Stowe VT

We try to manage one big excursion a week... this week's destination was Stowe and Mt Mansfield, Vermont's tallest peak at 4383'.

About 65 miles north and a little past Montpelier, a good Sunday Drive and the first full day of sunshine in about a week.

Our first stop was Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, started in a renovated gas station in Burlington in 1978 after the 2 college dropouts completed a correspondent course in ice cream making.

 At the end of the tour we sampled a new flavor of blueberries and chocolate chips. Alvin gave it a thumbs up.

 Next stop was Cold Hollow Cider Mill, where the cider doughnuts right out of the fryer are sinfully delicious. The leftovers popped in the microwave the next morning are pretty laraping good, too,





On the list of not to be missed  had to be the Trapp Family Lodge.

All my girls appeared in "The Sound of Music" in
Lovington High School so we have a long standing love affair with all things related. The Trapp Family settled in Stowe after escaping from the Nazis and traveling world wide sharing their story and music. The original house consisted of 27 rooms. After a devastating fire, the current structure was built in the 1980's. The halls are decorated with delightful illustrations from the book by Hans Wilhelm.

The gondola at Mt Mansfield, a busy ski area during the snowy winter, operates during the summer to hoist visitors to the summit restaurant. Smuggler's Notch SP is located on Hwy 108 toward the summit. The campground has been relocated to a lower location but the summit still has numerous hiking trails, waterfalls, and picnic areas. The twisting road is very popular with motorcycles and is reduced to one lane between gigantic boulders in several locations. I was too busy holding on and holding my breath to take any pictures.

Not many places are open for lunch in Stowe, seem to cater more to the dinner crowd, so we picked Sunset Grille. A very good choice...
Cowboy Burger was piled high with bacon, cheese, and 4 onions rings squeezed in. Plenty of food for both of us, as we generally share so we have room for dessert.

We checked out Little River SP and Waterbury Reservoir SP. High water levels has the beaches flooded in both locations as the past 2 months have seen non-stop rain.

We took the back-road back to Quechee along Hwy 100 where we discovered Glen Moss Falls reachable by a short boardwalk.

No covered bridge can be passed with driving across and documenting with photos. This one in Waitsfield was constructed in 1833 across the Mad River. Bridges were covered to protect the construction from weather to prolong the life expectancy. Uncovered wooden bridges generally last only 10 to 15 years.

100 bridges, 16 weeks... that's about 5 per week. We're behind schedule.