July 15, 2017, 62.4 miles
Camping Cote Surprise, Perce, Gaspe, Quebec

What a treat the day was…we only traveled 62.4 miles!! We didn’t realize how tiring it would be to travel every other day with only one/two days to explore and see as much as we can along the way. Taking pictures thru the windshield leaves little to be desired….I delete many due to the window bugs or glare.

The morning started off nice and slow as Will, our wagon master, fearless leader, had coffee and donuts for us while we had a morning briefing about out trip to Perce. Also advising us the times to leave the campground, 11:30 and to please not arrive at the next campground until 1:30.

 

The drive to Perce was an easy relaxing trip and so very scenic along the St Lawrence coast. Going over the last hill down into the town of Perce was breathtaking, looking down at Perce Rock jutting out of the lake high into the sky, surrounded by blue, blue water. The rock is a huge sheer rock formation sitting in the gulf of St Lawrence river at the very tip of Gaspe Peninsula.

 

It is one of the world’s largest arches over water. The formation is 1420 feet in length and over 300 feet in width. The arch is large enough that a small boat could pass through during low tide, hence, the name Perce Rock.

A little further out is another island, which is The Parc national del I’lle-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Perce. The importance of this parc is the nesting site for several species of seabirds. Some 200,000 seabirds, including 110,000 Northern Gannets, make I’lle Bonaventure the most accessible bird watching site. The Northern Gannets have been studies for the las few years to supply information about the breeding of Gannets.

We all drove our own cars into town the first night to walk around town and explore the stores. We had dinner with Steve and Sharon overlooking the river, it was nice to sit and get to know each other better. The guys had the buffett, while Sharon and I ordered off the menu. The food was ok, but the building friendship was priceless.

The next day the group met in town to watch a movie about the island and the many sea birds that inhabit the island. We all then loaded up on a ferry boat for a 15 min ride around the Perce Rock and over to the National park. There were 7 of us that decided we didn’t want to miss out on anything so we all went on the hike out to the breeding grounds of the Gannets.

Deciding on the easy trail out to view the birds and taking the harder trail back to the boat, turned out to be 6.5 miles. The trail out was pretty flat with a slight incline going out, coming back was downhill, lots of stairs and boardwalks with a view of the shoreline and thru the forest with wonderful shade as the sun was rather hot.

As we were heading the last part of the walk the clouds were forming, we could see that the rain was headed our way. There were some abandoned houses along the way back that we just had to explore but as we looked at the clock it was 1:45 and the boat was leaving at 2:00 the next boat wasn’t until 3:00 so we took off, hoping to make it…we did just in the nick of time.

We were so surprised when we got out to the breeding grounds, such an amazing sight to see, thousands of Gannets flying or preening each other, some moms were sitting with their chicks, there were moms that were feeding their babies, there was one mom even laying on an egg. The Gannets were all sitting on their nests and pointing in the same direction.

Gannets are identifiable by their bright white plumage, long neck and beak, and their black wing tips. They have a 6.6 ft wingspan. Gannets can dive from a height of 98 ft with speeds of 62 mph as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds. They lay one blue egg per season, keeping the egg warm by using their webbed feet.

A Gannet has a lifespan of up to 35 years, they are fiercely territorial and very aggressive to neighbors even their mates. The sight and smell of all those birds burned the nose, the flies and knats were almost unbearable.

After our awesome trip watching the birds, once we got back to town we made a mad dash for the ice cream store…vanilla dipped in chocolate…yumm!!

Our next day off we were heading on our marvelous adventure to Caraquuet, New Brunswick, which was going to be a grueling 258.5 miles. So hang with us and read about our next adventure! We are leaving on a 16 hour ferry trip from Sydney, NS  for the month of August to New Foundland and Labradore and have been told there will be limited phone and internet service. I will post more when we get back. Thanks for hanging in there with us.

July 11-13, 2017, Travel 220.8 miles
Camping Annie Campground
Mertis-sur-Mer, Gaspe, Quebec

Our drive around the Gaspe Coast was along Highway 132, was on a very curvy road, some areas we had some pretty steep upgrades and downgrades, 8 – 17%. Driving along the picturesque river and mountainous landscapes, valleys, bays and coastline and thru many small coastal towns, we noticed how much of a difference there is between this part of Quebec and the US. You do not find housing tracts, large hotels, or shopping malls.

