A Jersey City NJ(9-15), B Lake Mohegan (9-16) NY, C Mystic (9-16) CT, D Eastham (9-17) MA, E Pownal (9-20) VT, F Watkins Glen (9-22) NY, G Glens Falls NY, H Keeseville NY, I Stowe VT
UM/A gray, cold and windy day welcomed us when we woke up. We had to expect rain and basically wanted to be already on our way when it started. So we fixed the bicycles before breakfast on our car – and it started raining during breakfast! Unhooking and dumping took place in the rain. And the dinette slide (the largest covering the kitchen as well as our bedroom), which made strange noise while moving out and in since New York, cranked while sliding it in and a steel cable looked out when it should have been closed. Alarm: one cannot drive with a slide not completely closed. The blocking cable was to high up to reach it by hand. We had to move the picknick table alongside the RV, I steped on it and at least could push the cable into its desdignated hole. Up to one cm it closed now – enough to travel. But: Saturday and the nearby RV Service (15 miles away) was without technician on this day! With at least 45 minutes delay we started – and it was pouring rain and we were wet and we had cold feet. And the repair of the slide has to wait. Until when, we do not know yet – decision postponed. But in the next campground, Stowe, we did not open it and accepted that we cannot access half of our clothes in the bedroom.
In Waterbury, 5 miles before reaching Stowe, and despite the bad weather, it was pouring people, who were interested seeing Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, Cold Hollow Cider Mill and Lake Champlain Chocolates.
We visited the first two:
Ben and Jerry, two colleage students, founded it in the seventies and were successful from the very beginning. Fair trade in all respects was their vision from the beginning (local milk, local working people, no chemicals to the best possible extent, etc.). While world-wide known (the factory belongs to Unilever for more than 10 years and benefits from its sales power) it is still relatively small. Children are a major target of them, but with several dozen brands everybody loves the creamy ice cream. Simply the Mövenpick of the US (Sharon’s statement).
Cold Hollow Cider Mill. With local apples it produces a fine cider and related products like syrup. It has a uge store where you can taste various food products produced in the area, including very tasty apple donutes. The store and parking place were so crowded with visitors and cars, that they even needed “flag men” , making sure that the traffic on the stree was still flowing.
By the way: it took us at lest one hour to place our RV in the campground (in the pouring rain): uneven site (front wheels in the air when on jacks), water and electricity in the very far away corner (cable/hose not long enough) required us to move to another site and back-in. Not funny and positive for our mood. And the weather forecast predicts more rain, at least for tomorrow Sunday and partly for Monday, too. To see at least some Indian Summer, we purchased a “would be” post card in the cider shop.
