Traveling West: Vermont

Still in New Hampshire we find that the Stark covered bridge is under repair.



We had a nice fire, then it rained that night. But we had everything under cover.






Old man of the mountain, the symbol of New Hampshire, is just a memory. The rocks broke off the mountainside
about 11 years ago.

                                                            
At Franconia notch we took a short hike.

Stillwater covered bridge is still in New Hampshire.
As we leave Stillwater, I spot a cat cemetery near a small house. I guess these were their own cats. Hemingway had a cat cemetery at his house in key west. I think I can make cat and dog memorials out of those granite sink cut outs. Dad thinks it is a great idea and will find places to site them.



Ben and Jerry's is a mandatory tourist stop. We took the tour and got a small sample.

Some odd flavor ideas in the flavor lab.

The Cowmobile was a publicity idea that actually worked best when the original burnt up.

The flavors that are stopped for one reason or another are "buried" in the flavor graveyard.

Wavy Gravy flavor bit the dust.

In the driveway leading to the Ben and Jerry's RV parking we had an incident. If you see an RV long as a semi with a tag vehicle on the end heading for you on a narrow driveway back up and head for cover. Unfortunately we didn't and have a new scrape to show for it. The RV kept going. 

Little River state park on Waterbury reservoir

Waitsfield covered bridge. This one we almost drove past. We swooped down into a driveway just past the bridge and found a nice spot for a selfie.

We actually drove over Covered Bridge Road in Warren,  Vermont. There are so many covered bridges in the northeast. They each have a number on the covered bridge map. We just happen upon some occasionally.

Moss Glen falls from the roadside.

The Vermont Country Store is a stop for every tourist and tour bus. We stopped too. It is a fun store. We found a few things we wanted.

Winhall Brook Camping Area. We are skating the Vermont campfire rules of no fire higher than 2 feet.

Bennington Vermont had a lot of sites. The Museum has a nice collection of Grandma Moses paintings.







The Bennington Monument commemorates the Battle of Bennington August 16,1777 when the Green Mountain Boys trounced the British, mostly Hessian troops.  It is 306 feet high and you can ride up to a viewing platform 20 stories up.

A view from the viewing platform.

The Old First Church in Bennington was a Congregationalist gathering established in 1762.

This current church remains as it was since it was dedicated in 1806. The downstairs has family boxes and the balcony on the right side was for teenage girls and other unmarried women. The boys were on the other side. The back of the balcony was for prisoners from the jail who were marched in for church every Sunday. Until the Constitution established the separation of church and state, the church and state were one. Everyone in Bennington went to this church.  Other churches were established in nearby towns later to serve other denominations.

 Robert Frost's grave is in the old graveyard in back of the church. I also noticed many graves marked as of revolutionary war soldiers.

We are camped next to a little artificial lake with a lit fountain spray in the middle. Pine Hollow Campground not far from Bennington.

Traveling Around New Hampshire: Mount Washington Cog Railway

We were surprised when we got to the ticket booth at 10:30 and were told that the next tickets available were for the 1:30 train. We looked around the museum at the base station for a while and I did have some criticisms of it.
 Right now the TV running the movie is an ancient RCA with a frame held together with scotch tape on one side. The front seat is unusable because you are too close to the screen. The sound is poor and there are no captions for the hard of hearing. These problems could be solved with a large flat screen TV set back just a little further with a better sound system and captions on the film. 

trains at the base station

on the balcony looking at Halloween decor

Old Peppersass train #1

We decided to go back to the RV for lunch rather than have a fast food grease lunch at the Base Station Cafe. Promptly at 1:00 we were in line and boarding at 1:15. 

Train coming down. We are on the siding.

At the first switch after the water tank the switch won't go back. We are stuck on the siding with 2 other cars and their locomotives. Two guys went up to fix it. The switch is broken, so we are backing down to the lower switch. Then we will go up the other side. 45 minutes delay. The parallel tracks are for the down trains to pass by the trains going up.  As we pass the broken switch, we are told that this has never happened before.  People are still working on it and plan to send for more parts.

The weather at the top. 100 miles visibility. 7 mph winds and 46 degrees. In 1934 they clocked winds at 231 mph. Also never gets warmer than 73. Only 45 clear days a year and this is one. We pass over the Appalachian trail and see some hikers. 

The Appalachian trail and the cairn markers pass under the trestle.
The cairn markers are necessary for when there is poor visibility.

We have 1 hour before we head back. The museum on top tells about the harsh conditions up here for the caretakers in the winter. The Tip Top House is an old stone hikers hotel. Restored and just for looking at now.

The view from the overlook is amazing. 

Snow and ice are in the forecast for Sunday.
 2 minutes 47 seconds is the fastest time on the track on a shingle or slide board. The workmen used them to slide down the tracks after work. I believe they are illegal now. A woman holds that record. Or so the brake man says. Her husband said he thought he would not see her again when they met in the bar afterwards.

woman on the devil shingle

 We'll take about 45 minutes to go down. Braking seldom on the way. The biodesiel engine is strong enough to hold the passenger car. With the coal burning steam engine they have to constantly brake since the engine is not as strong. Some places people have been throwing coins out. William said he saw a pile in one place. They did fix the broken switch. We pass a train that is on the way up waiting on the siding. 

