Off to Burlington for a Week (or 2 or 3?)

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The drive from Massena NY to Burlington VT was a short 140 miles and started out without issue. We filled up with diesel just a few miles outside of Massena at a station on Indian reservation land. There were several pumps dispensing kerosene and from a distance, it was tough to tell them apart from diesel but I eventually got situated next to the proper one. It was a full service station, but when the attendant realized I was going to take about 50 gallons, he let me deal with it. 

Around lunchtime, we spotted a vacant business with a large enough parking lot for us to pull over to eat. It was just starting to sprinkle before we pulled out, but I still went out to do my check of the Jeep connections. Good thing I did. The passenger side base plate that the tow bar connects to was loose and had already broken away one of the lower fascia panels! It was obvious we couldn’t safely tow the Jeep, so I disconnected it and Chris drove it around the parking lot while I watched to see if there was any driveability concerns. We were good to go and Chris followed me the rest of the way to Burlington although shortly after starting out, the carbon monoxide alarm started beeping at 30 second intervals. Without Chris being in the motorhome, I had to suffer through that until I found a rest stop. It’s warning wasn’t regarding carbon monoxide levels but that the gizmo has reached its end of life. Great time for that to happen!

Initial Damage Doesn't Look Terrible

Burlington Elks Lodge

The plan was to stay in Burlington for a week before heading to two different places in New Hampshire each for a week. Then we would head into Maine for 7 weeks or so. The Elks Lodge in Burlington is nice but basic. It has four 30 amp outlets. With a little assistance, we did find a water spigot on the side of the building before backing into the spot. They don’t have a dump station, but there is a campground about a mile away that can be used if needed. With a full tank of fresh water and empty black and gray tanks, we will have no issues for 7 nights. The next morning, I call the local Jeep dealer to see if I can get the car looked at. After describing the issue, they recommend a body shop they, and other dealers, use so we head there to get it checked out. A preliminary look revealed an aluminum support piece had broken near where the base plate is bolted. They keep the car to disassemble a bit to have a better view of things and we get a shuttle ride back to the lodge. 

We discover that there is a trailhead about 50 yards from our rig that leads into the woods and meets up with a paved bike path heading north and south along Lake Champlain. In fact, many people park in the corner of the lodge parking lot to go for a run or take their dog for a walk. It’s only about 1/3 mile from here to the paved trail. How amazingly convenient. We pack a lunch and head out on the trail. Our first ride takes us north. It’s a busy path considering it was a Tuesday, but the weather was nice so those people that could be outside were like us and went out to enjoy it. At one point the path dumps you into a residential area but the street and sidewalks are all marked for bike traffic and in a short distance we are back onto the path near Airport Park where it is now hard packed gravel but in excellent shape. The path eventually goes out onto a 30 foot wide causeway and continues on for some distance before stopping at a channel that allows boats to go between the lake and the bay. The city has a small shuttle boat that takes people and their bikes from one side to the other for $8 round trip. The trail then continues onto Hero Island to parts unknown.

Overlooking Lake Champlain Along Bike Path

Heading Out Causeway

Bike Shuttle Underway

Line of Cyclists Board Shuttle

We stop at the end and have lunch enjoying the scenery. The weather front that is coming in, was really kicking up the wind and the ride back especially along the causeway was right into the wind. But we made it back without much trouble and even took advantage of the large covered picnic area at the lodge to store our bikes during the inclement weather. 

Heading Back to Land

The next day, we headed a block from the lodge to Ethan Allen Park. We knew there was a tourist destination called Ethan Allen Homestead, so we assumed they were connected. Turns out while being a nice park with good trails, it wasn’t particularly close to the homestead and with the first raindrop, we turned around and headed the mile and half back home. On the third day, we got a call from the body shop that informed us there was more substantial damage and they were having trouble even identifying some of the structural pieces to provide an estimate. We call the insurance company to make a claim since this didn’t look to be a minor issue. We realized that this was going to take longer than expected and not having a car was going to be a hindrance so we got a shuttle ride back to the body shop to take a closer look at the car and pickup a rental car. We called our next camping spot to cancel that reservation since it didn’t look promising to be out of Burlington in time to make it there. 

