Believe it on not - we slept in on day three. Heading out around 6:00 - we made our first stop to get breakfast. We had a busy day planned and didn't want to go into a mindless spiral because we forgot to eat - so after getting fueled up - we went across the street and planted a box. That task down - we started traveling south. Our first stop - To try and not 'get galvanized.' We managed to achieve our task and then pointed the car in the direction of Punjab Springs. This stop satisfied two passions for us in one stop - early morning ink and covered bridges. To this point - our bridge tally was painfully low. And one specific one we had wanted to visit we knew would have to be visited another time. But we visited and inked up. Starting our day of well.
After we stamped up we continued along and just HAD to stop. Where else would we see a gorilla holding a Volkswagen in the air?? I took photos and started to chuckle. Amber looked at me like I had two heads. "Wait, I have something int he trunk that will work here." So I jumped out of the car and grabbed a box I had sitting in the trunk - just waiting for the 'perfect location' to be planted. Jumping back into the car I showed it to Amber who gave me that look. You know - the one that says "Honestly?? You actually have a box that works here riding around in your trunk?? What kind of crazy person are you??" kind of look. So after we wrote some clues and planted the box we tried to get 'back on track."
We had two major stops on our planner for the day - one was Hildene, home to some Lincolns and Bennington. And in between - many miles to travel before we could even remotely think about heading home. We needed another day to our weekend - but by day three, we also wanted to be home. So we drove south and onward to Rutland, not taking the time to stop, well except to take a few photographs. Evidently, day three of our journey would involve LOTS of random photo opportunities. While driving through Rutland - we stopped not for ink, but to take a photograph of a giant jug of maple syrup, a train with a skeleton, a 'covered bridge' with a flock of stuffed ducks inside, the MAC Steel mascot, a minion made out of an old barrel of sorts and a wonderfully painted rearing horse at a florist. We still needed to head further south still to Clarendon. While plotting our course - we were in search of nearby covered bridges, and this town had one! So we pulled off the 'exit' and started towards the bridge - only to realize we were on the wrong side... back we traipsed to the highway. Thankfully the road was pretty clear of traffic as we crossed the four lanes to the other side and found our bridge. Taking a few photographs and leaving something for future visitors we made our way farther south still on Route Seven.
We plotted our way to Hildene and pulled into the long driveway. We easily found one as we worked our way up the driveway. We stopped briefly to enjoy the view on their 'summer cottage' and made our way to the parking area. The wind and rain had started to pick up and it was kind of biting at times. Even with our umbrellas - we thought for sure at one point we would have a "Mary Poppins" moment and fly off over the counrtyside. We walked around the grounds until the weather drove us to give up our search and we headed inside instead to seek shelter out of the weather. And what we found was a delight!
Now while we didn't manage to tour the house - we did take plenty of time to peruse their gift shop. They had wonderfully unique gifts of historic nature and just fun in general. I picked up a birthday present, a gift for Christopher and a few Christmas items to tuck into stockings. Amber was spending time trying to determine the best book to bring home to her MIL as a gift. All avid readers - especially of historic literature would find this gift shop to be a true gem. We made our purchases and then headed back down the long driveway - back to the cemetery to get the couple boxes we needed, a couple more Lincolns and searched for an angel or two. We found one of a two box series - the other we couldn't find and then headed back down the driveway on route out the correct exit and the final box. On our way past the gift shop - we stopped again because one of the things I picked up - Teacup thought would make a perfect additional gift - and you can't pass up those perfect gift moments :)
Further south we needed to travel, and by this time - and maybe due to the direction we were traveling, the rain and wind had started to slow down. Not wanting to miss our 'visitor moments' we took the time to pull off the side of the road to visit a Korean War Memorial along Route 7A. After paying our respects and leaving some love we continued along with our drive. And this is where things took a more touristy twist for us. Just north of Bennington pulled another u-turn to take a photograph of the best dressed bear we had seen in a long time. But with further discussion - we realized that poor bear was dressed in an old curtain... that Amber was convinced she had hanging in her house growing up :)
We drove through a town that had a building covered in chickens and roosters! Or course - another u-turn to get more photos! Especially of the sign that acclaimed "Wicked chickens lay deviled eggs!" Too freaking funny! Yet another u-turn had us pulling into the driveway of a seasonal mini golf course that had gnomes on their entrance stone pillars proudly boasting shirts that read "Sun" and "Set." Mere driveways further was a ceramic/plaster moose painted like a spotted cow! Of course not to be out done - also in that driveway was a statue of a lion saying "Its raining cats and dogs' that was naturally covered in cats and dogs while wearing a rain slicker while another lion was wearing a Seuss style hat with Thing One and Thing Two running below him!
We finally made it into Bennington... and boy do they like their painted animals! We stopped, did u-turns and pulled over like crazy people so we could take touristy photographs of all that we saw! Even the information building had a hand painted painter's palette bigger than anything I had seen hanging on the side of its building. We continued trying to navigate through the town - trying to get to the monument, stopping for random moose sightings. At one intersection - we drove through it four times to make sure the little kids all got a donation! They had to have thought we were two crazy ladies from Maine - escaped from our home - on a wild chase - because one of the reasons we kept going through the intersection was to get a photograph of yet another moose!
