From Dorset, Vermont to Boothbay, Maine

Manchester & Middlebury

Our trip to Dorset from Williamstown took only a couple of hours through the Vermont country side, a lovely ride, beautiful day with lots of sun.  The main reason to visit the Dorset/Manchester area is to visit with friends Jane and Pete Johnson and during our visit they kept us pretty busy.  We enjoyed dining with them in their new home, visiting Millbury college where Jane and Pete met, and listening to the Vermont Symphony Orchestra on a beautiful evening.

The Middlebury campus is truly beautiful

A beautiful VT sunset at Pete and Jane's new home

Lovely spot for a picnic before a concert

No words needed

Wardsboro & Danby

On Sunday Lalia and I drove VT route 100, a scenic highway, well worth the drive, with beautiful scenery and some very nice small Vermont towns and villages.  For the 4th we joined Jane and Pete at the Wardsboro parade.  Wardsboro is a small VT town that had a small parade that went through town and then turned around and went back through town.  Interesting way to see a parade.  Monday night Jane, Pete, and their daughter Amanda came to our RV for dinner prior to all of us going to Danby Vt. for fireworks. A local family puts on an amazing fireworks show in the field next to their home and we had seats as close as we've ever been to fireworks.  This was one of the best firework shows we have even seen.  The show lasted 20 minutes but was like a grand finale for the entire 20 minutes. Great way to finish celebrating July 4th.  We had a great few days with Jane and Pete and look forward to seeing them again down the road.

Tiny Wardsboro filled with Folks From Far and Wide

And Horses

And the Cleanup Crew

Seems like everyone has a 1957 Chevy

Schroon Lake, NY

One of the surprises on this trip was learning that Lalia's cousin Heather and her husband Rick, who previously were living in Saco, Maine, had recently moved to Schroon Lake NY.  Heather and Rick purchased a B&B in Schroon Lake and we were able to visit with them while we were in Dorset, VT.  The Loch House Inn is a very nice old home that we're very confident Heather and Rick will make into a great B&B.  It was nice to see them again this year and we're looking forward to visiting this B&B again in the future.

In 3 weeks Heather & Rick are integral to the community-
Sit on a great porch for concerts on Schroon Lake 

4th of July Grand Marshall rode in the Loch House Convertible

Rick drove - Instant Advertising

This garden will be amazing next summer

Bennington & Brattleboro

From Dorset we drove to Woodford, VT for a three night stay to visit the Bennington and Brattleboro area.  Our RV park was very scenic and on top of a hill which gave us expansive views of the area.  

Such a quiet spot, with very few neighbors

Our visit to Bennington included stops at the Bennington Museum and the Bennington Monument.  The museum is a history of the Bennington area with some Vermont history thrown in; very nice museum and worth a visit. The Grandma Moses exhibit is exceptional.

The Bennington Museum is an amalgamation of  various building styles

Tiger maple chest-on-chest built/crafted in the late 1700s

Ribbon lace was woven by hand with spools on a lap pillow
The pattern is barely visible on the paper beneath the lace

The Bennington Monument is 306 feet 4 and 1/2 inches tall and was completed and dedicated in 1891. It is constructed from blue-grey magnesian limestone.

The Monument was built to commemorate the Battle of Bennington which occurred on August 16, 1777, and is considered to be the turning point in the Revolutionary War.  If you would like to know more about this battle here is a link to look at:  https://benningtonbattlemonument.com/battle.html

Our final day in Vermont was spent driving to Brattleboro.  The ride to Brattleboro included a stop at the farmer's market which was nice with a lot of different type vendors.  We did manage to check out one of the local bake shops and also sampled a breakfast burrito.  From the farmer's market we drove through and around downtown Brattleboro before heading back toward Bennington with stops at The Hogback Mountain Country Store and the Vermont Wooden Bowl Company store.  The country store was located at the top of a mountain and offered beautiful views of the Vermont countryside but once inside it was a normal tourist trap with all sorts of items overpriced.  As a kid Ray's family went to the Mohawk Trail in western MA a few times and this Hogback store reminded him of the tourist-traps along the Mohawk Trail.

We found a place for a selfie

The Vermont Wooden Bowl Store had some of the nicest wooden bowls, cutting boards, etc. that were pricey but amazing.  We watched a young man create cutting boards for a restaurant on which to serve charcuterie. The board's shape was already carved, a wood-burning automated printer was engraving the restaurant's logo on dozens of boards. Amazing technology. 

Lalia convinced Ray to buy a left-handed wooden spatula to replace one purchased in Halifax in 2016 which had developed a nick that required sanding, turning it into a generic spatula. Yup, spatulas can be right-handed or left-handed!