Chocolate Highs and Chasm Depths: Chestertown, Adirondack Mts, New York 10/5/09

We enjoyed driving over Snuggler’s Notch so much yesterday, that we decided to take the long way into Burlington and drive over the pass again today. We were not disappointed the colors were spectacular. We enjoyed taking the long round about way into Burlington to our final destination of Lake Champlain Chocolates. We showed up for the 1:00 tour and I was not disappointed! We got a LOT of samples (white, milk, 54%, 70% and a truffle). Of course, we had to taste the ice cream too. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them make different chocolate items such as the cherry cordials, chocolate Santas, & chocolate honey-carmel drops – all done by hand. What I enjoyed even more was Ned correcting (under his breath) our tour guide as she described the chocolate process. (Silly girl didn’t know that putting untempered chocolate in the fridge causes FAT bloom not sugar bloom or her description of the process to make chocolate liquor was actually the description of how cocoa powder is made…) Soon after, we bid farewell to Vermont, and caught a mid-afternoon ferry across Lake Champlain to Upper State New York. Our big surprise of the day was the Ausable Chasm. We had just started on Route 9 and came upon a massive stone bridge that reminded us of the Carriage Roads in Acadia. As we crossed, we were amazed at the HUGE falls and large chasm below. We parked, walked mid span across the bridge and spent some time viewing the monstrous cavern filled with gushing water. It’s a 150 foot drop to the depths of the chasm. I was a little more timid (understatement) than Ned at looking over the edge, but wow what a sight! Today’s pic doesn’t do it justice. It’s shot looking out from the bridge, rather than straight down. We proceeded on Route 9 thru the Adirondack Mts saddened by all the run down and abandoned motor lodges and resorts. Talk about a bygone era. Most of the campgrounds are closed for the season, but we found a small RV park that has all the amenities – electricity, internet, laundry, etc. – thus my many posts on facebook tonight! Tomorrow we head to the Catskill Mountains in search of Jewish comedians.

A Taste of Vermont: Smuggler’s Notch SP, VT 10/4/09

(This is Ned, filling in for Debi.) Hurray! We woke to blue skies. As soon as we cleared the mountain-top fog on our way out of the campground, we were treated to some more amazing autumn colors. Our first destination was Waterbury, home of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. We located Ben & Jerry’s quickly, but felt slightly alarmed when we attempted to enter the driveway and saw that we were behind three very long fifth wheel trailers from Texas. This trend continued as we found our way to the factory and became aware of the nearly frenzied state of many of the other visitors. Nevertheless, we managed to get our photo taken. (See today’s pic) Once inside, we learned that a $3 fee was required for the tour of the production facility, even though nothing was running, since it was a Sunday. Debi and I decided to forgo the tour, but she still wanted to know where we got to sample the ice cream. Never one to be deterred by the rules, Debi quickly escorted me down the hallway where all the tours groups were finishing their tours. Voila, she had found the sampling room, and as soon as the next tour group entered from their factory tour, we were all offered a tray filled with paper cups of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Debi and I quickly helped ourselves, and then nonchalantly wandered back out of the room. Debi turned to me, thoroughly enjoying her ill-gotten sample, and said “Stick with me babe!” We ended up purchasing some Envision Whirled Peace cones, and touring the Flavor Graveyard, which was pretty funny. Our next stop was Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Visitors Center, which shows a beautifully produced video introduction regarding their global philosophy, but alas, does not offer a plant tour. We did, however, buy a pound of coffee from them and enjoyed a delicious hot Mocha. Our next stop included a one-stop tasting of Cabot Cheese, a local winery, and Lake Champlain Chocolates. From there we drove through the very upscale ski community of Stowe, very near where we located our campsite for the night at Smuggler’s Notch State Park. Once we knew we had a place to stay for the night, we headed out on an adventure to see if we could locate the cabin on Lake Salem (in the northeast corner of the state) where Debi has very fond memories of spending three summers with her family between the ages of 6 and 9. On our way, we drove through the pass at Smuggler’s Notch, which is absolutely phenomenal, particularly when bathed in fall colors. (Thank you James for this great tip!) We then headed in a northeasterly direction across some of the most beautiful rolling hills and mountains filled with autumn colors that we have seen so far. This was further dramatized by the fact that our course toward Lake Salem headed us directly into the eye of an approaching storm, so our windshield was thoroughly pelted with rain at times, while the color display remained as beautiful as ever. When we finally arrived at the little town of Derby, and were approaching Lake Salem, Debi was feeling very excited to see if any vestige of her great childhood memories remained. But after only a moment of hesitation, she announced “I think that’s the place!” Sure enough, the little cabin remained almost exactly as she remembered it, including the back sleeping porch, and little dock on the lake where she fondly remembers being taught how to row the boat and fish by her grandfather (Big Papa). She stood down near the water and was savoring sweet memories of her summers spent there. At almost that exact moment a huge thunder clap rumbled nearby, and we both agreed that Big Papa was still there. Just down the road we stopped to eat at a local restaurant, where the owners have a herd of Elk fenced. As we got out of our van to look at the elk, the sky opened up with huge drops of rain, which created the most beautiful and intense double rainbow above the herd of elk that either of us has ever seen. We both agreed that Big Papa was really trying to make the point that he was very glad that Debi had returned to this magical place from her childhood

