Vermont 2021 {10/25-10/26: Owl Art, Blanchard Grandparent Tour}

For our art project on Monday the 25th, we decided to make little owl pictures from coffee filters (I found them in the cupboard, and since we didn't have muffin liners, which the instructions said to use, we adapted ;). We read a book about owls, listened to Halloween music and arted away. Fun morning!

Cal's rainbow owl matches her stuffed one
at home!

And Sam got in on the rainbow owl goodness, too.

Gregg's parents flew into Boston on Sunday night and drove up to Jay Peak for a quick visit Monday evening. They stayed in a hotel in Montgomery, then met up with us for breakfast in our condo on Tuesday (26 October) morning. We then headed out for a little highlight tour of northern Vermont. It was a very similar loop to what we did when Laurel and Bret and fam came up a few weeks ago.

We first went to South Hero to the Island Line Rail Trail, where we walked out to the end of the line (where the bike ferry would have taken us across the gap, had it been running) and then back to the cars. We made a stop at Ben and Jerry's (though we didn't get any ice cream since we have so much in our freezer already!) and Cold Hollow Cider Mill (yes, we did get more donuts, of course!). 

Next was the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, which we drove by last year, but have never been inside of. We stepped in and visited the gift shop and admired the pictures of the family in the hallway. Then we did a quick loop around Stowe to show off all the places Gregg knows so well from so many work trips here (including a drive around the Inntopia office parking lot). 

We headed over Smuggler's Notch to get us back to Jeffersonville, then retraced our drive back to Montgomery. We stopped at Sylvester's for sandwiches and soup from the deli, which we took back home for dinner. The McClungs came over for ice cream again, and it was fun to introduce everyone before Paul and Kim headed back to their hotel for the night. They left Wednesday morning to head down to Connecticut to hang out with the Farrers for a week or so, but it was fun to have them up here and to show off a bit of the state to them.

It was a super soggy sort of day, so the views
were not what they could be, but luckily
the grandparents were game for all our
stops, even in the rain.

The playground at Ben and Jerry's was much less crowded
on a rainy Tuesday than it was a few weeks ago on a holiday
weekend Saturday during peak leaves!

I didn't visit the graveyard on our last stop
here, so I made sure to take a peek this time.

I love how clever the flavors, the names, and
the epitaphs are on these!

Our third stop at Cold Hollow and our third bust on
being able to see them squeeze apples into cider! Rats!

If this doesn't scream Vermont to you, then I don't know
what will!

It was fun to be inside the lodge that I had
read about earlier this year in Maria's book.

I loved all these pics (there were so many!) of the
family in the hallway.

Isn't she the cutest?

I didn't buy it, but I was tempted!

Sam conked out on the drive back, so
I waited with him the car while the rest
of the crew got food. I just had to document
the little drool droplet on his cute little chin.
Poor, tired guy!

 

Vermont 2021 {10/24: Little Jay Hike, Sheldon Junction Bike Trail, Enosburg Falls}

We have had some rainy days, and more are in the forecast, so when Sunday looked sunny, we made sure to spend as much of it outside as we could. Before church we hiked up Little Jay Mountain via a segment of the Long Trail, then cut into the resort and walked to the top of the Jet Lift. We did this same hike last year and loved it, and this year did not disappoint, either. We even worked in our primary lesson about hard times making us stronger and being good for us with the perfect object lesson: hiking! We were up and back in two hours, with plenty of time for watching the Tabernacle Choir and showering and getting dressed for church.

After church and a quick lunch, we hopped in the car with our bikes still strapped to the back, to ride on the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail starting in Sheldon Junction. We've passed this spot a few times and I've wanted to stop and ride each time, so it was fun to finally get out and ride. We didn't go far, but we enjoyed the big old iron bridge and the lovely farm views and leaves along the trail.

On our way back to the condo, we stopped at Enosburg Falls, a town we pass through often, too, but have never really stopped in. The falls are part of a dam (what I learned later is called a weir) and are quite pretty. When we got to Montgomery, we took the long way home over Hazen's Notch and through Lowell and Westfield back to Jay. It was a lovely day for a drive.

We came home to a warm crockpot of split pea soup, a fun facetime chat with Grandpa and Grandma Elwood, and an ice cream party with the McClungs.

I love this late fall forest look!

Good mushrooms to be found here, too.

And ice in a stick! Weird and cool.

I love the camouflage details these fungi
have figured out. One looks like the wood
and one looks like dry leaves. Pretty clever! 

My new Jay Peak beanie with Jay Peak in the background!

Birch bark is my fave.

Birch bark is Sam's fave, too.

Crossing the Missisquoi River on the rail trail.

That's how the cars pass, and how I knew this would
be a fun spot because as we drove by on that bridge,
I'd see the rail trail bridge off to the side.

The farms around here are pretty dang pretty.

Tree tunnels for the win!

A little about Enosburg Falls.
(And this spot is along the Northern Forest
Canoe Trail which goes from Canada
into New York and sounds pretty amazing!)

The falls of Enosburg.

Downstream.

That white building houses an old diesel
generator.

Straight up from the road is Jay Peak in the distance.
I don't know why I never noticed it from this angle
before!

We had seven minutes left on this one
when we finished our drive, so we turned it on
and listened to the very end while we ate our dinner.
Fun story, well-told and excellently narrated.
We all enjoyed it!

Ice cream time! Take your pic from twelve different
flavors! (It's harder than you think to choose!)