 

 

The largest building we found in any town were the very elaborate and ornate churches, the steeples were painted silver with most being built of granite.

There are little coastal villages, with an abundance of flowers, green fields and forests and the sometimes rocky sharp cliffs along the river. The coastal houses are spread quite far apart, they are much smaller, most built with granite with very small windows, the roofs various colors of metal, some of the houses were painted in bright vibrant colors as well. Every house has rows and rows of cut fire wood for those cold winter months. The village homes are intermixed with the large farms, and along the highway, some so close we could reach out our window and touch them.

The St. Lawrence River flows roughly in the north-easterly direction, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic ocean. It moves along Quebec and Ontario, and New York. The waters flow smoothly through the river valleys which makes the area a great place for farming. Along the St Lawrence River you will find salt-marshes, flat bottom valleys, and lots of hills with gentle slopes, plateaus where the trees are small and far apart. The soil is very rich with 70% of the land being used for growing crops and orchards. The Gaspe area also manufactures, steel, Iron ore, lime stone and coal.

The travel group of 3 has now grown to a group of 5, Greg, from Fl, single and traveling with his 2 dogs has joined us, and Lou and Karen, from New Braunfels, Tx with their dog Lady. We left St. Nicholas and are heading to Metis-Sur-Mer, Steve and Sharon leading when about 20 miles from the campground, Steve is slowing down and pullilng over.

Oh No!!!

This can’t be good…he radios us…the steering is not working…he thinks flat tire….he and Guy check it out…nope not a flat…something in the steering…ended up calling a tow truck…Freightliner was right in town so they did not have to tow far…they took it apart…found out what the problem was and started looking for parts but were told they no longer made them. Long story short, used parts were being sent from Tennessee and would take about 3 days, new parts to be made would take 42 days…not good. As of this day 7/22, there are still no parts and Steve and Sharon have been following our group in their car and staying in hotels.

 

The Reford Gardens and International Garden Festival was being held not far from our campground, so our group headed there for the day. It was a beautiful garden park that had been transformed from fields and forests into this wonderful garden over 90 years ago by Elsie Redford. The International Festival is a year long display of structures that artists from around the world have designed specifically for the garden. The designs float, tilt and hang, they slide and move around.

Elsie Redford the creator of the gardens divided her time between Montreal in the winter and Estevan Lodge in the summer months. The lodge was built in 1887 by the founder of the Canadian Pacific Railway and was a single story building. Elsie extended the building in 1926 for family, servants and guests.

 

After our walking tour of the gardens, Guy and I went to tour the Canadian Navy submarine, Onondaga. The sub was in service for over 30 years, it was built by the British for Canada. It was 90 meters long, and had 70 men working on it, it could travel 17 knots submerged and 12 knots on the surface. The sub could hold 16 torpedos, its maximum depth was 210 m.

The Pointe-au-Pere lighthouse which is the tallest lighthouse in Canada, 333 meters, was built in 1909, there are 110 steps, was at the same location as the submarine.

There was also a museum across the street that tells the story of the shipwreck of the Empress of Ireland. The ship lays on her port side tilted at about a 50 degree angle, she has been under water for 100 years. The hull appears to be holding up but her mast, two upper decks have collapsed. The Empress collided with the Storstad on the morning of May 29, 1914. The Empress was on her 192nd crossing from Liverpool to Quebec. The Empress of Ireland’s sinking was one of the worst maritime disasters in history. Of the 1,477 people on board 1,012 perished, only 465 survived.

After our tour of the lighthouse and submarine we drove along the coast and thru some of the coastal towns. We found a group of stone statues along a boardwalk and down into the ocean. We really could not find out why as everything was in french.  Someones idea of art, I guess. I did hear that when the tide comes in the statues are under water with only a few heads protruding above water.