First Jaunt thru Vermont: Giffords SP, Killington, VT 10/4/09

The bad news is that it rained almost all day. The good news is that it scared off most of the tourists and yes, we’re in Vermont. We left New Hampshire in dense fog, with maybe a ¼ mile visibility, looked at each other and said, “Mmm, maybe not the most ideal conditions for leaf-peeping.” However, by mid-morning the fog had lifted and we actually got some pretty spectacular views. (See today’s pic). For most of the day it felt like Thanksgiving, cool and damp, but somehow special like we were still in for a treat. We spent most of the day on highway 100, also known as the Green Mountain Highway. Along the way we saw covered bridges, miles of rolling hills bursting with color, and our first New England moose! We couldn’t believe how few other people were on the road considering it’s the weekend and the height of fall colors. It was nice having it all to ourselves. That suddenly came to an end when we entered Weston and decided to visit the Vermont Country Store. Now we know where everybody was! This quaint, old fashioned country store is stocked with every nostalgia item you can dream of, and they give out free samples of cheese, cookies, crackers, fudge, and jams, to just name a few. Geez, you’d think people were starving the way they were lapping it up! Ned and I browsed for a little while, excited to find the elusive New England soft drink, Moxie (I like it, since the aftertaste is bitter like Campari, while for Ned, the jury is still out.) We decided we’d seen enough and split for other adventures. We headed for the Sugarbush Maple and Cheese Farm, run by the same family for generations. Nothing about their operation has changed since 1946, which made it charming to see how they tap the maple trees for sap, haul it by draft horse to the boiling shed, and then boil the water out of the sap until it becomes syrup in a long wood-fired troughs. We couldn’t believe it takes from 40 to 50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. No wonder maple syrup is so expensive! After Sugarbush we drove around Woodstock and thought it was a really interesting place with lots of character. Next we stopped at Long Trail Brewery, where we took a tiny self-guided tour of their process. I thought Ned should get their 6 beer sampler, but since that amounted to 24 ounces of beer, and (even though I try to) I don’t like beer, we decided instead to eat their popcorn and leave. Next we found our campground at Gifford State Park, and are heartened that we can see the full moon tonight. Maybe we’ll get some blue skies tomorrow.

