Springfield VT to Jefferson OH

Today we drove about 540 miles to our new destination.  It took us about 11 hours to get there.  We drove through New York, and the scenery was gorgeous.  I still was not a fan of being in the truck that long.

Normally I try to catch up on my scrapbooking while we drive, but today I was trying to read instead.  That only lasted so long before I was ready for something else though.

Luckily, I have the boys to entertain me.  They shared interesting fun facts with me.  Like Memaw has mint Tums in the glove compartment of her car.  So anytime Austin has a tummy ache, headache or heartache she can fix what ails him.  Given Memaw's vast personal pharmacy, it does not surprise me that she has Tums in her car.  But mint?   I had no idea they made mint tums.  Good to know!

Austin just returned from a visit with Daryl and Diana, so he filled us in on all the comings and goings with the family.  They had a family get together while he was there, so he had lots to share.  He told us about a house that Daryl and Diana want to buy, so we looked online at pictures of that.

Aric shared his talent in taking my brother Steven's songs and remaking them Weird Al style.  Or maybe that should be Weird Aric style.  For example, one of the lines in a song as originally written is: You've got me locked inside your prison, and I hate everything you do.  Aric's version was something like: You've got me locked inside your freezer, and I am slowly turning blue.  (Forgive me guys if I have either one of those lines incorrect.  I'm going by memory and I'm kind of oldish now so my memory comes and goes)  Aric fully entertained us for some time with his brilliance in this area.  Ah, my kids are nothing if they are not creative. 

The very best of all for this particular trip was a conversation about Austin's now bald head and the moles the shaving of hair revealed.  Austin asks how bad it looks that the bulging one shows.  Aric:  It doesn't look bad from far way.  But up close it's scary.  It looks like it's giving me the stink eye.

 It just doesn't get any better than that kind of live improv that they have going on.  Not to mention, that there is a certain interaction with brothers that is fascinating to me.  That would be one great example of how guys relate that is totally different than girls.  It is hysterical to me to listen to, and as a girl I know I'd be horrified if my sister said that to me.  We are more likely to say, the mole...nah, it hardly shows at all.  Let me get some concealer out of my purse and see if I can make it go completely away though.

I love having boys for so many reasons but one of my favorite reasons is that on days like this, they make my life so much better. 

Living the life while driving through pretty New York!

Goodbye for Now, Vermont

Today we said good-bye to lovely Vermont.  We were here a week less than we'd planned, so I'm hoping to come back again to explore more.  The weather was so nice and the scenery was so nice that we just soaked up what little bit of time we did have here.

I was trying to decide which I liked better: the landscape or the architecture.

What do you think?  I still can't pick one over the other.  I love them both!

We are heading west to explore some new states with the boys.  We are hoping the weather stays as great as it has been here!

Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge

I couldn't visit the New England area without taking pictures of at least one covered bridge.  Unfortunately, we only saw one that I could take a picture of.  It was an awesome one though!  If you click on the picture above, it tells how it is the longest wooden bridge in the US and some other history.

This alone made the visit here worth it!  The river separates Vermont and New Hampshire.  

I love what it said above the bridge too.

 Isn't it just beautiful here?  It's like a fine painting everywhere I look.  I am enjoying our time here so much!

Living the life in Vermont!

Vermont and New Hampshire Barns From My Window

And my favorite barn that we've seen so far.  It wasn't the prettiest, but I loved its endurance and character!

And while I'm writing, can I say how good it is to be back?  When we were in PA, we had no cell phone service and very limited internet.  As in, I could not even read Pioneer Woman's blog.  So I didn't bother doing much posting there.  I'll have to see if I can go back and cover what we did see and do there sometime.

I have missed blogging so much though.  I told Nathan tonight that it truly helps to cultivate gratitude for my life when I blog.  When I'm going throughout the day, I can easily fall into a mindlessness about what we are doing.  When I look at the pictures and write the words to capture the day, it makes me stop and be very mindful of this wonderful life we are living right now and all of the neat things we see each day.  It's good for my soul!

Living the life in Vermont!

Vermont and New Hampshire Landscape From My Window

The landscape is just stunning here.  There is green, green and more green everywhere.  I found myself snapping like a mad woman today while driving away.   I love it here!

Springfield VT From My Window

This is a wonderful town.  The houses are great with their big wide front porches.  The business buildings are old and brick for the most part.  And there are flowers everywhere.  Such a pretty place to visit!