It was a full day and our breakfast was long gone, so we were now scouting around for some sea food…we found one right on the water, but once we got close we found it closed!! Which was probably a good thing as the one we found was wonderful..both Guy and I had ceasar salads with 1lb of lobster on them. Yummy!! This place was filled with all kinds of fish related chotskies…

 

Our time in Mer was a short stop, and now we were moving on to Cap-Aux-Os, Quebec. So stay with us on our Grand Adventure as we move around the Gaspe peninsula.

Until next time y’all have a Blessed Day.

July 5, 2017, Canadian Adventure
Pumpkin Patch RV Park, Hermon, Maine
St Nicholas, Quebec, 220.8 miles

The party was over with Carolyn and Gary…it was now time to join our tour group and head into Canada. We had made the plans to travel with Adventure Caravans about a year ago, we were excited and apprehensive about spending 60 days with 37 people we had never met. Upon arriving at the Pumpkin Patch, Will, our fearless Wagon Master and Pat our tail end Charlie, measured our rig (68’). This was done for the 14-15 hr overnight, ferry ride we would be taking over to NewFoundland and Labradore.

Our apprehension faded on the very first night the group got together for dinner, which our leaders put together, every couple received a whole cooked chicken, potatoe salad, macaroni salad, along with many other treats. They also had a nicely decorated cake to celebrate the start of our whirlwind journey.

We received our itinerary booklet with road directions and campgrounds for the next 60 days. Will stated that they would like us to not use our GPS as we would be using side roads in order to see more of the country verses just highways and to travel with a partner.

 

A friendship with Steve and Sharon, from Basehor, KS, and Doby and Louise from Placentia, Ca was formed at our first presentation and briefing. We all decided to be traveling partners for the next day as we headed to St. Nicholas, Quebec. Everyone was advised before the trip that we would need walkie talkies in order to keep in touch. It was sure a nice convince and well worth having in emergencies or road changes.

One of the big objectives our group leader wanted was everyone to get to know one another, they accomplished this by handing us a sheet of paper with blank squares, we needed to fill each square by having new friends sign. This was a great way to talk to one another and meet.

Later in the trip we will play bingo with the signed sheets. I will let y’all know how this turns our later.

Our trip to St Nicholas, Quebec, Canada was going to be pretty easy for us as we had just left Jackman, Maine, using the same roads heading to Bar Harbor. Our Wagon Master, Will and Cyndy will be the first out of every campground about 1 hr before the rest of our group, with our Tail End Charlie, Pat and Holly leaving last out, the group would leave between 8 and 10, and were to arrive by 5:00 p.m.

We had heard so many stories about the border crossing into Canada, what we could take and what we couldn’t, we were pretty prepared for anything, we left the gun in the safe deposit box with the bullets, emptied out the adult beverages, had shot records for LaciLou and the bag of dog food available, passports for us, and our speeches ready for any questions. We were quite surprised at how easy the crossing was. They asked if we had been into Canada before, how long ago, did we own a gun, did we bring the gun, why not, then asked about the adult beverage. We answered truthfully and were on our way in a matter of minutes.

 

That first day in Quebec was amazing, we left by bus at 8:00am and would be returning by 6:00 pm. Quebec City is the most European style city in North America. The Old City is a very old and quaint city, most buildings were built from the 1700’s- into the 1800’s and made from granite. The city is on two levels, the bottom level is along the waterway, and is being restored slowly, the buildings can be bought from the government for $1.00, as long as you pay to rebuild them. Most of the building have a business located on the street with condos on the upper floors. There was a heavy use of granite used for all the buildings as Quebec is known for its granite.

The upper part of Quebec city has a wall built around it that was used to defend the city from the British soldiers way back in the 1700’s. The area has many parks, amphitheater where they hold concerts June thru August. One of the biggest attractions is the grand old Chateau Frontenac, this was once owned by the railroad company in the 1800’s and is now owned by the government, the money to buy the Chateau came from the retirement income from the people of Quebec. There are 700 hotel rooms, with the price of the rooms starting in the $500’s.

Our tour guide was a Frenchman but spoke great English, he really knew his French history and culture. I have to say I know as much about the US as he knew about his country. Quebec is 96% French speaking, all signs on businesses, and roads are in French. At first it was difficult to understand but eventually it started to make sense.

