Ben and Jerry's

When we come to the Burlington area, and we are required to visit the Ben and Jerry's factory tour in Waterbury. So, off we went. However, we have been to the place four times now, and pretty much know the tour by heart. It just isn't worth the $4 a piece to go through the tour to get the "free" samples at the end. That, and since today is Sunday, they aren't actually making anything.

So, we decide to just get ice cream . . . for lunch!

The last time we did this, we were at Giardelli's in San Francisco and got the Earthquake Sunday. The four of us were unable to complete it. Well, here they have the VerMonster! At $34.99, I had a feeling we just didn't have enough people to take it on. But, we were curious. What if it was just expensive, and not actually huge?

Fortunately, we heard a buzzing moving through the crowd (yes, there is a line). There, walking away from the ordering window, was a man with a very manly bucket piled high with whipped cream. This bucket had to have been at least 1.5 gallons. I got a sugar high just watching him walk away with it.


We decided to let the kids have whatever they wanted (except the VerMonster). So, when Julia asked if she could have one of the bigger items on the menu, I said "Yes". Normally, my answer to queries like that is "No. You can have the junior mini micro cone and be happy". Her first reaction was the "Yeah, right" look. Then, slowly, it dawned upon her that I was serious. Then panic took over. "Er, um, well. . . I changed my mind." She didn't actually want it. Just wanted to push the limits and didn't know what to do for a minute when there was no limit.

Alex on the other hand promptly ordered a chocolate covered waffle cone with three scoops of peanut butter cookie dough ice cream.



Note - Tomorrow we are heading to Canada. Not sure if we will have web access there. If not, there won't be any more blogs until at least next Sunday evening when we arrive bleary eyed at some hotel on I-95 as we blast down the coast for home.

Vermont

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Off to Vermont!

We took the ferry across Lake Champlain from New York to Vermont. It is another beautiful day. Made all the better by reports of a scorching (if 98% humidity at any temperature can be considered scorching) day in Orlando. The ferry is a 1 hour trip across the lake. When coming up on Burlington Vermont, the most striking aspect of the city is how much it blends into the green background. Burlington is not big, but with 38,000 residents, I expected it to be a bigger blotch of city in the tree lined lake.

Continuing our good fortune for the trip, there is a street festival going on here today. Lots of people and street performers are around Church Street. Church Street is a permanently pedestrian only center of town. There are nice little shops all over the place. It is a very, very nice place.

Now, a warning. Many of our friends would be fairly uncomfortable here. That would be anyone who is conservative or even worse, Republican. Burlington is the very liberal center of a very liberal state. Organic produce rules, peace signs are everywhere, green living is a way of life, and the bumper stickers are very different from the ones we see in Orlando. Very crunchy granola.

Our destination is the Limehurst Lake campground. This is our third time in this campground. It is around a lake, that the kids can swim in, and is one of our favorite places. And this time, we even got a campsite that is in range of the wireless internet. Thus, the flood of postings today.

Ausable Chasm

Friday August 7, 2009

One of Mary-Jeanine’s goals every summer is to find a way to get out of the Florida heat and humidity. If it were up to her, summer would be declared persona-non-grata in Florida and the months of May-September would simply cease to exist. Since we don’t yet have time travel technology available to us, we make like the birds and head north.

When we leave Florida, she is looking for weather that is mercifully below 95 degrees. When we get to Georgia, the low 90's is no longer sufficient. In the Carolina's, temperature's in the mid 80's becomes so 10 minutes ago. Virginia and Pennsylvania in the upper 70's is unbearably hot.

Now, here we are. Northern New York state. We are reaching the upper limit of the continental US. Upper Maine doesn't count. You can never cool off there in the summer because you are constantly running around fleeing black flies. Any way, here we are. The weather is peaking in the low 70's. Nirvana right?

Too cold.

Marc and MJ under the Vassar Library window

Lovebirds under a very big tree at Vassar College, NY

Kinda makes you go 'hmmm'

Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here.

