September 16, Ben & Jerry

I've already told you about meeting John Spears aunt and uncle in the office checking out of the Apple Island RV Resort this morning. That was way cool! Such a small world.... Once we got checked out and left, I got some early morning pics of Lake Champlain. It was still overcast after raining much of the night, and fairly cool.

                     

Our first stop was Burlington, VT, in order to do some laundry. We found a really nice laundromat right in the heart of town, with a Dunkin  Donuts next door. And free WIFI! So, we washed all the dogs bedding, and a few  other things. There was a lady that brought her pet kitten to the laundromat. That kitten got under equipment, jumped out at toys, and generally had a great time. But it was weird....

The town was pretty cool, too. Turns out there is a university there, the University of Vermont. A very PRETTY university!

                         

                     

                        

                          

                 

All of these buildings were on or near the campus. I'm not sure what they all really are, but one was a chapel,  one a student center, and so forth. It was tough to sit and wait for Jeff to get pics with the narrow roads and traffic.

Next,we headed for Ben and Jerry's. Along the way, we passed through the state capitol of Montpelier. It was also an amazing town. Ok, so Vermont is a very beautiful, natural state! I highly recommend visiting if you have never been there!

Courts building.

                   

Cool old church.

                            

I love the open bell towers. You see a lot of those here.

                           

                      

The capitol building was very nice!

Finally, we reached Ben and Jerry's factory and signed up for the tour. All the nuts and bolts of how the ice cream is made was not that interesting to me, but the stuff about their corporation and how they try to be socially, economically, and environmentally responsible was pretty awesome. And, in the end, they give you a little scoop of an ice cream that is not in production. What we got was really good! Cinnamon base, with banana and big chunks of chocolate. Wish they would make it one of their flavors. And, interestingly, out of their top 5 sellers, the only one I really like is Cherry Garcia, which is #2. Jeff bought a couple pints for the RV, also.

                             

Notice the sign regarding flying monkeys! You
know who you are!

                    

                  

After we ate our ice cream, we headed down the road to the Green Mountain Coffee Roaster info center and shop. It was in an old train depot, which is actually still housing the Amtrak on the other end, which was interesting.

                 


That was definitely a fun and interesting day. And a very beautiful state! Have I already said that?

                   

As you can see, the sun did finally peek out and gave
us a beautiful day!

                  


We did a lot of driving, and actually ended up in Danville, VT, at the Sugar Ridge RV Park. It was another really nice place! We pretty much had our end of the park by our selves. We made ourselves a very nice swordfish grill dinner! With grilled veggies!

                   

Still no mailboxes.... But the beautiful scenery is a wonderful substitute! It remains tough to get a lot of pics, also, rolling down the road instead of walking or running! And you can't stop that Beast on a dime to catch anything, either, especially with someone on your bumper. Since I drive it sort of slow, there always seems to be someone sitting on our bumper!