Montmorency Falls was next on our list, this water fall is taller than Niagara Falls but not as wide. The Montmorency Restaurant is next to the falls where we had lunch while looking at the falls.

 

 

When we left lunch we walked along a wooden walkway out to the falls, above the falls was a bridgewhere you could look straight down, there was zip lining, from one side to the other in front of the falls, one or our group, David, decided to do the next day, I wish we had been there to see it. I tried 3 times to walk on the bridge but my hands were sweating, my stomach was getting queasy! I just couldn’t do it, so Guy took pictures for me.

We also toured Albert Giles Copper Works, where we watched a demonstration of how they make copper plates, art work, jewelry. Some of the women purchased jewelry.

Our next stop was to the Saint-Anne Beaupre Basilica. This is a Catholic cathedral, and still holds services. There is the main sanctuary, and 2 more on the bottom floor. The Cathedral is dedicated to Mary’s mother, Jesus grandmother. The doors into the sanctuary were done by Albert Gilles of the copper works we had just toured.

After leaving the cathedral we crossed the St Lawrence River over to Isle of Orlean. The Quebec government has passed a law just for this island that is be used for agriculture only because of the rich soil. If you own a farm and want to sell it must be sold and used as a farm by the next owner.

There are vacation cottages that were built before the law that do not fall under the farm law but no new houses can be built. One of our stops was at a local framers market where Guy and I purchased some of the sweetest and largest strawberries we have had in a long time and a loaf of homemade 12 grain bread. Yummy! Our last stop of the day was, of course, was at the tip of the island for ice cream. The menu was in French with the servers speaking French, we made our ice cream selections known by pointing at the pictures.

After leaving LaciLou alone in the coach for 10 hours she was so excited to see us, jumping around and wiggling like crazy. I felt so bad for her, but was just as excited to see her. We could make arrangements with the campground to come and walk her but both Guy and I were uncomfortable with that, we turned on the music, gave her treats and toys, picked up the rugs, and put her in the back of the coach, where she has her crate.

Our next day was a free day to explore as we wished. So we talked with Doby and Louise, Sharon and Steve, and got bus tickets back to Quebec City, spending the day going thru stores, having lunch and then ending the day with adult beverages.

It was now time to head to Metis-sur-Mer, Gaspe a travel day of 220.8 miles. So come on with us on our Journey thru the Gaspe, and into the Maritimes.

 

 

 

June 19-24, 2017
Timberland Campground
Shelburne, New Hampshire

We arrived at our new home for the week into a heavily wooded campground. Pulling in we were excited to see the trees and firepits, but no sooner did we open the doors, we were bombarded with mosquitoes. They were attacking from all sides, in your mouth and nose. Poor Guy stayed outside to get us all hooked up, while I was very happy doing the inside set up. I did get out the spray with 40% deet, we sprayed like crazy…very thankful that those nasty critters didn’t like the stuff and left us alone.

There was a walking trail along the Androscoggin River, just down from our site.  After our 4 hour drive we needed a little exercise, hoping the spray would keep the mosquitoes at bay. The trail was a loop, along the river and thru a meadow filled with flowers. The river was large and very fast moving, there were kayaks we could to use but the current was so strong you could be miles away in minutes with no way of getting back.

There was rain almost every day we were there, but luckily the afternoons were dry so we could have a fire…the hotter the fire…less mosquitoes. We never did eat or cook outside…we were not to excited to find out what mosquitoes tasted like.

There are 2 other towns not to far away, Gorham and Berlin. Berlin seemed to be a dying town, most of the stores and restaurants were closed and boarded up. Gorham was a more thriving town, they even had a Walmart and a Dollar General. Carolyn and I had decided to go have a girls day…lunch and shopping…between the two towns we found pizza and chinese buffet. Luckily they had a McDonalds, chicken nuggets and burgers!! What was amazing were the signs that said “Lobster is Back”…a lobster roll for $8.99! At McDonalds?? Who knew.

For weeks Carolyn and Gary had been talking about all the “Moose” they had seen in this area, momma’s with babies, dads with big racks! They made it seem like we would see a plethora of “Moose”!!! How exciting was that…we had not seen a moose since Alaska about 7 yrs ago.

