The Hills are Alive . . .

Welcome to Vermont!  I think our entire trip has been focused on seeing Vermont!  It was the first state we requested information from and the state we thought of when thinking about fall colors.  We arrived on Sunday, October 3rd and stayed at a very nice campground on an island in Lake Champlain.  They had gotten a lot of rain like the other New England states so the campsites were quite soggy, but we had a nice view of the lake, so we were happy.  Our first night there was spent exploring the island of South Hero and Grand Isle.

Our rigs with their 'lake view'

On Monday, the four of us drove to the little town of Stowe, which sits at the base of Mt. Mansfield.  It is the highest mountain in Vermont.  I had this vision of Stowe being the perfect New England town, with the church steeple peaking out of the fall leaves.  It wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, but it was quaint.  Stowe is also home to the Von Trapp Family Lodge (of The Sound of Music fame).  The original lodge was built by the Von Trapp family in 1950.  They fled Austria in 1938 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1939.  It is still owned by the the Von Trapp family and is quite beautiful.  You can almost hear Julie Andrews singing.

Church in Stowe, VT

Von Trapp Family Lodge

The last place we wanted to visit in this area was Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Company outside of Waterbury.  They have tours, a gift shop and sell ice cream.  We got there around 3 in the afternoon and were amazed at the number of people waiting in line.  We would have had to stand in line for a couple of hours just to take the tour and have an ice cream cone, so we decided against it.  We did find some nice things in the gift shop, though.

Crowds at Ben & Jerry's 

The cows at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Company

Sadly, the peak of fall colors had passed by the time we got to Vermont.  There were still some areas that were beautiful but the colors in New Hampshire were much more vibrant.

We left Vermont on Tuesday, October 5th and headed for upstate New York.  We are excited about seeing Pete's cousins, Deanna and Ernie, and sleeping in a bed that doesn't have wheels under it.  Cheers!