OK, we didn't actually tube THIS section, but it would have been cool if we coulda

Ausable Chasm

Friday August 7, 2009

Ausable Chasm

I can never remember how to properly say the name of this place. On a straight up American pie reading of the word it should rhyme with “causable”. But, we are fearfully close to the French Canadian border here, and thus it is probably pronounced “Au-sable” as in Au-jus. My mind can’t get around the pronunciation problem, and thus it keeps bringing up the following joke ...

A guy comes into a fast-food joint in Ausable New York and has a similar dilemma to mine. Where am I? So, after he finishes up his burger, he asks the tired looking pimply teenager standing by the fries. “Hey buddy, what how do you pronounce the name of this place?”

The teen answers very slowly ...

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B.u.r.g.e.r K.i.n.g

Hershey PA (yes, THAT Hershey)

Sunday August 2, 2009

Today our goal is to arrive in Hershey Pennsylvania in time to get Mary-Jeanine into a quilt show and the rest of us to Hershey Park. We have been to south central PA many times. But, somehow, we have always managed to miss Hershey. The one time Mary-Jeanine and I did make it into town back in 1990 it was rainy, dreary, and downright unpleasant. We took pictures of Hershey kiss shaped lamp posts and moved on.
This time, egged on by visions of a modern Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory the kids are game for getting up at 6 AM so we can have time to get there and have enough time with Mr. Wonka to beat out all those loser kids and inherit the magical factory.
It rained all the way there. Alex googled the weather and it said “Rain. Then more rain. And then, thundershowers.” Oy. Not a great time for an outdoor water/coaster/entertainment park where we only have a few hours to squeeze out enough entertainment for the wheelbarrow of cash it is going to cost to get in.
All is not lost though. After dropping Mary-Jeanine off, we go to Hershey’s Chocolate world with the entire vacationing population of New Jersey. Apparently we aren’t the only ones scared of riding roller coasters in thunderstorm.
It was a place we were REQUIRED to go to, but I don’t think we will come back. Once we’ve gone through the nice, but fake factory tour, we head out again and we coast into a station to get 19.89 gallons of gas for our 20 gallon tank. Then, off to Julia’s favorite vacation destination... the outlet mall.

we took a tour of a weaving mill...very very old machines and an even older owner who gave us a personal tour.

For those of you who are familiar with Organic Gardening, Rodale Institute in central PA is the mecca.

Ground Hogs are all over our State Park Campground. Also called Wood chucks, but we like to call them Ground Chucks. lol

Shenandoah National Park

Monday August 1, 2009

It is a beautimous day here in Shenandoah National Park. It is cool and sunny. It is on a day like this that we really miss the heavy heat and humidity of Orlando. Did I mention it is cool here? We needed blankets! So, the decision to camp on top of the mountain with no electricity ( = no A/C) pays off. Amazing what 3500 feet of elevation will do for you.
Our 4 mile hike today is only a mile drive away. It is through mountain forests to 2, count ‘em, 2 water falls. Everyone is happy, we’re carrying hiking sticks, throwing rocks, and listening for rushing water. The fact that we are in bear country keeps everyone talking. Loudly.

All through the hike we periodically pass, and are passed by an elderly gentleman named Tom who has all sorts of nuggets of wisdom to pass on. He is a life long hiker. We are really inspired by some hiking he has done in Europe. It was a week long hike around Mont Blanc from one hut to another. Julia and I have been talking about a trip to Europe some time in the next couple of years and this sounds really, really cool. Alex is most impressed at the end of the hike when he hops into his late model candy apple red Corvette and drives off.

Stefan loves smores.
Shenandoah view
We camped at Big Meadow, elevation 3400 feet
Alex is da man
a 40 meter mosey thru the Big Meadow

Virginia

Wednesday July 29, 2009

Off to Virginia! Good news because the weather forecast in NC is Rain followed by more rain. Then thundershowers. Bad thing because the rain follows us out of town. As we head up to the pass at Fancy Gap, we can just barely make out the sign that says "Fog Area". Good thing they had that sign. The only good thing is that the 80 million pound 18 wheelers can only go 40 mph up the grade. I'm going 35 because if I had a hood ornament, I wouldn't be able to see it.