We see one “Moose” in the trees, far, far away, we can’t see his face, he hears us, and moves back among the trees…does this count as a “Moose” sighting?…not in my book…

so far these are the “Moose” we have found..these don’t count!

We drove many miles checking out the area around us and even into Maine up in the high country where there is only one main road. We checked out many streams and rivers…so many I have almost lost track. Looking for the proverbial “Moose”, we even waited until dusk when they would be at the watering holes, munching on the grass. Nope no “Moose”.

Outside of Gorham is Mt Washington, the mountain is 6,288 feet, there are two ways to get to the top, the “Cog Train” or the Mt. Washington Auto Road. The cog train is $69 – 75 round trip, while the road trip is $29 for car and driver and $9.00 for each additional person.

Yes, we choose to drive the auto road, which is not for the faint or heart. The road is very narrow,  no guard rails, the average grade is 12%, hard packed gravel road, very high winds, at about the 4,200 foot level you are above the treeline.

 

Crystal clear days are rare on the summit of the mountain, under perfect conditions you can see the Adirondack peaks over 130 miles away. There are days you can see 60 miles to the Atlantic Ocean along the coast of Maine. The day we were there  was very windy and cold. The clouds would surround us the in minutes move on, one minute we could see forever the next nothing.

The highest wind ever observed was recorded on Mt Washington. From 1932 was operated in the Summit Stage office during the storm of 1934, the wind measured 231 miles an hour. Weather observers staff the observatory 236 days a year, 24 hours a day, thru fierce, fast changing weather, heavy snow and icing collecting weather data.

Most of the moutainous area of Mt Washington is part of the White Mountain National Forest. The 725,000 acres are public property and is managed for its timber production, hunting and fishing and recreation.

The Cog Railway was the first cog train in the U.S. and started its trip up the mountain in July 1869. There are vintage steam engines and replica coaches. A cog railway is a steep railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between two smooth rails. Trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels that follow the track, this allows the trains to operate on steep grades, 7-10% grades.

The hunt for “Moose” was still on.. we kept driving the roads of New Hampshire, down to the Kancamagus Pass, that reaches 2890 feet, over to Lincoln, checking out the views as far as we could see, and then back over into Conway. Cameras ready, eyes always on the look out…

The NH map had little pictures to show where the “Moose” hung out, where waterfalls were located and even the old covered bridges!! With all that information we should be seeing so many awesome things…well, off we went to find Thompson Falls, it took many wrong turns and at least 1/2 hr to find the hiking trail. We prevailed and started our short .7 hike, along the stream, spirits high, after atleast a mile with no falls, we were all thinking we must be on the wrong trail…so we gave up…later we found out we had not gone far enough…

 

The trail wasn’t a  bust for me as I found “Ladies Slipper” flowers all along the trail, I had not seen these flowers since I was a kid in Mass.

We even drove along hwy 17, into Maine up to MooseLookmeguntic Lake, (seriously that’s the name) timing our drive to arrive in the area of Errol, back in NH where the “Moose” have their own crossing signs….

On our way to Errol we stopped on the Sunday River and found this awesome covered bridge, it was built in 1872.

We did find a couple of covered bridges but even these were hard to find..about 3 we never did find…oh well, there is always next time.

 

We also went thru Rumford, ME, where we stopped at the visitors center to pick up some maps and information. Paul Bunyan was there with his blue ox, Babe. Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack in American folklore. There are tall tales that revolve around his superhuman labors. His character originated with the North American loggers.

At the visitors center Carolyn and I met up with 4 men just sitting in the office and talking away…they wanted to know about us and if we needed a partner to tag along! They gave us some great info on Coos Canyon.

 

Coos Canyon looked like a popular place for a warm day as there were people in swimsuits climbing the rocks and swimming! There was a store across the street that served lunch, ice cream and had a gift shop attached. It was decided we all needed ice cream,  we sat outside looking at the waterfalls, in the sun and enjoyed the cool refreshing treat.