The steam engine is parked near us below the base lodge.

They have to keep the fire burning all the time so they don't have to restart it in the morning. It only runs once a day in the morning. It takes an hour and a half to get up and down.

Hot coals in the boiler. Naturally Grandpa climbed in the untended engine.

Pick up your belongings. The brake man tells about the strangest item left on the train. A set of dentures. The person called 3 weeks later and they mailed them to Florida.
End of the line. End of a fun trip.

Traveling South: New Hampshire

USA Rest stop sign

If states are interested in saving money, they could privatize rest stops. In Canada you see a sign for a rest stop, but it leads you to a gas station and fast food place with a restroom labeled Public restroom. There may also be a rack of travel brochures. That also makes it an information stop.

As we head South we not only see lovely trees turning all colors from brown and yellow to orange and red we see stuffed images outside of houses and businesses.

Halloween house decor

We took a short hike involving about 100 stone steps on a trail to Glen Ellis Falls.

I still like the selfie William took of the two of us best.

We stopped to look at the White Mountain Resort.

This was the site of the Breton Woods conference in July of 1944. Forty five countries were in attendance. The point was to work out the function of a world banking system. Norway, the USA (FDR) and many other European countries wanted to dissolve the World Bank because it had been involved in money laundering of Gestapo money and assisting in the German looting of occupied countries. But the UK and other countries and representatives of banks wanted it kept. So in the gold room everyone signed to set up the International Monetary Fund.

William and the 45 flags of the countries in attendance

Even in front of this fancy old resort there are Halloween stuffies. 

Tomorrow we hope the weather is fine for our trip up to the top of Mount Washington on the cog railway.

Traveling Around: Nova Scotia

We took the ferry from Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia and continued on to Cape Breton Island as far as Port Hood.

Always looking for a spot near the water we spent the night at the Sunset Sands. Water in front and a cemetery behind.

The Sunset was lovely.














On Cape Breton Island the Glendora Distillery was our next stop.

The tour explained all about the making of single malt whiskey, which could be called scotch if it were being made in Scotland.

Lunch was fine at the Inn with live Celtic music.

On up the coast to Cheticamp, where we camped on the beach again at Plage Saint Pierre. 

Cheticamp was an interesting town. Populated with French from Arcadia. Acadians, as they came to be known. They were isolated from the outside world until a road was built in 1947. They speak an Acadian version of French, but learn both "book" French and English in school. The men fished and the women hooked rugs.

Up the windy coast and through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Lunch near a light house at the Chowder House on Neils Harbor.

Our last night on Cape Breton Island was at St. Ann's Bay.

 On the beach as usual. But the day went from fairly warm to blustery and cold the next day.

The bay was rough. We weren't going to take the ferry to Englishtown anyway.  We are heading South and will reenter the USA probably day after tomorrow.

Traveling Around Prince Edward Island

Although the weather has been lovely, cool and windy, but sunny, this is the off season. Camping rates are cheaper and the PEI National Park ticket kiosks are buttoned up. We take for free, drives that cost a bunch and are crowded with people in the summer. Some attractions are closed down. We don't get to go to the water park or the amusement park. We will also miss indoor black light mini golf. Darn. Ha ha.
We stop and look at the ocean views and informative signs. The Island has French, English, Scots and Irish heritage. The Irish must have been poor as usual. My Irish dander gets up at references to Irish this or that. A picture of a man harvesting seaweed with a horse pulling a rake is labeled as Irish Moss harvesting. Bah! Right up there with Irish Lace. There is of course lovely Irish lace. The derogatory meaning was as raggedy or frayed edges of a slip or curtain. Maybe I took offence at Irish Moss too soon. Although the eating of this seaweed was common during the Irish Potato Famine, it seems to have many uses in foods as an emulsifying agent and for the clarification of beer.

The lovely PEI coast. X marks the spot.

Birds on the red rocks.

I really like these red Canadian Adirondack chairs at the picnic spots. 

Dining at Dalvay by the Sea 

Dalvay by the Sea

Dalvay by the Sea is a very upscale resort at the east end of the island. The meals are very tasty and pretty reasonable. Tour bus groups are not welcome to come inside.

At Cornwall/Charlottetown KOA. Yes, it's windy.

Earlier this year the Charlottetown Festival production of  Anne of Green Gables: The Musical was officially acknowledged as the longest running annual musical theater production in the world. This year was the 50th summer the show was in production.

Matthew, Anne and Marilla

As soon as I heard that there was a show, I wanted to go. We got to go to the last show of the season. The theater is a huge affair in downtown Charlottetown, The Confederation Centre of  the Arts, Homburg Theatre seating 1,102. The downstairs was pretty much full. Maybe they sell in the balcony in the summer. 
We don't often go out in the evening. Getting back and parking in the dark and all that. Plus the fact that by 9:30 we may be reading in bed. We were out until 10:45! But the show was certainly worth it. This is a Canadian, professional theater production. Around the world there are many long running annual productions that are thoroughly professional and excellent and produced for the tourist trade and sentimental locals. We have been to South Pacific in Australia. And the fabulous Palm Springs Follies unfortunately closed now.