Mary-Jeanine cracks the window so she can hear the inevitable pileup ahead of us. Fortunately, that doesn't happen. But, as we reach the top of the pass at Fancy Gap I decide to get off the road. All of a sudden those big rigs that were having trouble squashing us on the way up are going to have gravity on their side. The fog is incredibly thick.

How Thick was it?

Glad you asked. It was soooo thick that Mary-Jeanine didn't see the "Fancy Gap Fabric Outlet" sign on the exit ramp. But I did. And, since I need points after the near A/C disaster we go looking for it. Even though there were signs, we had to pull into a gas station for directions because we could not see the side streets. Once we made it to the outlet, Mary-Jeanine disappeared into it for a good hour and came out giddy with deals. Good thing we have space in the trailer for stuff.

By now, the fog had lifted and we proceeded along to Wytheville Virginia for the second of our fabric related stops. This time at least the kids and I got lunch at Applebees out of the deal.

Then, we finished out the day driving up to Charlottesville where they specialize in naming things after early US presidents. You never knew there were this many ways to use Jefferson in a name.

And, most importantly, the KOA has a working internet connection!

Mount Airy, North Carolina

Tuesday July 28, 2009

Mount Airy is the childhood home of Andy Griffith. And, if you are a US Citizen, you know Andy as the sheriff of Mayberry – the quintessential television small town of 50’s. If you are not a US citizen and want to become one, be sure to study up on this important facet of Americana. It will be on the test.
Mount Airy is pretty much like any other small town in North Carolina except that downtown is a dedication to a television show. The whistling theme song meanders forth from stores hawking Mayberry merchandise, Don Knott’s face peers out from windows and sneers at you as he loads his gun with his one bullet.

We had lunch at the Snappy Lunch counter whose tenuous claim to fame is a single mention on a single show. That and the fact that Andy Griffith would have eaten there when he was a kid. This is one of the few places where Mary-Jeanine completely lets her nutritional guard down. Eggs, Biscuit, and Gravy. Mmmmmmm.

Trekking on the Parkway

Blue Ridge Parkway
Monday July 25, 2009-07-09

Today was a day of firsts. We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway just for the purpose of driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is the first road that I’ve been on here where no one seems to be blasting up behind me and hanging about impatiently waiting for me to just dematerialize already so they can get on about the important business of getting to WalMart. We are pulling a trailer and we are on vacation, so I am going slow. But, the cars that pull up behind me have an air of calmness about them. They are like the dog that chases a car and actually catches it. They rapidly lose interest and just hang back enjoying the scenery.

And, the scenery is what it is all about after all. No one comes here to get somewhere. The “somewhere” is all along the road. Dappled sunlight filters through the trees on to the road. Broad meadows undulate with soft green grasses. And if that is not enough to get you thinking about life, the universe, and everything, the occasional yelp from the passenger seat as we get a wee bit to close to the edge-of-the-road-and-plunge-to-certain-death will.

lots of layers

Alex and Julia are about as good a pair of travelling children as we could ask for. They have made it through many miles of travelling. But this is really too much to ask of them. We’ve planned on driving up the Parkway all the way to Virginia. But, there are only so many times you can look at Tulip Poplars, Sycamores, and miles of green vistas before it becomes obvious they are bored out of their skulls. And frankly, I’m getting tired of a 200 mile trip taking 8 hours.

For our other “first”, Mary-Jeanine went to two separate WalMarts today. (Editor’s note – remove this section, or else...). The first was in Boone North Carolina. And the other at our destination in Mount Airy. Mary-Jeanine usually boycotts Walmart, but that's almost impossible when we travel.

