Upstate NY and New England Next

North to Heuvelton (Hue-vel-ton) NY

 Our trip continued from Platekill to Heuvelton, NY where we planned to spend a full week visiting Florida friends Julie and Tom Patnode.  Our ride was uneventful, with no major issues after we got off I87, undoubtedly the worst highway conditions we've faced thus far. We settled in and enjoyed our first 4:30 Happy Hour, which transfers nicely everywhere we stop. 🍷

In Heuvelton we were able to fix our DirecTV and intermittently malfunctioning directionals. YouTube provided the know-how and Ray did the repairs to the DirecTV. But the directionals required the attention of a professional. Fortunately, Pete, Julie and Tom's son, is a diesel mechanic. He knew the part to order and installed it in a matter of minutes. He saved us the anguish of trying to find a repair shop somewhere to have it fixed if we found the part.

Our first day of exploring, Friday, took us to the 1000 Island River Rat Cheese Shop in Clayton, NY.  We bought a wide variety of cheeses and some of their many items to serve with cheese. We ate lunch in a small, local restaurant and then headed out to the Coyote Moon Winery and the 1000 Island Winery where we did tastings and purchased some of their offerings

Coyote Moon Greeter

The weather Saturday was a cool 68 so that afternoon we had a wonderful fire and another quiet Happy Hour. Our Fisherman's Cove pyromaniacs would approve of Tom's dedication to reducing his woodpile!

Sunday afternoon Julie & Tom took us to one of their favorite wineries, Bella-Brooke, which would be a very dangerous place for us if we lived anywhere nearby. We sampled and purchased wonderful wines, they also have craft beers, wine slushies and ice cream floats, plus a full size chess board out on the lawn. Ray wants to try it some time.  The rest of the afternoon was spent touring Ogdensburg.  It was a wonderful day!

  

While near the St. Lawrence River, we planned to see friends Ann and Dave Hancock who summer in Cape Vincent, NY.  Although Ann and Dave live only an hour or so from our Florida winter home, we visited them 1,300 miles north.  Cape Vincent is located at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River where it meets Lake Ontario.

After visiting Ann & Dave at their summer home, we drove to Tibbetts Point Lighthouse, on the Register of Historic Places. After a quick stop at the Lighthouse Park, Julie, Tom, Lalia and Ray had lunch with Ann and Dave before we left Cape Vincent.  It was good to see Ann and Dave and we have already made plans to get together when we all get back to Florida.

  

From Cape Vincent we headed to Alexandria Bay which is a beautiful little town along the St. Lawrence River that was well worth the drive.  There are many of these little towns and harbors along the river to visit. For more info check out https://www.boldtcastle.com/visitorinfo

Boldt Castle

The remainder of our time with Julie and Tom was spent just enjoying time with friends.  Lots of laughs and stories. Lalia and I are looking forward to seeing them when we get back to Florida.  Thank you Julie and Tom!

On to Vermont

From Heuvelton we drove across northern NY to Vermont and our next stop in Williamstown which is located near Montpelier.  The Limehurst Lake Campground is a wonderful spot, run by a couple who we met at Fisherman' s Cove, our winter home.

Friday was spent mostly shopping including stops at Costco, Walmart, and VT State Liquor Store which was pretty small and could never compare to the NH State Liquor Stores.  

Saturday we drove to visit some more friends from Florida.  Does anyone notice a trend here where we drive north to visit friends from Florida?  Very nice visit with Shirley, Steve, Cheryl, Jason, and Cheri. Unfortunately, Doug wasn't able to be there, because of a previous commitment, but hopefully we'll see him somewhere down the road.

While in Williamstown we drove to Craftsbury and Craftsbury Common, in the pouring rain, to visit another of Lalia's cousins, Belinda and her husband Phil.  It was like we had seen them just last week, but it has been a decade or more. We had a splendid visit, which included many memories and a lot of laughs.  

It was great to see them again.  We haven't been to the area in many years but did visit often when Lalia's uncle Arnold was the minister of the local church.  We were glad to see the area continues to be a wonderful small Vermont town.  

Lalia's Uncle Arnold served this Craftsbury Common Vermont Church
 for many years - Quintessential Vermont 

On the ride back to the RV in beautiful sunshine, we passed the 2-r00m Craftsbury School house once used as a North Country get-away by Lalia's extended family.  It is encouraging to see the new owners making repairs. 

Vermont is a beautiful state influenced primarily by the hills and mountains more easily traveled in a car. 

The remainder of our time in the area was spent relaxing in this very nice RV park, taking walks, and visiting some local farmer's markets.  We found it interesting that in the area there seems to be a farmer's market every day of the week and most are open from 3 -6 in the afternoon.  

Northfield, VT Farmers Market

One of the Market companions

Going to these farmers markets offered us the opportunity to drive through many small, beautiful towns very much like small towns in which many of us grew up.  For example, The Town of Northfield included a very nice, fairly large, community pool and a municipal field where there were many children playing and "hanging out".  Certainly seemed like a nice place for children to gather and brought back memories for both of us.

On our last day in the area we went to Barre, VT, a town built around the Granite quarrying industry. We had visited many times in the past because of the Vermont State Surplus Vehicles Auction. We purchased a couple of vehicles here and always enjoyed going to the auction. Now it's primarily online! Once again, many wonderful memories for us.

We had never investigated the granite industry, but now the state has realized the impact and the history associated with the folks who worked in the quarry. The museum is a 'work in progress' but has a wealth of articles to be organized and shared. https://www.vtgranitemuseum.org

Only a portion of the enormous space being turned into a museum
and artist workshop space. Through the large opening on the right 
trains drove through the building to off load enormous granite blocks.

Thursday we head south about two hours to Dorset, VT for the 4th of July.