We have heard that the best time to view “Moose” is between dusk to dawn. So we timed our drive so we would be driving down hwy 16 at dusk about 6:30. Drive slowly they said… so slowly we went down hwy 16 thru the town of Errol…heading back to camp.

We are on our last day here in the White Mountain area, it’s getting dark we are heading down from Errol, it’s beautiful as the sun sets on the water, the trees look darker, you can see the reflection on the water of the big puffy, white, red and gray clouds, the many ponds with ducks swimming, reeds swaying with the breeze around the edges of the water, “Moose” prints in the mud, our necks are hurting from turning in all directions, our eyes have eye strain from trying to see thru the trees, we are hungry and headed for a pizza dinner, but where the heck are the “Moose”?

Stay with us as we head into Jackman, Maine, while we look for the proverbial “Moose”. We will be about 15 miles from the Canadian border, with only one road going that up to Canada and the border crossing.  The big question is “will we find “Moose”.

Until next time, y’all have a very Blessed 4th of July holiday.

June 14, 2017, North Beach Campground, Burlington, VT

Our campground in Burlington, Vermont was in the middle of the city, behind the high school on Lake Champlain. Our gps took us off the hwy, thru town on some pretty narrow car lined streets, making those wide turns a very scary adventure. Looking down into cars and seeing the looks on some of the drivers faces…priceless!! You could see they weren’t sure we wouldn’t drive right into them.

The campground is really not big rig friendly, lots of low hanging trees with mostly tent sites. There are only about 10 sites that can accommodate a big rig. Our site had a very steep slope to it, after putting numerous wood blocks under the tires and jacks we finally had it level. There was no moving to another site as the campground that weekend was sold out, one of the workers saw our predicament, went to the shop and came back with nice cut up planks for us to use.

There is a paved bike/walking path that goes along the lake by North Beach campground which makes it easy access to Burlington’s downtown and waterfront. The beach area is for public use with a pavilion and bbq’s, play area for the kids, rentals of kayaks and paddle boards.

While walking around Burlington’s marina area, we found the ice cream vendor who sells Maple Ice cream cones…yes…we stopped and had a double!! Guy opted for a root beer float.  It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day so it sure tasted good.

We took a drive thru town and found Church street which is closed to traffic. There are numerous little shops, restaurants with tables on the sidewalks, vendor carts selling everything from soup to nuts. The University of Vermont is in Burlington so the town is full of students enjoying the wonderful weather.

We stopped at one of the most picturesque old grain mills, located on a small fast moving river. The Chittenden Mill, it was named after the first governor of Vermont. The inside has been turned into a museum for the “Snowflake Collection” and also gift shop.

For over 40 years Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley photographed thousand of individual snowflakes, perfecting the technique to keep them from melting. Snowflakes or snow crystals are difficult to photograph because they do melt so quickly, he would photograph the snowflakes outside to keep the delicate specimens from melting. Bentley developed equipment and techniques to take photographs of individual snowflakes.

 

He stood in the winter cold for hours waiting patiently so he could catch falling flakes. Once a snowflake landed, he carefully handled it with a feather to place it under the camera lens. From the first photograph he took in 1885 until his death in 1931 he photographed more than 5000 snow crystals, while gathering this large collection he learned that every single snowflake was unique and none the same. Each crystal takes on its own unique size and shape as it is falling to earth, there are many factors that cause this, temperature, wind, humidity, and up and down drafts.

 

On our tour of the area we stopped at Smugglers Notch State Park. This is a mountain pass that derives its name from activities that were prohibited by the Embargo Act of 1807, which forbid American trade between America and Canada.

 

Due to the proximity to Montreal the illegal trade with Canada continued. Fugitive slaves also used the Notch as an escape route. In 1922 the road was used during the Prohibition years to smuggle liquor in from Canada.

This area is extremely rocky, the mountain is 2,170’ and is now used for mountain climbing, there are also many hiking trails with some very strenuous trails. The spur trail leads to the top of Elephant’s Head, as you climb you gain about 1,100 feet in the 2.1 miles from the parking lot.

