Vermont! #50

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October 1, 2013

I DID IT!

I have now been to all 50 of the great United States of America! Vermont did it for me today. I will also be nice and mention that Joe finished his 50 several days ago.

Oh, it was so hard to leave our friends' beautiful coastal Maine home this morning. We had such a good time with them and they pampered us way too much. This morning one of their neighbor's sailboats was missing from its mooring. He'd taken it to dry storage, a sure sign winter is on its way. It seemed incongruous with the 70 degree plus temperatures we were enjoying. As Joe was putting our suitcases in the car, a young woman jogging by yelled out, "You can't leave now, the weather is perfect!" And it was.

The weather continued to be in our favor the entire day as we traveled through Maine, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and into Vermont. We spent a lot of time on the backroads of these states just enjoying the beautiful fall foliage. We stopped many times to explore short paths, and in Stowe to walk on its streets. Of course, we had to stop and take the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream tour in Waterbury, VT.

Everyone knows that New England is beautiful this time of year, I'm adding my own exclamation mark to that statement! It's a feast for the eyes wherever one looks.

We were looking for Bob Newhart's Inn, but instead found a lovely B&B in Randolph, Vermont run by a nice couple. We are the only guests here tonight and we are being well taken care of. My back is much better but after hearing my story of the Bay of Fundy accident, they brought a heating pad to the room for me to use, I hadn't even mentioned wanting one.

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Photos

Waterbury, VT
Ben and Jerry's

Waterbury, VT
Sample after the tour today was Karamel Sutra...very good. What diet?

Waterbury, VT
I wasn't surprised to see that my two favorite B&J's flavors were the top two all time favorites. Cherry Garcia and Cookie Dough.

Waterbury, VT
Still eating the ice cream.

Vermont
The trees almost hurt your eyes, during the "golden hour" when the sun is setting.

Comments

[Tom Swan]

The Color
You have to see it to believe it. No photograph can even come close to experiencing the beauty as being there!

[J J]

Colors
You are right about experiencing it. Also, this blog does funny things to photos...seems to "sharpen" them so they look funny. I think even FB does a better job.

[Tom Swan]

Vermont Cheese
If you get a chance, try some Vermont white extra sharp cheddar cheese.

[J J]

Cheese
Now we've got a mission...to find this cheese. We'll be leaving VT tomorrow so got to find it soon.

[jane and dave]

God's Country
Wow, we love the pics. Have missed the fall colors since we lived in IL. We have friends that live in Grantham, NH. I went to grade school with them in Lexington, IL. It is a small world. J&D

[Home and Away]

Just found you when perusing the Newest blogs...
Congratulations on having visited all 50 States. I also enjoyed reading your earlier blogs...and the memories they brought back, having visited the Canadian Maritimes and New England, but with three young children. My wife and I visited Sydney and New Zealand last fall for our 40th anniversary; with our son who is now 24...much better!

[J J]

Thanks
Thank you, when I get home and have some time, I'll check out your blog.

[Donna]

Lovely photos
Congratulations on the 50th state. New England is living up to its reputation for Fall beauty and thanks for letting us enjoy it, too.

[Da Banks]

Vermont
You are in the most beautiful spot in the USA right now. Thanks for sharing your photos. Are all those Maple Syrups REALLY yours ? Congratulations on doing 50 states. Stay out of any National Parks !

[J J]

Fall Beauty
I still think that the West Fork of Oak Creek Trail near Sedona is the most beautiful place to see fall foliage. It is beautiful here in New England, though. Really shouldn't compare the two, they are so different.

[Bob Settles]

Early color??
Congrats on 50 to both of you. Seems October 2 is awfully early for such magnificent colors, even in Vermont. Great pictures. Keep posting them.

[J J]

Colors
Yes, I think it's a bit early this year. We weren't counting on seeing them when we planned the trip, but were hoping.

[Lois Settles]

Exhalted beauty
When we drove through Vermont and New Hampshire over each hill Bob would exclaim what beauty! Gorgeous! Magnificent! Outstanding! and finally he said, "There is just no adjective to describe what we are seeing." I agreed. You have a lot of yellow here. IN the western part of the state we got more red maple, but what gorgeous pictures Bob got there. We were stopping so much to take in the beauty we almost did not get where we planned to be for the evening. We stayed with Ed and Ellamae Miner (used to be the County Attorney in Ellis Co., Hays) in New Hampshire and they took us several places we would never have known about while we were there...apple orchard where we got cider, etc., etc. Whets my appetite to go back this time of year. Maybe next fall. We are leaving Saturday for Rome, Sorrento, Capri...headed on a cruise that will take us to Sicily, Malta, Israel (3 days), Athens, GR (where Steve and Sherry will meet us) on to Kos, Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini, and Ephesus and Marmaros, Turkey. We have been to all but Malta, Israel, Kos and Marmaros before. but they are all worth returning to. Steve and Sherry had wanted to do the Greek Isles so we lined up back to back cruises and the second is with them. When do you finish this trip? I will not be getting much email on purpose once we are ship board. Takes too much time just getting it and we pay by the minute there. Have surely enjoyed every word, Judy. Thanks so much for including me. Love...

[J J]

Colors
We fly back to Phoenix on Oct. 6. Have fun on your cruise! Sounds wonderful.