The Equinox Manchester

October 19, 2009

We drove to the ski town of Stowe and spent a sunny afternoon biking along the river, the path criss-crossing the river by way of ten bridges, bordering pastures and farms. The leaves are falling and the colors fading but it was still a pleasant ride ending at the Brookdale covered bridge.

... The tour began with a quick film about the history of the company and it's goals. Then we moved to a room overlooking the factory floor where the guide explained the entire process from the beginning to the packaging. Then we moved over to a sampling room where we all had a small sample cup. Once the tour was over, we wandered around the gift shop and purchased a few trinkets. I thought about getting some ice cream but it was a bit cold and it's not like I can't buy Ben and Jerry's Ice ...

... I'll put a couple photos of the room.

On day 2, we decided to head north, away from the crowds, and find the ever shy Moose. Eight miles from our place is the ski resort which has a road to the top of the mountain, or you can ride the gondola (we were going to do the road since it was 36 degrees this morning). Well, when we started up the mountain we encountered a wee bit of wet snow, which basically freaked out all the ...

... and out of stores and enjoying restaurants, staying in a B&B like the ones I looked at longingly. The only setback was Charlie lurching out suddenly while I was taking a photo, making me drop my camera. I yelled a couple of expletives at him and apologized to a nice man in a suit standing on the steps of the town library. He said the past winter here was the hardest in the last 20 years. Very nice fellow and great to talk to ...

Getting together with a dear friend is so special. Kate showed me around town, wined and dined me and hiked my legs off (and Charlie's) in the wooded park up the hill from Main Street.

Montpelier is a dog friendly town and Charlie got to lick up fallen crumbs as we ate lunch at the Skinny Pancake - a crepe place with wonderful crepes. Kate took ...

I'm at home, hanging with friends and the parentals. I'm working out the final details of my upcoming adventure and downloading an ambitious number of telenovellas in a last-ditch effort to learn a bit of Spanish before flying to Guadalajara. Will I succeed? Stay tuned!

... assists with the daily milking of her cows.   The really interesting part of the dinner occurred over a discussion regarding Captain Cook and it would appear that these two Vermonters new more about him than we did, especially pertaining to Cooks demise, it appears that they had recently read a book about him!!!! Jo and I were humbled by their generosity and knowledge of New Zealand's history.

... we don't have stores like this]. The Christmas Tree Shop is worth the stop just to see the painting on the outside of their building. Than back on road. I get off I-95 at exit 32 for Biddeford,ME and take Route 1 south for a stop in York,ME to walk on the beach and see the Nubble Light house. This has got to be one of the most photographed places on the coast. Finally its back out on the road. From here its Portsmouth ...

... Donuts so we stopped and we figured there is no reason to un-strap our daughter and inconvenience her just to get back in five minutes (she hated going in and out of the car, and rightly so). FORTY FIVE MINTUES!!! It took forty five minutes to get two cups of coffee. Not special drinks. No ice. No doughnuts. Just two stinking cups of coffee. We still don't know what happened; granted there were about ten people or so in the small store, but there ...