked around and visited the gift shop.  That was cool enough for me since I can’t count the times I’ve seen  The Sound of Music.

IMG_3940von trappeThis was the view. Beautiful, right?  I need to watch the movie again!

Then we headed to the beautiful Stowe Mountain Lodge.  When we checked in and told them it was our anniversary we immediately got upgraded to a suite that was nicer than our first three apartments!  We loved our stay and felt very pampered.  They even had shuffleboard out back.  I was winning until I started talking smack and then Jason crushed me.

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The hotel even provided babysitting so next time we can take Gage 🙂  We had a great trip and loved what we saw of Vermont, so relaxing and beautiful.

A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck

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Cover ImageFinished 6-8-09, rating 4/5, young adult, pub. 1972

“But when you kill pigs for a living, you can’t always smell like Sunday morning.   You just smell like hard work.”                      Chapter 2

I finished this last night about midnight and it was a two tissue book.  I know many read it as kids, but not me.  I had no idea what to expect or else I may not have read it, but I’m better off because I did.  Maybe it hit me harder because I was already a little bummed after Jason and I watched the movie We Are Marshall last night.  It was a good movie, but not one to leave you happier than when you started.  Anyway…

Rob is a twelve year old Shaker living on a Vermont farm.  This book chronicles that year of his life as he grew into a man.  Rob’s life consisted mainly of his farming chores and school.  He was the last child left at home and he was the only one left to help his dad.  His story was exciting and heartbreaking.  Rob birthed a calf and received a brand new pig, Pinky, for payment.  Pinky and Rob became inseparable.  Rob had many life lessons that year and they were all touching  and some (three in particular) moved me to tears.

Being a city girl, these are a few of the things I learned about farm life.  Pigs and cows cannot live next to each other.  If you need to top your chocolate cake with nutmeats, kill a gray squirrel and take the chewed nutmeats out of his belly and toast them before putting them on your cake.  Weaseling a dog is barbaric.  There are more, but these were the ones that stuck, although I did gain a greater appreciation for farmers.

This is based on the life of the author growing up as a boy in Vermont and if you haven’t read it you should.  It will take you back to a simpler time when 13 year old boys were forced to become men.  It will make you smile and it will break your heart.