Vermont to Maine

Back to the U.S . We crossed into Vermont, and on to the islands of Lake Champlain. Champlain is very, very large and the islands are many, and the bridges, including some beautiful draw bridges, provided us with great views of the bays and inlets, boats and homes of the people, most of whom are summer citizens.This land is flat with water all around, and there are many small farms and a lot of dairy cows. The cows here look happy, far removed from CAFOs so we are sure they give good milk, and of course the cheese is top drawer, and the artisanal Vermont Cheddar is fabulous.

We stopped at a little roadside stand, next to a very cute salt and pepper, cedar-shingled house to buy corn, picked just this morning. The farm lady was willing take our Canadian coin money -- coins for corn, so to speak! That cleaned up most all of our canadian coins. Ah, where is the next ATM?

After a short while we arrived in Burlington, Vermont's largest city, population about 38,000, but grid locked with auto traffic! There must be a lot of suburbs and exurbs surrounding it. Whew! We picked a camping park, again with WiFi and laundry, and then headed for The Shelburne Museum. Just on the way, in the quaint and picturesque village of Shelbourne, Jon espied a coffee shop with a large WINE sign above it. Needless to say, we went in, and the coffee was fabulous. But while Jon was waiting for his double shot, decaff soy latte, he meandered through the very adequate wine shop. The proprietor and Jon hit it off right away and he was very helpful in guiding Jon to the wines we wanted. Filled with great coffee and a new case of wine goods, we were feeling ever so much more perky.

The Shelbourne Museum is not a single museum building, but rather a collection of buildings resembling a small village, with a variety of collections within them. We began at the round barn which contained fabulous contemporary quilts by Vermont women. Many of the fabrics were dyed by the quilters, and the quality made us gasp at the sheer daring and beauty before us.

Among other buildings on this vast property, was an 1800's home with stenciled rooms. The presentation was quite surprising, with a yellowish/orange paint over the walls and dark green stencil patterns repeated. The overall effect was to lighten and enliven the rooms. Another building held a collection of Audubon prints, made from sixty original copper plates from the Webb family collection; yet another had hundreds of duck and fish decoys; another contained antique toys, trains and trivets; a huge U shaped barn contained a collection of wagons, carriages and sleighs; another housed a fine collection of Shaker furniture which accompanied a pictorial essay from pictures largely taken by the Shakers themselves.

And finally, the Ticonderoga, a 227' lake steam ferry ship restored to pristine condition; and a train station with a private family rail car. We did not get to it all, but after five hours we were saturated. The passes here, by the way, are good for two days, simply because you cannot see all this and the adjoining Shelborne Farm and its 1,400 acres in one day. In some ways it was like the largest viewing of Antique Roadshow ever!

The quilts alone were worth the price of admission. There was a special display ofRosie Lee Thompkins quilts and hangings. She was (deceased in 2006) from the Bay Area. Her quilts had an affinity for the Gee's Bend quilts, but with a unique vision of her own. The museum also had a permanent collection of quilts that were from different periods, different patterns, as well as from different areas. It was most impressive in its comprehensiveness and selectivity.

Driving across Vermont was a dream. Each small village had the white steeple church, the town meeting house, and quaint white houses with lovely gardens. It was just as imagined. After a stop for a tour at Ben and Jerry's ice cream plant with, or course, free samles, we arrived in Montpelier, the smallest state capital in the US. See the picture of its capitol, above. Lunch was at a restaurant run by the New England Culinary Institute of America. Then a walk around town Good eats! Then we took a tour of the capitol building. There was a portrait of Howard Dean and Calvin Coolidge. We drove on to the boundary of Vermont and New Hampshire and

stayed in a lovely RV park just east of St. Johnsberry. The park was set among the trees with a charming pond out our front door.

Now we cross New Hampshire and into Maine. A highlight of our time on the road was a visit and dinner with long time colleagues of Jon's, Fran Truit and Bob Bobthius. After a night in the parking lot, we drove on to Acadia National Park. This is the Maine Coast as you imagine, rugged and invigorating.

It's Maine,we need lobster! Just before the bridge into Acadia, we noticed smoke coming from a row of cookers. This got our attention, so we pulled in, picked out our lobsters and waited for them to be steamed. Now, we have the fresh corn, lobsters and fresh tomatoes for our dinner.

One afternoon was spent on the Loop Drive around some of the park. We stopped at the one sandy beach and at other spots to climb out on the rocks and breath in that good salt air. Day two was for walking. The light house was just across the street from the camping spot so we started there and then took a trail along a bay. That afternoon, we stopped for a visit with Lucille, Ben and Kiona, friend from Sayulita.

The rain began and we drove on to find a spot for the night. We spent a rainy night in Camden. The morning was a rainy one as we drove through Camden to Rockland. This was a special treat, The Farnsworth Museum! The exhibits was "Maine's Role in American Art". Andrew Wyeth at 90 was a wonderful selection of his work.,along with Andrew Wyeth was N.C.Wyeth and James Wyeth. An artist, unknown to us, was Bo Bartlett. He paints in the style of Andrew Wyeth, but with his own touch. I was completely overwhelmed by this work. Also, we saw a small collection of Louise Nevelson, both painting and sculpture. To top it all off, we drove to the Olson House, where Andrew Wyeth painted his "Christine" collection.

Now, Massachusetts.