Then, we went into McDonalds (another place we never go to) for free samples on Mocha Monday and end up not getting any free samples. :-(

Pop go the ducklings

Monday July 25, 2009-07-27

This morning the mama duck who so graciously allowed us to share her campsite with us decided to pack up her ducklings and head out into the river. After all, she had already pressed her luck with all the people, dogs, cats, and raccoons who could have discovered her at any moment. She got up, and headed to the water. Looking back, she saw 9 ducklings huddled in a group collectively saying “No! We won’t go.” Sighing, she came back, fussed over them for a bit cajoled. Finally she had to promise them chocolate ice cream for dessert if they would just get out of bed and go into the water.


Ducklings don’t seem have learned to waddle yet. They just seem to bounce across the grass in a big huddle.

Pop, Pop, Pop - Pop, Pop, Pop - Pop, Pop, Pop and they were all in the water. Right side up and everything. After checking that no one was left behind, Mama headed off to the little island in the river.

Now where?

Blueberries and Blues

Saturday July 25, 2009

This morning we pick blueberries at a U-pick place near Naomi's house. It is great! We must have snuck up on them. Usually berries use NORAD to track our position and make sure to be green or gone by the time we get there. This time the berries are ripe and plentiful.

Once we've loaded up on blueberry goodness we say our goodbyes and head off to Asheville North Carolina. In Asheville we are staying at the French Broad campground. I'm immediately disappointed. No French lady standing out front waving us in.

Our assigned campsite is right on the edge of the French Broad river, is small, and is already occupied by a single mom who is clearly in a family way. There is no way that we are going to be able kick her out. But, it is our campsite after all. We come to an arrangement. We get to use the site, and we will try to be quiet. While we are there she has quintuplets! They are all fuzzy and brown except for one that is bright yellow. Mama has quite a handful keeping the ducklings from wandering off.

The main event today is the Bele Chere festival downtown. There is something for everyone. Highbrow artsy shopping for Mary-Jeanine. Girly vintage jewlry shopping for Julia. And, a big Nintendo Wii extravaganza that is showing off the almost-but-not-yet-released game. We bowled, played archery, ping pong, and bowling. Isn't it great to be camping!

And, since we are going abroad this trip, we had to start introducing the children to a more cosmopolitan way of thinking. We went to a Greek restaurant for lunch. I had a Greek salad. Mary-Jeanine had the Greek sampler platter. Alex had a Greek Macaroni-and-Cheese, and Julia had a Greek Hamburger and fries. For dessert, we had cake and a chocolate rumball from a French place. Vive la dessert!

Mary-Jeanine had a plan for us to lounge around in a park listening to blues band. I had pictured us on a wide hillside lawn in the shade of majestic old growth pine trees absorbing mellow plaintive tunes. Not to be. The festival was great, but it is in a city after all. We ended up sitting on a sun soaked curb behind obstacles listening to plaintive get me out of the joint blues. And then it started to rain. Oh well.

Southern Hospitality

Friday July 24, 2009

Now we are on our way into the deep south. Although it is geographically above Florida and Georgia, Spartanburg South Carolina is deep south. We are going to see Mary-Jeanine's sister Naomi and her family. Our GPS navigation system announces our arrival with a well intentioned, but humorously pronunciation... "Now arriving at Nay-Oh-My". We drop off the trailer and caravan up to a lake an hour away near Saluda North Carolina. We are going to a lake house that belongs to the Montgomery's. The Montgomery's are the former owners of the mill where Naomi's husband Deas' father used to work. Naomi and Deas used to babysit for their kids way back when, and are still close.

The estate is clearly "Old Money". Nice, but understated. Just a pleasant place to be owned by people who want to enjoy the comforts of their position, but don't need to prove anything. We spend all of our time in the lake house. It is a two story boat house. Boats below, and a covered deck on top. Besides having a great view of the lake, the main attraction is the opening in the deck railing where we can jump off into the lake.

I approach cautiously and peer over the edge. It is low enough that jumping into the deep green water is inviting, but high enough to want someone else to do it first. By the time I've worked up the energy to carefully plan out my first jump Alex and his cousin Paul have jumped off and run back around 28 times.