We had heard thru the years about all the skiing in Stow, Vermont and what a wonderful place it is. It is a beautiful place, the town was pretty spread out, there were lots of restaurants and stores, but I didn’t see the attraction. Of course, I don’t ski nor will I ever!! I have tried it in Tahoe and Yosemite. Being afraid of heights, getting on a ski lift was terrifying.

We stopped for lunch at a tavern in Stowe, and then headed to the Moss Glen Waterfall. The hike to waterfall was about was about 1/2 mile, the last part straight up hill. It was so worth the trip, the walk way to the falls was lined with flowers and ferns (as tall as me), part of the path you walked on wood as it was pretty wet and muddy, following the river on one side, as it was flowing over the rocks.

 

 

After checking it out from the top, we decided to hike down to the bottom, once there, Carolyn and I took off our shoes, rolled up our pants, braved the icy cold water, walked into the river, climbing over the rocks, trying not to fall, trying to keep our cameras dry, to get to the bottom of the falls.

There was one last big boulder that I climbed over but Carolyn decided it was way to much for her. We were disappointed as we could only see half way up!!

It was finally time to get our ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s and take the tour!!! Jokes on us as we braved the parking lot, drove around a protest going on about migrant workers, and worked our way thru the people, we get to the tour line….with a sign that says, “No ice cream being made today”!

Well, dang, all of us deciding that we weren’t going to spend the $4.00 each and not see ice cream being made. Off we went to the ice cream line…..we were about the 40th in line….looked at each other and decided we can go to the store and get it for less money. So off we went…..

Every state seems to have its share of out of the ordinary, so found this 38 drawer structures that claims to be the world’s only giant filing cabinet. It was built in 2002 by Bren Alvarez. The tower is titles “File Under File Under So. Co., Waiting for…” Each of the drawer representing the number of years of paperwork that were accumulated while working on the project to connect Interstate 89 to downtown Burlington. The road connector was first proposed in 1965, it has never been built, and 51 yrs later is still in limbo.

Gary and Carolyn had been to the Magic Hat Brewery and Artifactory before and thought we should experience it as well. I will say, I thought it was one of the coolest breweries and funkiest we have ever been to.

They have a self guided tour which takes about 5 mins!! Magic Hat brews four year round beers, #9 “Not Quite Pale Ale”, Dream Machine, Circus Boy and Single Chair. They also produce seasonal beer, which is beer produced for a particular season. Seasonal beers are usually produced when the fresh ingredients are available or for special holidays, festivals or events.

 

As we walked down the halls, on our way to start the tour, is the Magic Hat ArtSpace. The halls showcase local artists and their work for 2 months. When a new artist is chosen to display their work, a reception is held to showcase on the first Friday of that month, to showcase the new artist. All the artists along the walls are for sale.

The Magic Hat also sells their own brand of items, tee shirts, hats, glassware, sunglasses, bottle openers and of course their beer.

They hold events all year long, like the one coming up in August, “Wall to Wall Canvas”, which is a live art competition, the winner will win $500.00. Artists use wheat pasting, stencils, collage, spray painting, and markers to create unique pieces of art, the art will then be displayed along the walls of the brewery.

Since it was Father’s Day, Guy and I decided to take a drive to the islands off the coast of Burlington. There are a group of 4 islands in the middle of Lake Champlain, Grand Isle, North Hero, South Alburgh, Isle La Motte,  the drive was about 3-4 hours.

We were amazed at how beautiful it was, lots of big red barns, some in drastic need of repair, some falling down, but quite a few that were still being used. There flowers everywhere along the road. Guy and I wondered what everyone did for work that didn’t have a farm, there weren’t any stores or places to work, unless you had a roadside buisness.

We stopped for lunch at North Hero House Inn and Restaurant, they were cooking and serving lunch out on the grass overlooking the lake.

It was an awesome view, the wind was blowing about 30 miles an hr, almost to windy to eat out as things were flying everywhere. But it was Father’s Day, everyone was loving the atmosphere, the place was crowded, the wait was pretty long, but there was lots of laughter.

What a great time we had during our time in Burlington. It seemed like it flew by and now it was time to head off to New Hampshire. So come along on our journey with us to Shelburne. Until next time have a Blessed Day.