Vermont Relocation Vacation {10/6: Causeway Trail, Airport Park, Hard'ack Disc Golf}

On Tuesday (October 6th), we spent the morning doing school and work but took off to Colchester for the afternoon. Our destination today was the Causeway Park Rail Trail that goes out into the middle of Lake Champlain. It was windy and cool, but we decided to go for it anyway and even though some of us were a bit grumpy about starting, it turned out to be such a fun ride. We parked right near where the trail heads into the lake and rode out a little ways. Once we got out away from the cover of trees and shore, the wind really picked up from behind. We could have ridden out all the way with that tailwind, but knew that coming back would be a beast, so we turned around early. (We'll definitely be back, though!)

When we got back to car, however, we continued on past through a tree tunnel toward Airport Park, which we had passed coming into town. It was a great park with a fun playground that was perfect for some playground-needy kiddos to enjoy. When we were done with the park, we rode back on the rail trail to the car, a good 5+ miles total riding for the afternoon, I think. These kids are champs! (And, again, I'm SO GLAD we brought the bikes!)

Wandering Tramside with the kiddos while Gregg gave
a virtual presentation for a conference.

It's candy corn season around here!

On the trail! Getting close to the water now.

At our turn-around spot where the wind was whipping!

And from Gregg's angle looking out toward the
middle of the lake.

Such a pretty shoreline.

Do you see the ibis?
 (I think it's an ibis? Maybe it's an
egret? I need to find out!)

The tree area near the parking lot.

I loved the STOP sign graffiti. Ha. (The car was parked
just to the right of this photo, but we crossed the road and
continued on the trail through the trees to the park.)

Some trees were vibrant with color and
some leaves were done, but still lots of green
in Colchester. It would be great to come back
and ride again in a week or two when things
change more!

Vermont's mask mandate says that even
when you're outside, if you're around people
not from your household you should wear a mask.
Everyone playing at the park was wearing masks.
I was quite impressed!

They had a little free library here, too!

And an old one-room schoolhouse turned museum.

Riding back to the car. See all that green?!

Fall perfection!

Another great song at the stop sign on the
other side of the street. (If you cross here and keep
going you're back in the middle of Lake Champlain.
Our car is just to the left of the crosswalk now.)

After the bike ride and park time, we were feeling hungry. Gregg found that St. Albans up the road a few miles had some good eating spots, so we headed there. We found Tim's Place and debated for a few minutes about whether to order take out or eat in. In the end we ate inside (we figured if we're going to eat in a restaurant, Vermont is probably the safest place to do that) but I've gotta say it was weird. They were careful about spacing and capacity and had mask rules for anyone entering. But then while you're sitting at your table you can have your mask off, even while not eating. It just felt weird and kind of reckless and we'll be taking out from now on. The food was good, though.

A few miles down the road was a small town ski hill/soccer fields/dog park called Hard'ack that Gregg found had a new disc golf course built on it. We wanted to check it out. The place was packed with cars for multiple soccer games going on around the base, but the disc golf seemed pretty open so we started up the hill. From the base, all you can see is two baskets. There are no signs and no maps yet because it's such a new course. But there was bright green duct tape stuck to the tee pads pointing you in the right direction to find the basket and to find the next hole. The best surprise was that after hole #1, we went up the rope tow line and then off to the left into the woods! Holes 2 through 8 were all in the trees, up and down the backside of the mountain. It was amazing! So much fun! (Even though we had the world's grouchiest child doing her best to have a terrible time.) I liked the length of this course, with nothing too long that it was impossible to get to. Gregg and I each even hit the basket on our first shots on different holes! That was exciting! And it felt like a hike the entire time, which was a big perk for me. We loved it and will definitely be back!

The last hole starts at the top of the ski run and goes
almost to the bottom. (The basket is on top of a small
bump in the middle of the run.)

We promised the kids as we were driving around that if we spotted a pumpkin stand that was open we'd stop and pick some. We passed a couple that were closed, but then, right before it got dark, we spied a farm stand with an open sign and lights on. We pulled over, hopped out, grabbed a couple pumpkins and a bag of apples (honey crisp - so yummy!) and hopped back in the car. The people were cleaning up as we loaded up. We just made it in the nick of time!

I told them they had to be able to carry their choice to the car.
They took that guidance to the very limit!