The Long and Winding Road

Our last full day of Vermont ended up pretty good.  We went to Cabot Creamery in morning.  It is about a 50 minute drive from Stowe, and the kids were really great in the car.  We got there and had to wait 20 mintues for the next tour and again, the kids were really good.  They had tons of cheese for us to sample and also other dairy products like butter and dips.  We had our fill and then took the tour which was very interesting, and Avi was even asking a lot of questions.  Certainly a highlight of the trip!

After Cabot, we went back to the resort for lunch and then after a short rest time we (finally) made our way to the Kodesh Kodashim (Holy of Holies), Ben and Jerrys.  We got there at about 3:30 and they were giving out tickets for the 4:20 tour.  We could have bought Ice Cream then but the line was so long we were afraid that we would not make the tour.  So we browsed the gift shop and just hung out (even met a frum family from Passaic!)  The kids loved the tour and the taste of Ice Cream at the end.  I was very surprised to learn that Ben and Jerrys had been bought by Unilever a number of years ago.  I had not idea.  But they had a special deal with Unilever that Ben and Jerrys would be an autonomus company with and not have to change any of its social action ways.  Thank God for that, because Ben and Jerrys, having been founded by two nice red sea pedestrians, is all about social justice.

After the tour (when the line was short) we purchased the mini Vermonster (4 scoops of ice cream topped with fresh baked brownie, chocolate chip cookie, banana, hot fudge, whipped cream plus 4 more toppings!) to share.  It was great!  Of course, it was now close to 5:30 pm and we did not want to think about dinner.  We ended up waiting until about 7 to get the grill going and I grilled hotdogs and we finished up other leftovers.

All in all a great day (which of course was topped off with packing up to leave tomorrow morning).  I doubt I will blog tomorrow, but I have no idea what to expect from our trip.  Hopefully Avi will be better behaved.  We shall see…

So which is it? Marsha saw this sign so many times she just had to take a photo.

After a few difficult days we did not know what to expect today, but I talked with Avi to try to help make Marsha’s birthday a good day for her.  And in the end, it mostly worked out.  The day began horrible however.  We wanted to take a hike, and we found what was called a moderate hike to a waterfall in Smuuglers Notch State Park, Bingham Falls.  Avi would not do anything we asked of him.  Mostly he decided he would not put on his sneakers.  I do not understand this, but Avi hates wearing socks and he hates wearing sneakers.  I have yet to figure this out.  I finally got him in sneakers without socks.  Had he not agreed to put on the sneakers, he would have been forced to stay in the bedroom all day with nothing to do, so in the end, he realized what he needed to do.

Of course Avi was the kid who loved the hike the most!  It starts as a well defined path that leads down towards a river which you can hear.  As you get closer, you have to step down a steel slope with rocks designed as stairs to go down.  Once a the botttom the payoff for your work is amazing, a beautiful waterfall!

After we stayed there for a while we went back to the car and back to the resort for lunch.  After lunch I got Avi to go with me to the pool.  While we were in the outdoor pool, I looked up and there, maybe 25 yards from the pool was a bull, enjoying grazing!  Where else can you swim with a bull watching over you!

After we got back we got the kids out again to do some hiking on the Trapp grounds.  We took a short walk (up a steep hill) to a chapel built by one of the children of Maria and Georg Von Trapp.  Then we took the senic route back to the main road.  The kids complained a bit about the lenght, but in the end it turned out ok.

Finally we ended the day with a birthday dinner for Marsha in Waterbury.

Tomorrow we will start the day at Cabot Creamery and learn all about their cheeses, and after lunch we will finally get the kids to the Ben and Jerrys factory tour!  I know they are looking forward to that.

Marsha and Shayna at the falls

The falls themselves

Today had its ups and downs here in VT.  We were off to Burlington to visit the Lake Champlain Chocolate company and Shelburne farms.  After some fighting over who sits where in the car, we were off at about 10 am with a 50 minute drive to make an 11 am tour at the chocolate factory.  Thank God we made it because it was a real success.  We got to see how chocolate is made and saw some of the wonderful things they are making there.  Everyone got a few things to sample, and there are a lot of bowls of chocolat all over the store for people to sample.  I highly recommend going here if you are ever in the Burlington area.

We then made our way to the farm over major protests from Avi.  He said things like I do want to go, or farms are stupid, etc.  It was a real fight.  I got him to move when we got there especially since you go on a wagon ride to the farm area from the parking lot.  He really liked that and he did like seeing some of the animals (although he wont admit it).  However, he made it very hard for me to see the other two kids having a good time at the farm.

On the way home we stopped off at an annex store for the chocolate company near Stowe and bought some factory seconds to bring home.  We also went into the Cabot Cheese annex and got to tasted a lot fo great cheese!

After a nice grilled chicken dinner we got the kids to bed and we can get rested for tomorrow.  Tomorrow Marsha turns 39 and I am praying that Avi makes it an easy day.  We are looking for a easy to moderate trail to hike and I think we have found a few possibilies.  Hopefully in the later afternoon we will go to this ncie mini-golf place in town to let the kids have fun (and us!)  We will cap off tomorrow with a nice birthday dinner out for Marsha.

