Kit and Carol on the Road

Even though Sugar Ridge was REALLY expensive ($37) we decided to stay an extra day for our Sunday no travel day. Then this morning we headed to New Hampshire-- but I first wanted to stop at Maple Grove for the factory tour. We got to see Maple Sugar Candy being made. Maple Grove also makes syrup and salad dressing which was considerable cheaper here at the factory (unlike Ben and Jerry’s where nothing was cheaper). Anyway, Kit got to talking to the “man who knew everything about Vermont” and discovered that this week is the Fall Foliage Festival in local communities in this area. So we stopped a few miles down the road at the next RV park (which by the way is very nice, a LOT cheaper, and we have a spot right on the river—and free WiFi which we can’t get to work, as usual). Dropped Alice and drove back the way we’d come to Walden, a hamlet you would miss if you blinked. Each town has a day and Monday is Walden. At the church/community center we had lunch and then headed out on an afternoon of tours, despite the rain. Kit got a kick out of the town constable with blinking lights directing traffic for us.

The first stop was the local school which we got to tour. Of course I was excited about this. The school is a k-8 but there is a separate teacher for each grade—which means class sizes of 8-18. (all of you teacher friends, eat your hearts out). When the kids go to high school they are “contracted out” to a high school of their choice—which is an extra expense for this one school district. Next we went to a bakery which was really in the Boondocks. Turns out owners were DAIRY FARMERS who started the bakery as a side business and then gave up the cows. The next stop was at an alpaca farm which was also a quite large DAIRY FARM. (220 cows, 36 alpacas). We didn’t stay long here because of the rain. Last stop was a Morgan Horse Farm which of course was a former DAIRY FARM. The lady who now owns it was a veritable font of information about Morgan horses. Then it was back to the church for the 5:00 ham supper. Since we were early we had some entertainment from the local old-timers. (country music NOT bluegrass).
Then it was time to go. We were parked in a grassy field—at the bottom. It was now a muddy field. We could not get our truck up the hill. Luckily we were towed up by a 4 wheel Ford. If that wasn’t excitement enough, on the way home we got stuck on Highway 2—a nasty accident had closed our lane until the emergency vehicles came and went. I hope our trip to New Hampshire tomorrow is less eventful.

By the way: The Fall Foliage Festival is a quite a bit premature though there are a few colored leaves out there. Locals tell us they are NOT expecting spectacular foliage this year and we may well go green to brown. So it goes.


PS: The adventure didn't end. Tuesday morning I discovered I'd left my hat at the church in Walden so we had to go back. We are now in a lovely spot in New Hampshire. Weather great for a hike tomorrow.