The Daring Kids of Waitsfield, VT

We were sitting in a park in Waterbury having lunch when I got an email from a friend that she was going to vacation in Vermont the end of September.  She gave me a list of places on her walking tour, and since we planned to go in that direction right after lunch, we decided to scope out a few.  One of the places, Waitsfield, is the location of several Mad River trails.   
When we drove into Waitsfield there was a covered bridge right off the main street. There were kids all over it and some were jumping into the river far below.  These are sure lucky kids to have this kind of summer fun in their town. 
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Maine to New Hampshire to Vermont

Is my one month break over?  I’ve lost track of time…….that’s how it is when you’re on vacation……..especially a vacation that doesn’t end.  So here’s just a little recap of our time since coming back into the US.
IMG_5934 Don’t ever go to Acadia National Park and drive up Cadillac Mountain on a Sunday – especially the Sunday that entry into our national parks is free.  We didn’t do the park justice because the crowds were too much.  We explored the coast of Maine here and there and stayed in Winslow RV park where we asked to drive in and see the sites before making a decision.  The clerk told us if we used the dump the police would be called and we would be arrested. Wow!!  It was the last thing on our minds as we had dumped that morning. We didn’t get a warm feeling there and so we just stayed one night in a no hookup site ($24). 
On to New Hampshire and Camping World outside Concord where we bought an Oxygenics showerhead that Tessa highly recommended.  She and the three kids use less water than the two of us and so we decided to try it. The big bonus is that you get a much harder stream of water.  Twenty minutes after I wrote Tessa that we bought it she emailed back with the part numbers of the shutoff valve for it that we could buy at Home Depot.  We bought that too and that’s a big savings in itself because the one that came with the RV didn’t quite shut off the water.
IMG_5995                                  Campton Dam
IMG_6004I had heard about these German rolling hotel busses and it was fun to actually see one.  The passengers sit up front in the day and have their bed in the back for sleeping.  There are 24 beds in this one.  This is a German company called Rotel and they have these busses and tours all over the world.  The company was founded by a German named George Hotel (umlaut over the o).
IMG_6048 We spent several days exploring the White Mountains in New Hampshire and drove this stretch of highway through The Notch several times.  All the drives in this area are pretty spectacular and I never realized NH had such high looking mountains.  We really wanted to walk the The Flume but when Steve went to check on it he was told there were 150 steps which I can’t handle yet.
IMG_6028 The Basin is a pool of water in a smooth rock basin with a rock overhang on one side and a little waterfall. It was hard to photograph because of the dark and the light and so this doesn’t show you how nice it really is.  There’s a short walk to The Basin with a beautiful stream along the way.  Actually there’s so many, many nice walks in the White Mountains that we could spend weeks here.
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IMG_5971                                 New Hampshire capitol in Concord
And now we are in Vermont.  Yesterday we took a tour of the capitol building in Montpelier and even got to go into the governor’s office (he wasn’t there).  There are tours every half hour that are well worth the time.  Just the paintings in this building are wonderful to see.
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IMG_6111                                            Governor’s office
IMG_6124  When we were in Vermont briefly in May someone asked if we went to Ben and Jerry’s factory.  We happened to drive by it yesterday and stopped for a look-see.  It was mobbed!  We stood in line for ages to get some of this famous ice cream that I  had never tried before.  It was good but I’m not an ice cream person so not a great judge.

Goodbye Canada

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Three months and five provinces and we were becoming pretty attached to Canada.  Here is our favorites’ list:

1.  Favorite province:  Newfoundland with Quebec close behind

2.  Place we could easily live in:  Quebec City (but not in the winter).

3. Steve’s favorite place:  Bonavista, Newfoundland

4.  Cleanest air and prettiest sky:  Newfoundland when it wasn’t raining

5.  My favorite drives:  Quebec City to St. Simeon, Humber Arm in NFL, Gaspe Peninsula,  and from Corner Brook through Gros Morne National Park.

6.  Steve’s favorite drive:  Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia

7.  Best fish meal:  Seafood platter at Hartery Family Restaurant in Stephenville.  Note:  The town of Stephenville is not much to look at and has some rough characters downtown.

8.  Best camp spots:  Blow Me Down Provincial Park, Newfoundland, Mall at Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and the parking lot by the train station in Quebec City.

9.  Most RV friendly:  Hands down it was Newfoundland and Quebec.

10.  Favorite big city for downtown shopping:  Saint John, New Brunswick

PS  Steve says I should mention that no place starting with Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, when I broke my leg, got a really fair shake.  That means “I Shall Return”.

This is a good time for me to take a break from writing this blog.  I will post again September 15th with our whereabouts and what we are up to. We haven’t decided where to go over the winter (Mexico is out at this point) and we are still thinking of shipping the RV to Europe in April. Much depends on Steve’s October checkup on his aortic aneurysm.