Tune in tomorrow to see how it turns out.  Same bat time, same bat channel!

Shayna and me milking a cow

Noam enjoying petting a bunny

After a very difficult trip up to Vermont, I am happy to report that day 2 was tons better.  We have learned that with two little kids and one pre-teen autistic kid, it is best not to push to get up early and quickly out the door.  Of course it did not help that both Marsha and I were up to 1 am on our computers last night doing email and facebook.

When I did get up the kids had been up for at least an hour but were playing very nice.  We had brought up some new little games and that kept their interest for a while.  Avi and I took a little quick trip into downtown Stowe to go to the bagel store.  Apparently, this store (appropriately called “The Bagel”) is owned by transplanted Brooklynites, and they know how to make real NY style bagels.  I wish they had kosher certification because at $7 a bakers dozen they are a bargin!

Again with our kids we ha ve learned not to over plan a day.  We went into Waterbury and checked out the Green Mountain Roasters welcome center and learned all about coffee (marsha came away with a couple of pounds) and we wanted to go to a little tea shop for me, but unfortunately, they are closed on Mondays.

Then we went to the Cold Hollow Cider Mill.  We had been there in the past, but the boys did not remember.  Unfortunately, they were out of cider!  The ran out of apples in July this year and had none left.  They expect their first shipment of the season later this week so we might go back.  We did, however, get a dozen of the most amazing apple cider doughnuts that you can imagine.  They can thankfully make them with reconstituted boiled cider which they have in the store so the visit was not all a loss.

Then we went to a glass blowing studio and the kids were amazed (as were their parents) while the artist made a beautiful glass lamp shade.

After that is was back to the resort for lunch and some rest and Marsha took Noam and Shayna to the pool while Avi and I napped (a rarity for Avi!).  This kids were looking forward to the campfire they were to have tonight with all the s’mores you can eat, but unfortunately it rwained for 30 minutes right when it was supposed to start, so it was cancelled.  We did, however, get the see the most glorious rainbow after the storm ended (photos below) so the loss of the campfire was not too bad (helped by the fact that we are going to make s’mores in the wood burning stove in our unit in a little while).

The resort is quite beautiful.  The cottage we are in is very well kept and we have a wonderful deck with magnificent views.  It was very lucky for us to be able to trade into this resort because most of the timeshare owners come here every year and I can see why.  When the kids are older, I can easily see buying one of these and coming here once a year.

Tomorrow it is off to Burlington to see the Lake Champlain Chocolate company (Kosher!!!) and Shelburne farms.  Should be a fun day.

Here are a few photos of the area around our unit and the rainbow.

Enjoy!

Views from the deck of our unit

The rainbow!

This year’s vacation is in Stowe, Vermont.  We have been to Stowe a couple of times before and we really love Vermont.  We traded our timeshare for a week at the Trapp Family Lodge.  It is owned and operated by the Von  Trapp Family (from the Sound of Music fame).  The week, unfortunately, is a Saturday start, but we decided to take it anyway, and just go up on Sunday and leave on Friday.  It is a short week, but Shabbat without much to do is very difficult for Avi, so this seemed for the best.

We began packing on Saturday night and this includes not only our clothing, but food supplies since we do most of our own cooking while we are there.  It makes vacationing much less expensive (but next summer for Marsha’s 40th she wants to go away and not have to cook at all!)  I think we finally got to bed at about 2am!  Yikes!t

My goal was to leave by 9 am.  Marsha’s goal was to leave by 10 am.  We left at a little after 11 am and for the most part (except the GW bridge) we had very little traffic.  We did, however, have to stop a number of times.  Not only for bathroom breaks, but for Avi breaks (explanation not necessary).  We had hoped to stop at the King Arthur store in Norwich VT, but it became clear as we got closer to Vermont, that this would have to wait until the trip home (for those who do not know King Arthur, check out their website).

The drive up was very difficult.  Not the drive itself, but Avi was very difficult.  This may be the last long driving trip we take for a while, as Avi make it very unbearable at times.  And this is despite bringing DVDs to watch in the car, his DSi and lots of other games and activities.  Thank God there were a few 20 – 30 minute periods of relative calm.

We were planning on grilling hotdogs for dinner, but as it got later, we deiced to stop for pizza and found a nice little pizza place somewhere near Montpelier.  While we were there the sky opened up and it poured for the next hour or so.  Yuck!  We finally got to Waterbury at about 8 pm.  After filling up the car and doing some quick shopping at the local Shaws, it was off to the lodge.

We arrived at the lodge at about 9 and as quickly as possible got everything in the unit and the kids to bed.  And after some decisions as to what we will be doing for the next few days, I took a few minutes to write this quick blog and then go to bed!

Tomorrow we will explore Stowe and take the kids to an active Cider Mill, a glass blowing studio and some of the shops in town.  There is also a wonderful walking trail in Stowe so we might walk some of that as well.  As long as I keep Avi moving and active we should be fine.