A Fond Farewell to Maine: Monadnock SP, Jaffrey, NH 10/2/09

We got a couple of sprinkles last night, but woke up to bright blue skies. What a nice gift for our last day in Maine. We exceeded our usual “pokeyness” and really took forever to get down the last stretch of coast. To put this in perspective, it took us about 5 hours to drive 75 miles or so! For the most part we stuck to highway 1, with occasional jaunts down peninsulas and through villages. One of our stops was in search of Walker Point, aka the “Bush Compound” in Kennebunkport. We read in the paper that the ex-Pres was in town and a commemorative anchor was unveiled in front of his place yesterday. We decided to take a peek and sure enough saw the HUGE compound in all its glory, including the anchor with the “wet paint” sign still on. Lots of secret service vehicles around and people milling about their house, but no personal sighting of Mr. or Mrs. George Herbert Walker Bush. We survived. By about 2ish we were starving and finally settled on a seafood restaurant a little more upscale than we’ve been used to dining. In other words we weren’t sitting outside at a picnic table, but were seated inside with silverware! I’m sure gonna miss those crustaceans, tasty little suckers! (See my farewell pic to them). Our overall take on Maine: Northern Maine is more a blue-collar area, Mid-coast has a lot of the B&Bs, shops & villages and the Southern Maine coast has long stretches of sandy beaches. For the first time on the trip we began heading west (yes, I was a little sad, but Ned reassured me that we still have a good 3 weeks on the trip so I felt better), and headed into New Hampshire. We were pleasantly surprised by how absolutely gorgeous this area is. After being near the ocean for the past week it was fun to head back into the mountains. We are camped at a densely wooded campground near the summit of Mount Monadnock. It’s very quaint and reminds me of campgrounds from my childhood. (You know before they paved the campsites. RV’s would not be comfortable here). Thoreau claims this was his favorite hiking area, and I can definitely understand why. We left the sunny skies of the coast and it appears that weather is headed our way. The temperature has dropped considerably so Ned and I are dining on jiffy-pop and hot chocolate in the winniemobile, hunkering down for a cold and stormy night.

Coastal Maine, Pretty as a Picture: Cedar Haven Campground, Freeport, ME 10/1/09

We’ve been having a grand time really being pokey and meandering down the coast. In fact, we decided to stay an extra day on the coast to just take in the fishing villages, scenery and anything that catches our fancy. Today that included stopping by the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland and spending a couple of hours viewing the Wyeth collection, including the works of N.C, Andrew and James. We were so inspired by Andrew’s depictions of Maine’s classic coastal landscape and the dramatic lighting from the storm clouds moving through the area, that we decided to try and simulate Andrew’s style with our camera. It was fun driving down the Maine peninsulas and stopping frequently to try and get just the right shot. (See today’s pic – what do you think?). The lightening really was fantastic. For the third day in a row we hit up another roadside lobster stand. Today I went all out and had a whole lobster and an ear of corn ($12-can you believe it?!) and Ned went for a 7 oz. lobster roll and a cup of steaming lobster stew. Oh yeah, baby we’re growing claws but loving every minute of it! The towns are all charming and quaint, and we never get tired of seeing the fishing boats, lobster traps, salt box homes, & white houses with black shutters that are ubiquitous along the coast. We ended the day at LL Bean in Freeport, wondering around their flagship store. It was pretty impressive, but didn’t find anything we couldn’t live without (or store in the Winniemobile). We weren’t too impressed with the State Park campground, which was unusual for Maine. So far, they’ve had the best campgrounds of any state! (Actually, I was a little creeped out by the only other campers in the campground, which were some very sketchy looking guys). We opted for a small, private very funky campground nearby. We are really enjoying coastal Maine and look forward to another day on the coast tomorrow. Who knows, we might even go for a fourth day of lobster!