After a few false starts, I make my leap. It is high enough that you have time to contemplate what you've done. Why? Why did I leave the comfort of that nice sunny deck? Because you are a guy, and not jumping is just not an option. What am I doing? Keeping my legs together. Why? Because I am a guy, and landing legs splayed is just not an option! Splash! That was fun. Hey, this water is cold. Better get out of the way, Alex is probably in the air by now.

Mary-Jeanine, Naomi, and even Julia made the plunge. Not so much for the fun of it, but because of the confirmation that they can conquer their fears and try out new experiences. Besides, anything a boy can do, they can do while holding their noses.

Naomi Jumps

Mary-Jeanine jumps

Julia jumps

Julia, Naomi, Mary-Jeanine and Paul

A cesspool of knowledge

Thursday July 23, 2009

The first leg of our trip to Quebec is done when we roll into Atlanta Georgia. We are here because:

A - It is an 8 hour drive from our house
B - It is the home of Earl Baugh and his wife Pat and they are great
C - Stefan has known Earl since high school and we just have to stop by
D - Trivia Contest at Ray's Pizza
or
E - All of the above
(See answer at the end of the post)

Earl isn't home when we arrive. And as custom would have it, Pat has just returned from Latvia. The last time we stopped by their house, Pat had just returned from Latvia. Now, you'd think this is no big deal. I mean, as popular as Latvia is with the American travelling public, Pat must be coming back from Latvia every other Tuesday right? Nope. This is Pat's second mission trip to Latvia, and our second visit to them in their new home.

We join them at their Thursday evening event which is a trivia contest at Ray's Pizza. We sit around tables, eat Italian food, and answer trivia questions announced over a loudspeaker. Great fun. Earl, as always, is a fountain of arcane and useless knowledge. This is a result of his inability to forget anything. He's quite upset with himself when he can't come up with the name of the character played by Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire. He can see Cuba running down the field in his red Phoenix Cardinals jersey, but just can't quite make out the ROD TIDWELL name on the back. But, he answers pretty much everything else. And, since this is a team game, we don't mind in the least.

The answer is...

E - All of the Above

Quebec Ho!

Thursday, July 23

We're packed up and ready to go. The cat is eyeing us suspicously. He's seen this before. After months of ignoring it, all of a sudden we've been paying an undue amount of attention to the big rectangular box that serves as the roof for his litter box. It can mean only one thing. He is being left behind again. Who knows how long it will be before his regularly scheduled jaunts through the house in search of food and behind-the-ear scratching will be back?

We're out of the house by 7:07. Not bad since our target was 7:00. But, this does not account for the requisite returns to pick up things we forgot. First we go around Valencia Loop and have remembered two things by the time we get back to our house. Then, it is off to the races. Willy is on the new radio-come-entertainment center singing "On the Road Again". We get a mile out before Alex remembers his glasses. We turn around and head back. By the time we get home, Alex has found his glasses, but, no worries. On the way back we've remembered two more things we can't live without. This time, we leave for good.

Mary-Jeanine has been pestering me for a month telling me that the A/C in the van is not working and that I'd better get it fixed before we leave for a month of scalding weather in July/August. I look at her incredulously. She tells me that on a trip to Sanford, the only thing she could get out of the vents was a hot desert wind. I've been driving the van off and on for months and haven't noticed a problem. Yeah, it has trouble getting up to speed, but what do you expect when the van starts out near the melting point of steel?

Well, the A/C is struggling. It is blowing cold air, but not cold enough. When we hit Georgia the back vents have completely given up the ghost. The front of the van is kept cold by the "I told you so" thoughts coming out of Mary-Jeanine. She isn't saying it, but I know it is there. Finally, she spots a service department at a tired and worn out GM dealership in Tifton. She jumps at the chance. "Let's see if they can take a look at it." I've learned my lesson. "Ok.".

We go there, but the entire one man service department is apparently at lunch. So, we decide to press on. And then in apparent recognition of my penance, the A/C gods reach out and uncork whatever it was that was keeping the A/C from working. Frost comes out of the vents. Before long, the kids are begging me to break out the parkas. Redemption!