Vermont 2023 {Jay, VT to Granby, CT}

5 October 2023 - We loaded up the car Wednesday evening, so Thursday morning we just woke up, did a quick once over and hit the road. We stopped in Waterbury one last time to taste some cider (and the presses were pressing today! Hooray!) and buy donuts and treats to take home family. Then we took a new-to-us route south through the middle of the state toward Laurel and Bret's house in Connecticut. We even got to see a few new-to-us covered bridges!

This poster is for sale at Cold Hollow and I just
love it and maybe I will buy it someday.

I love this pressing machine. They squirt out apple mash
from that hose onto these layers and then stack more layers
on top and then it goes into the giant press and the cider
runs out the sides into a tank.

Cider pouring out.

Back there through the door is where
the apples are being chopped up.

Finishing off a layer.

Squirting in more mash.

The kids wanted me to take a pic of this
so I did.

We've never bought any of these baked goods, but they
sure look and smell yummy!

This was a clever idea. Sweet potato stuffing mix
from their sweet potato bread. Yum!

Pretty foggy today, so glad to have this
sign telling us we're on the right track.

Also: for proof of the crazy hay bales that
dot this state. They're all shrink wrapped in white
plastic (unless they're painted like a pumpkin
or a stacked and painted like a giant nutcracker
soldier as decoration). I have so many questions.
How do they get it dry enough to bale, let alone
to be sealed up in plastic in such a moist state?

Pine Brook Covered Bridge in the misty
moisty morning when cloudy was the weather.

And another just down the road in Waitsfield.

Also called the Great Eddy Covered Bridge. We drove
through it and then turned around and drove back
and parked and walked through, too.

So pretty!

And look at that spider web!

They're so cool inside.

Another beautiful web.

And another.

Somewhere between Waitsfield and Warren when
the fog cleared out. What a sight!

The Warren Covered Bridge was under construction so
this is the best shot I could get.

And a bonus that we weren't expecting, so I 
wasn't ready to snap a pic. I think this one
might be someone's private driveway bridge
or something, so it's not on the maps, but it
was in or near Pittsfield.

Midday, we stopped at a great park in Chester where we got some wiggles out playing disc golf (what else?) and playing on the playground (that would be Cal) before we settled in to eat lunch and tune in to my Grandma Thornley's funeral. I was so sad to not be in Utah for that, but I was so grateful to have technology and a kind husband who planned it all out to be in this spot with good cell service so we could tether his laptop to his phone and watch the funeral there. It was really nice. (I'll have a post up soon, I hope, all about her.)

A backed up view of those mushrooms
on that giant stump. Lots of them!

Tight hole.

Funny carved bench.

Tall one!

Giant one!

Cal had my phone back by the car because she
didn't want to play disc golf. So I found all
kinds of pics like this when we got back.

I think she must be my daughter because
she took pics of lichen while I was away!
;)

Funeral set up. It was a lovely spot.

We love Woolly Bears!

Cal and Sam chased this one around - it
was pretty speedy.

Back on the road, we stopped at a few more covered bridges, only two of which were actually new to us. (But I didn't realize that till we got home and I marked them on our original map, which I was bummed I had forgotten to bring along. Sure enough, the last two were already marked! But they seemed new to us this time. Haha.)

Way down there is
Kidder Covered Bridge near Grafton.

Closer . . . 

Closer . . .

And turning around and going back through.

Another near Grafton that you can't drive on, so we just looked
at it from the parking lot.

This one is McWilliam Bridge.

We needed gas in a bad way, so we actually passed this one
and then came back to it through a state park, which was a
lovely drive.

It's Scott Covered Bridge, in Townshend.
And apparently we've been here in 2020. Cool.

It's a big'un!

I love this transition from one style to another.

And cool windows to peek through.

There was construction right before we got to this one,
and then we could see a traffic jam trying to cross it,
so we just looked at it (and took really bad pics) as we
drove by.

West Dummerston Covered Bridge.

Glad we didn't try to cross this one.

Eventually, after lots of twists and turns and thank-heavens-for-googles through Massachusetts, we made it to Granby to the Farrer's home! Ah, it was good to be there! We wandered about the property while the weather was nice, exploring the pond (the kids caught a big ol' frog!) and the wood piles (Bret caught a newt!) and the yard (the kids shot targets with a bow and arrow and bb gun). Then we went in and had delicious tomato pumpkin soup for dinner. That night we slept in Melia's room, but that arrangement didn't last long! (Dun, dun, dun!)

Such a great property!

Check out that beast!