Vermont – Sunday

So, we made it up here.

Beautiful, sunny, snowy Vermont.  We are staying near Stowe, Vermont.  Tricia found a great room at the Trapp Family Lodge.  We got up here Saturday afternoon after flying into Burlington, Vermont and then driving 45 minutes to the lodge.  Before the trip, we discovered that just about EVERYTHING is 45 minutes away in Vermont.  I guess that’s just how it goes.

The Lodge is great.  Our room is very spacious.  We have a beautiful view of the trees and mountain just outside of our room.  Thankfully, there are curtains!!  Helps keep the light out in the morning.

We got settled Saturday and explored the town of Stowe for a bit.  Had dinner at the Cactus Cafe.  Definitely a New Englander’s idea of what Mexican food should be.  It was fun, though.

Sunday is when things really started.  We went to the Outdoor Center and rented some snowshoes and hiked it up to the top of the mountain.  Went from 1200 feet elevation to 2400 feet elevation.  It took us about 2 hours. The FitBit gave us credit for 150 floors and over 22,000 steps for the day. It was a personal best for BOTH Tricia and I.

We had a nice snack at the cabin at the top of the mountain and then began the trek back down.  Got cleaned up for dinner and then went to Plate for a very nice dinner.  Tricia had Hearts of Palm curry and I had the “Messy Burger” with pan fried potatoes.  Very nice.  Local beer for me and a local cider for Tricia.

This morning, we are looking at the snow falling outside the window.  We are about to hike down to the lodge bakery for some coffee.  Oh, and it’s 10:30am and we just got up!!  God bless Grandparents for babysitting!

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Enjoy,
J

Back at the cabin at the top of the mountain. They had a bench where you could relax. Unfortunately, it was kinda snowed in!

The very tippy top. It was kinda boring. Too many trees up there. You couldn’t see anything but these two markers letting you know there was nowhere else to go.

Here’s the view without Tricia.

Our best view. We were about 50 feet from the top of the mountain.

Could she look any cooler? This is nearing the top of the mountain.

ACTION SHOT!

The outhouse. Only option. Had to us it. There was a stalagmite of, well, I think you can figure it out. Maybe it was a stalactite. Whichever one grows up! Not the “hanging from the ceiling” one.

Taking a break from walking. Both of us were STARVING and enjoyed warming up inside…until we had to go back out into the cold!

The Cabin at the top of the mountain. Just wow.

They also had miles of these tubes strung up all over the place carrying the sap downhill so they don’t have to come up and get it. We both thought that this tree looks like he’s holding up the line as it passes in front of him…slowly bleeding him dry.

SUGARIN’!!! We got to snowshoe through the maple syrup forest. There were HUNDREDS of these buckets attached to the trees. Each one with a tap dripping slowly into the bucket. Pretty cool.

The two of us together. But. How? There’s no one else out there and surely Jacob wouldn’t prop his camera up in the snow…would he??

My best GQ look.

Tricia sitting pretty and showing off in the sun.

ACTION SHOT! Putting on the snowshoes in the Yurt. Yep, they had a yurt.

The General Store. This place had EVERYTHING! Tricia is looking at the candy choices. We got fresh candied pecans (that’s “PEE-cans” for you southerners. None of this “pa-KON” business up here.). It was a great place.

Our coffee shop for Sunday morning coffee. We got a maple syrup latte with a healthy dose of bad-mouthing your boss and an air of superiority. Not. Going. Back.

This is a fun little house we found in downtown Stowe. They were building it. Tricia fell in love with the cottage feel.

Tricia modeling the view from the front of the lodge. We can cross-country ski or snowshoe. So far, we’ve done the latter.

The rest of the lodge.

Here’s the front of the Lodge. Our room is in the back right of the lodge looking up the mountain in the back of the photo.