Tower in Ethan Allen Park

Mean Looking Clouds Over Lake Champlain

Just across from the body shop is Magic Hat Brewery. It is one of many craft brewers in the greater Burlington area. We figured with the bad news regarding the Jeep, a tour of a brewery and trying a beer might be what was needed. The smaller craft breweries seem to be a little quirky and this one was no exception. The “artwork” along the tour route was creative to say the least. Not much was going on in the production area but it was still interesting to see the scope of the operation. 

Tour Starts Here

Big Nose

Big Finger

Overlooking Magic Hat Brewery Factory

Artwork?

Crowded Bar at Magic Hat

Having a car opens up lots more sightseeing opportunities so the next day we head to Ben and Jerry’s Factory in Waterbury Vermont. I realized this was a tourist destination but wasn’t prepared for the pure number of people visiting the place. There were easily more than 75 cars in the various parking lots and they even had room for RVs and buses. We signed up for one of the factory tours. They seem to have a steady stream of people touring although the plant was in between flavors while we were there so they were just cleaning up from the prior run and getting ready for a new one. Not a whole lot to see and no pictures are permitted of the factory - in case we are Häagen-Daz spies! We do get a sample of ice cream at the end of the tour. 

End of Ben and Jerry's Tour 

They have a fairly extensive grounds to walk around. The old bus painted with their logo doesn’t look like it has been on the road in some time. A few cows are in a field next door and they came over for photo op as we passed by. Up on a hill is the flavor graveyard. A few dozen tombstones provide a glimpse of flavors past. Some sounded good but others probably deserved to be put out of their misery. We decide to head out for lunch and visit a few other nearby sites before getting a real ice cream for dessert. 

Maybe Our Next RV?

Raw Ingredient Storage

Cow #5160 Reporting for Duty

Flavor Graveyard

Just up the road is a Cabot cheese shop. They have a large assortment of their cheeses out to sample - nearly too many to be able to try them all. We pick out one we really liked and pick up a couple packages. A glass blower has a studio nearby and we stopped in to see him at work. It was a hot and humid day so I really don’t know how he was able to do his job next to the ovens. We sat and watched for 20 minutes as he slowly made an intricate piece. This would be a great job during a Vermont winter!

Back to Ben and Jerry’s to get some ice cream. The number of people hadn’t diminished and there was a 20 minute wait to get ice cream even with 5 people serving it. This place does a brisk business. Just as we finished up, we could tell the rain was coming so we hustled back to the car and just made it before the skies opened up. Since most of the area is outside, I suspect the downpour will greatly reduce the crowd.

Long Line for Ice Cream

Every Saturday, there is a farmer’s market in downtown Burlington. We head down and find a large number of people and vendors. There are a few vegetable stands but many of the vendors are selling arts and crafts type stuff or food. It is definitely a great people watching location. We are starting to get a sense for the “vibe” of Burlington. It kind of reminds us of Ithaca New York and Sedona Arizona. Four blocks of Church Street are closed to vehicles so people can walk around the various shops. There is a wide range of businesses there from restaurants, sporting goods, bars, and souvenir shops. The “Keep Vermont Weird” t-shirts and posters seems to sum things up.

We had another nice day so we hopped on our bikes and headed to the bike path but this time headed south. In about a mile we are in the downtown area of Burlington. The skate park has people on skateboards but the youngster on a strider bike going around the course was equally impressive. There is a concert later that night but the area is open to wander around the vendors and even see a trio playing on a side stage. The headline act is one we have never heard of so I suspect we won’t be coming back for the concert tonight. The bike path is quite convenient to get around the area. Oakledge Park was our turn around point. There is a huge treehouse that is about as impressive as we have seen. The park is hosting something we haven’t seen before - a kick ball tournament with adult teams. We stop long enough to realize they are pretty serious as the pitcher argues with the umpire and gets warned he will be thrown out of the game if the trash talk continues. We found a nice little spot to have our picnic lunch we had brought. 

A Nice View Along Lake

Strider Bike on Skateboard Course

Treehouse From Above

Treehouse from Below

Our Lunch Spot

Kickball Tournament

Dragon Boat Practice

As the time went on, some of the parts needed to fix the car came in and we were optimistic that we would only be here for an extra week. Of course that feeling was short lived. The insurance adjuster went to look over the car and discovered a bit more damage that hadn’t originally been identified. From the sounds of it, the additional parts required were difficult to find and were going to take awhile for them to get in. Looks like we are here for more than 2 weeks, so we call another campground to cancel our reservation. The upside of this is there are quite a few places to check out and we now seem to have lots of time to explore. I suppose the real bright point was we caught the issue before the Jeep broke away and did any other damage or cause injuries.

