July 4 -When we arrived at the Canada/USA border, there was a long line moving very slowly. As we crept closer to the front of the line, we discovered that we were in the wrong lane. Finally, Ken found someone to let us move into the proper lane. It is not easy trying to “butt” you way in front of someone with a large RV towing a jeep! Once we were in the correct lane and it was our turn, it took about 30 seconds and we were on our way Back home in the USA!
We checked into the Lazy Lions CG in Graniteville, VT. As we entered the park both Ken and I were thinking that the CG wasn’t exactly what we expected. It looked a little run down and the office was very small and old. At least the CG host was exceptionally nice, friendly, and chatty. He told me that it had bee raining every day since May 23. ??? Our site was a grass pull-thru and I was worried about the ground being too saturated for our RV. He assured me that the RV that was in our spot and pulled out earlier in the day had no trouble. Okay… we will see! As soon as we got everything set up, it began raining…not too hard…fellow campers were still out playing cornhole. Later we had a torrential downpour. When the rain hits on the RV roof it is deafening.
July 5 was a beautiful sunny day. Leaving our RV park, we drove through Barre Vt and then on to Montpelier VT, the state capital. The beautiful State Capitol building was a must-see on my list. The Vermont State House is one of the oldest and best preserved of our nation’s state capitols.
Barre, VT
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Montpelier, VT
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Leaving Montpelier, we drove to Burlington, VT, located on the shores of Lake Champlain, between the Adirondack and Green Mountains, Even though It is Vermont’s largest and most cosmopolitan city, it still has that New England charm.
Burlington, VT
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In Burlington, we drove down to the waterfront to get a glimpse of Lake Champlain. Lake Champlain is over 120 miles long and 13-miles at its widest point, Even though the lake is so large, we couldn’t find a parking spot with a good view of the lake. We settled for a spot by the marina and I hopped out to take a few photos.
Lake Champlain – Burlington VT
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We located the Church Street Marketplace, the focal point of the downtown area. We walked both sides of the street looking at the 1900s architecture, great restaurants, live entertainment, one-of-a-kind shops and well-known stores.
Church Street Marketplace – Burlington VT
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At 5:30 we had tour reservations at Ben & Jerry’s in Waterbury, VT. Of course, we arrived at Ben & Jerry’s early. We parked in the upper parking lot near the Flavor Graveyard. Ben & Jerry’s created the Flavor Graveyard as a way for customers to mourn the loss of their favorite flavors that were no longer available in stores. The graveyard is complete with granite headstones and clever causes of death for each flavor. It was a good way to kill time before our tour.
Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard
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The tour started promptly at 5’30. First, we saw a 7 min movie about Ben & Jerry and how they started the business. Next we moved to the mezzanine where we could look down at the manufacturing area. (no photos allowed) Due to the holiday, they were not manufacturing ice cream, but, we watched a video detailing the process. We were given a sample of the cookie dough chunks used in the ice icream. Last stop, was the tasting room. Our sample was Marshmellow Sky…blue Marshmallow ice cream with marshmallow swirls & gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough & chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough. It was delicious!
Ben&Jerry’s
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Of course at the end of the tour exited to the line to purchase Ice Cream. I had a large serving of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in a cup. Ken had a large serving of Maple. Maple is only available at this location. I think I had enough cookie dough for one day!
After the tour and ice cream it was time to return “home”.
What will tomorrow’s adventure be?
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