Coasting thru Maine: Camden State park, ME 9/30/2009

Woke up to gorgeous blue skies and decided it was a great opportunity to visit the top of Cadillac Mountain again. The visibility was splendid and it was mind boggling to see that far in so many directions. (See today’s pic). If you ever visit Acadia National Park this is a must see. We had so much fun bicycling the Carriage Roads yesterday we decided to try for an encore performance. The ride we enjoyed this morning was pretty, but not nearly as breathtaking as yesterday. Then we rode over seven stone bridges, today only one. Ironically, the ranger advised us that today’s ride was easier – uh, not so much. A LOT of uphill. We headed out of the park and immediately saw a wine tasting sign at Bar Harbor Winery, Sweet Pea Farm. Considering there aren’t any grapes from here we were curious to see what wines they offered. We opted not to do the grape wine tastings since they were all from imported European juice. Instead we tasted an apple wine (quite good – close to a Pinot Griggio), blueberry wine (so-so, dry but flavorless) and an apple-currant wine (good dessert wine). We drove about 1 ½ miles further and came upon Bar Harbor Brewery. Since Ned was a good sport about the wine tasting, it was only fair to give beer tasting equal time. Once again they featured blueberry ale (which in Ned’s opinion was pretty awful), ginger beer, and a dark porter. Ned was not too impressed and since we were both getting a bit of a buzz on by then (it was not yet lunch) we decided to push on…We finally got off the island and took a totally obscure backroad down a couple of Maine peninsulas. We found a VERY off the beaten track lobster shack, near Penobscot, and decided to partake. For the second day in a row, I went for a lobster roll, but added onion rings while Ned ventured onto a haddock sandwich. Delish! We continued down the coast stopping frequently to see harbors and villages. (Ned did manage to finally taste a whoopee pie. Now we just have to find a Moxie soda). The stately homes and upscale B&B’s on the coast are a lot more tony than the double-wides of inland Maine. We are currently camped at Camden State Park and enjoying the free wi-fi. Great chance to get caught up on email and have some downtime. Yes, I do have a fine glass of California wine poured (thank goodness) and Ned is sampling some Canadian beer that was smuggled across the border. Mmm – what kind of day is this when you start out AND end up imbibing in a nip or two? Ah, vacation.

The Maine Event: Acadia National Park, ME 9/29/2009

It rained cats and dogs last night, but the skies cleared up and it was a pleasant 65-70 degrees for most of the day. We took the back roads to Bangor enjoying the country scenery, but were a little dismayed at the poverty. Lots of double-wides and beat up houses. Once we reached Bangor, we weren’t too impressed. Seemed to be a hard scrabble town with lots of brick buildings, but nothing really to see. We continued on a backroad highway stopping at our first lobster shack outside of Bar Harbor. We each had a lobster roll followed by a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie. Nice. The real highlight of the trip for me so far is Acadia National Park. I’d been reading about the carriage roads, and I was really looking forward to doing some biking on them. We were not disappointed! During the 1880’s some of America’s wealthiest families began spending their summers on Mount Desert island. The families, (Rockefellers, Fords, Morgans and Pultizers) built palatial summer homes, changing the island’s character from rustic charm to high society. In pursuit of leisurely carriage rides, without having to see, smell or hear the island’s early automobiles, John D. Rockefeller Jr. began building a system of carriage roads in 1913. Separated from motor roads by gates, bridges, and other structures, these paths continue to provide visitors with recreational opportunities in a peaceful, scenic setting. It was amazing to cycle through the forest on these old roads, over beautifully crafted granite bridges and have amazing views of the sea and harbor. During our hour or so bike ride we saw only one other cyclist, two hikers and one couple in a horse carriage. The best bike ride ever!! We also spent some time driving up Cadillac Mountain and visiting Thunder Hole. At the peak of Cadillac Mountain, (the highest point on the eastern coast and the first place the sunrises on the U.S, at 1530 ft), we had a breathtaking panorama over Mount Dessert Island and the surrounding inlets and islands. A couple of huge cruise ships were sailing into the harbor along with a classic four mast windjammer. It was really stunning seeing them against the blue water. Rather than cooking at the campsite, we decided to play tourist and ventured into Bar Harbor for a couple bowls of clam chowder. It’s a cute, fun little town, but mostly catering to the tourist crowd. We are not looking forward to the thousands of people from the cruise ships descending on the island tomorrow, so we most likely will head on down the coast in search of off the beaten track fishing villages and more funky lobster shacks.