Mercersburg PA to Springfield VT

Today we arrived in Springfield VT.  This is the same town that the Simpson movie did it's premiere in.  Pretty cool, huh?  We left yesterday, stopped at the Lake Timothy Outdoor World and got here rather late tonight.

It's been a whirlwind of busy since we left Tennessee.  We are still adjusting to the new job, which is going very well, but it's still different.  We are adjusting to being in parks other than the Thousand Trails system.  We miss the people we have come to know and love and thought we'd have time with this summer.  The people at the last park were so wonderful, and the people at this park seem the same.  So we're hoping to settle in and find new people to meet.  We're still biased when it comes to TT's, but surely there are other wonderful people out there beyond the parks we've visited so far.  Right?

I'm excited to see more of Vermont.  We had a far too brief visit here when we first hit the road.  I'm looking forward to a visit where we can dig in and see more and learn more.  Oh, and the temps seem fabulous here after all the hot weather we endured in Virginia!  Big bonus points there! 

Living the life in wonderfully moderate temperatures in Vermont!

Vermont to Ellsworth Maine

Today we drove over to Maine. I am getting bored from saying over and over again that the drive over was breath taking so I'll just share pictures of it instead.

Limehurst Campground in Williamstown VT

This was such a beautiful campground, and the staff was incredible! We were very late in arriving and someone called me on my cell phone to make sure we weren't lost and to give me directions. Then when we arrived, they escorted us to our sites and helped us park to make sure we were good to go. We did another RAK while here today.

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

When we first discussed coming to Vermont, I'll be honest, I wasn't overly keen on it. Not that I didn't want to see the state, but to drive so far out of our way for two days worth of sight seeing did not seem logical to me. Then my sister told me to go and tour Ben & Jerry's if we did go, and it was no longer an issue for me. As much as I like chocolate, Ben & Jerry's is the ultimate treat to me. This afternoon we went up to the factory to tour it.

Actually, we first drove to a field where a barn sat that our GPS *thought* was Ben & Jerry's factory. I am suspecting one of two things-my BIL got ahold of our GPS or Lola is mad at us. Either way, she led us astray twice yesterday and Nathan is still holding a grudge and letting her know he now has trust issues with her. I digress....BEN & JERRY'S! We got there. That's all that matters to me.

I will have to add pictures after borrowing some from Diana, because in the rapture known as Ben & Jerry's ice cream making up close and personal with free samples, I forgot my camera. And I didn't even care. Free samples. At Ben & Jerry's. Enough said.

When they said at some point that the workers receive three pints of ice cream a DAY, my kids looked at us like, "We're home". Aubs thought that was in place of a wage and thought it was an awesome deal. I suspect we may have to come here again sometime.

Rock of Ages Granite Quarry

This morning we went to Rock of Ages, which is the world's largest working quarry. We love it when we can see things up close and personal over reading it in a book (as much as we love books) and this did not disappoint. We met at the Visitor's Center:
And then we took a tour bus over to the quarry:If you click on the picture, you can see the men working down at the bottom of the picture.Diana did a sand blasting on a piece of granite:Then, Lauren and Austin went bowling on the outdoor granite bowling alley.
One thing that stood out to us was the granite that they used as gravel in the driveway and walkways. Incredible to see this expensive rock that is used as gorgeous countertops being used in this way. It shows the worth of items relative to their availability.

PA to Williamstown, VT

Today we had our longest car trip to date. We said good bye to Pennsylvania today. We loved it there. The people were great, the food was even better. We could have easily stayed a few more weeks and found things to do. But it was time to move on for now.

We sat this morning chatting with our neighbors and Nicky their dog before pulling out. They travel about six months out of the year and gave us great tips for when we are in Peace River in a few months. Mental note to self: Remember Pioneer Restaurant and eat the fried chicken dinner when you go. I think I should probably start keeping track of travel tips like this because people are so kind to share them and I will surely forget them if not.

We drove from New Holland PA to Williamstown VT. We normally will try to keep our travel time around four hours on average. Today we more than doubled that. I don't recommend it.On a good note, we are staying at the Limehurst Lake Campground, and so far it appears to be very nice. Actually I haven't seen it yet because we arrived after dark. The lady who helped us to our site was very nice though so I'm hoping the campground is like her.

The drive here was just breath taking. I am beginning to think that is what I am going to write a lot while sharing on this blog. It is breath taking. Really it was though. I can't wait to see more tomorrow.