The next four days are spent exploring various parks and sites within an easy drive of Burlington. South of town, we stop at Shelburne Vineyard with the plan to do a tour and tasting. Turns out they had recently sprayed the vines and were not permitting tours so we just did a tasting. For $8 each, we get to sample 10 wines and keep the complimentary wine glass. Over the past couple years, we have broken some wine glasses, so having replacements seems like a good thing. The wine was good and the place got quite busy while we were there. After picking out a bottle of our favorite, we head a bit further south to Charlotte Park and Wildlife Refuge for a hike. This park has a couple miles of trails on its 290 acres. There was only one other car in the parking lot and we never ran into another person on the nicely maintained trails. A bit of a climb up a hill brought us to a panoramic view of Lake Champlain. 

View at Charlotte Park

The next day we head southeast to the town of Richmond. The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps has a very nice and very big barn as well as many miles of trails to hike. Of course the first half of the hike is all uphill. There are about 10 caches along the way although most of them are on the less maintained trails further back. At one point the trail pretty much disappears as we head down a gully in the woods. After a bit of discussion on our alternatives: 1)turn around and retrace our steps or 2)bushwhack towards another cache 1/4 mile away with the hopes we will stumble on a trail, we decide to go for it and hope we don’t get stuck in the woods overnight! We eventually find a deer path that enlarges to a trail and finally a Jeep road that leads us back to the parking lot. It was a nice area but may have expected better trail maintenance and markings on a property run by this group.

Massive Barn at Vermont Youth Conservation Corps

The next day we head north to Milton Recreational Park (aka Bombardier Park). They have a pretty nice trail system and a handful of geocaches to find along the way. The trails here are quite nice although one section was closed while bulldozers are clearing an area for something. The oddest thing we saw in this park were the disc golf baskets setup right in the middle of the woods. They looked to be fairly new, so it’s not like it was and old course that the woods grew up around. Let’s just say, this would have to be one of the toughest courses we have ever seen.

Challenging Disc Golf Course

The next day brought us back to the Richmond area. This time we parked near the town park and walked to the trailhead for Preston Forest Legacy. Before getting there, we walk past the Old Round Church. This church was built in 1812 and is quite interesting looking. Technically it is a hexadecagon (16 sides polygon), but I suppose Round is a heck of a lot easier to spell and pronounce. Since we weren’t all sweaty from our hike yet and the church was open, we headed in to see what it looked like. The building has been nicely restored and maintained. The seating was constructed into small sections and apparently a family would buy the rights to have a section to attend services. The upstairs balcony requires heading up some very steep steps. I hate to imagine how many injuries there were from falls.

Round Church in Richmond VT

Inside Round Church

Balcony Level of Round Church

With our culture stop out of the way, we head down the road to the trailhead. The trail is in very nice condition but is obviously used for mountain biking as well. We don’t see any bikers out while we are there, but I could even imagine what it takes to be able to ride on this steep of terrain. We were tired just hiking up the hills. This park also has a bunch of geocaches to help guide the way. It turned out to be a fairly tough hike but was in a beautiful area. Well worth the effort. 

Pretty Flowers Walking to Trailhead

Predominant Entrance Sign

Walkway Over Wet Area

Never Know What You'll Find Along Trails

Bright Mushrooms

Back in town where the car was parked, we found a picnic table and enjoyed our lunch before heading a little further south of town to the Birds of Vermont Museum. This place wasn’t the type of museum I would have expected to enjoy. The building is full of about 500 carved wooden birds. Nearly all of them were carved and painted by one man - Bob Spear. He spent many thousands of hours of his life creating these pieces of art. The volunteer working the museum played a video that explained the history of the place and then walked us all around the many rooms telling us even more. We then wandered around on our own taking in all the detail. As a woodworker, I probably found the workshop the most interesting and being there did bring a tinge of sorrow for no longer having my shop. It’s only $7 per person and probably worth the visit if you’re in the region.

Just down the road from this museum is the Green Mountain Audubon Nature Center. We stop by to check it out. They have miles of trails an even a couple geocaches hidden there. Of course, our earlier hike had worn us out so we had to skip the serious hikes for some other time. 

Pretty Flowers at Audubon Center