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!