Making it through the intersection - we turned the corner as spied the biggest damn ladder-back chair I had ever seen! Another u-turn! And low and behold - on top of another building - there was a wayward shark on what I think was a Chinese restaurant??!! We took our photographs and worked our way further up the hill to the monument. Between photographs and u-turns - it had taken us almost an hour to get through town... but the laughter and fun was so worth it.
We finally made it to the monument - and guess who's up there? You guessed it - another moose! So while Amber tried to get the box - I took photographs of the moose and John Stark and the monument. I went inside and purchased us tickets to ride to the top - I'm all for seeing the sights - especially if I can get there by elevator! We took the ride up and look out at the surrounding town. The skies were bright and clear - so we could see far. We opened up the windows at one point - and boy did the wind whip through! Knowing we had still to find the box, back down we went. We knew where the box was - but others in the area made grabbing it almost impossible. So we pulled out and circled the monument. Back around we went, pulling into a different spot in hopes to be a better shield. We just managed to get the box when a car pulled up and parked practically behind us. We waited for them to park (in a lot that was almost empty at this point) so that I could maneuver my way back out of our spot.
Bidding the monument adieu, we headed downhill to visit with Robert Frost. This was also on the -must do - list and we entered the cemetery next to the Old First Church and plotted our way around picking up a few other boxes as we waited out others visiting with Robert. The skies were clear with puffy clouds rolling past and while Amber took a few moments to seek out one by 'he who shall not be named' - I took a few moments to enjoy the area. I took a fabulous shot of the church from below and another of the wispy clouds as they rolled past over head. Yup - laying in the grass in a historic cemetery is always something one should/must do. Take time to enjoy and absorb the moments as they happen. Alas - Robert wasn't willing to share what Amber was seeking (we had heard it might be missing but wanted to give it a personal pass) we headed back down the hill. Stopping to take in a photograph of the Corkscrew Railroad sign and Abe Lincoln himself.
A quick look at the map and we realized we had passed right by one of our destination stops. So back through that intersection for the fifth time - we made our way to a section just north of Bennington to visit a couple more covered bridges. Silk Road bridge was lovely - and wouldn't you know it - here were more painted lions! We took some more photographs and weaved our way through that intersection yet one more time. But it was worth it - because on the other side - going east this time we found not only a couple more painted moose by the biggest tulips I've ever seen. And the girl who lost her wooden shoes next to them had to either be Paul Bunyan's girlfriend or a close relative!
Vermont like's big furniture and interesting art. As we tried to get further along in our journey, we had to stop for a couple more boxes. One had us meandering past a sculpture of chairs on the corner, displayed in a corner formation! We made our way back to Molly Stark Byway and managed to capture a photograph of her standing roadside... and while we wanted to stop here and grab a box in the area - it was getting late and we still had many miles to travel to get home. We meandered through a couple towns and at a particular intersection STOPPED. For there - on the opposite side of the road - was none other than "A pig on the porch in a picture frame wearing lipstick!" Now we had been in the car for a long time... and while we stopped and u-turned and took photo after photo - we did more laughing than ever before. The pig on the porch had us peeling in wave after wave of tear inducing laughter. No doubt - if anyone was paying any attention to us at all - they would have been convinced we had lost our ever-loving minds!
We made it through the intersection, tears rolling down our cheeks and spotted yet another painted animal! Now we had a dressed up,painted bear. Another u-turn, down a side street, I pulled into a parking lot. For there in the middle of absolutely nowhere - was a port-o-potty! This was a very exciting thing to find when our friend "Irving gas" didn't seem to be anywhere near. So we wiped the tears away - had a comfort stop - and turned back up the road to photograph that bear! We traveled onward - noticing that the sky was getting darker and drearier. We made it through to the location of Obelisk #1 - high in the hills on the Molly Stark Byway - and wouldn't you know it... not only was it snowing - but there was another big Adirondack chair! We parked and shuffled out in the cold, the wind and snow whipping past our faces and took a couple "Edith Ann" photographs. Damn it was cold. Hustling back into the car we looked at our watches. We still had over 200 hundred miles to go to get home and it was already closing in on 8pm!
We pulled out the maps and tried to figure out the best way home - all remaining clue sheets were tossed into the back seat and would have to wait until the next trip. We drove along, chatting about all the adventures we had managed to pack into the weekend. Trying to figure out what could be the 'best' moments? We made our way through New Hampshire and we relieved when we finally crossed back over into Maine. We could hear the sirens calling us homeward. We were exhausted in the best fashion. We had seen friends, visited historic locations, taken over 200 photographs, made lots of u-turns, planted 16 boxes for the locals to find, went on 2 factory tours, ran into sun, rain, thunder, wind and snow squalls, pissed off a Canadian and by the time we pulled into our driveway - we had put on 900 miles of traveling laughter and memories. While we only managed to collect 50 images - yup, an all time low for a 3 day adventure - we had so many more good memories filled with laughter and friendship along the way.
Vermont is a wonderful hostess. Her people are friendly, the countryside beautiful and the roadside attractions amazingly hysterical at times. They have historic sites a plenty and some sites that are just plain fun! While they have their rolling green mountains - they also have lots of lush countryside. We have lots of boxes still on our list - and we have many more places - and covered bridges - to visit! We still want to see if we can find those flying monkeys! So we wish to thank Vermont for a fabulous weekend - one of historic proportions - and one that will be hard to out do! We will return again someday. But we'll need to rest up first - you might be a small state - but you pack a very BIG vacation into your borders!
Until next time...
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