Monday, 12 September

Short distance, much seen.  Began with Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. Tour was more about social change than ice cream, but it was okay. Got a tasting.  The have a “graveyard” of discontinued flavors. The production room we viewed had about 6 employees, but the process is so automated I don’t know what they did.  One danced for us.

Vermont’s state house in Montpelier is generally considered to be one of the best. I can agree. Blends into the hillside nicely and isn’t outlandishly large. It’s pretty much wide open to visitors too. I kept thinking I had walked too far into the building. At one point of walking around I remembered that I’d actually met a governor of Vermont (Hoff). I’d even gotten his autograph.  I asked a guide about him and she showed me his portrait. She was impressed by my recollection and therefore gave me a personal tour. It was well worth the visit. (Vermont’s museum is unfortunately closed on Monday.)

Barre, VT is a pretty little town, but limited parking.  A really nice statue.  There is another somewhere in town that’s a little famous, but I didn’t find it.

Route 302 is a very pretty drive. Unfortunately, I set a waypoint for Bath, NH, and Honda’s stupid GPS somehow thought the town’s center was five miles down a dirt road.  Wasted 20 minutes. However, taking the road caused me to drive through a covered bridge, so it was worth it.

The White Mountains National Forest is a fun and majestic ride. It’ll be prettier when leaves change colors.  Had thoughts of driving up Mt. Washington, but a mile of gravel and 25 MPH winds discouraged me. Besides, at 6,244 feet, it’s well below the highest elevation I’ve driven. Amazingly, the first car to reach the top was a Stanley Steamer in 1899.

Not a lot of miles driven, but the movement was mostly eastward.