Friday, August 31, 2012

2012 Big Truck Across the Northeast, Day 10

Day 10 started with us getting a fairly early start, bypassing the beach and any playgrounds in order to ride the tram up Cannon Mtn, right behind our campsite.  Here's the view from the base, with at least one excited participant eagerly waiting.

Before I get to the tram, I have to describe what we saw in the parking lot.  I'm always trolling parking lots looking for something interesting to park beside.  This morning we were rewarded.  Someone had obviously put a lot of time, effort, and fabrication into this Baja Bug, and I couldn't stop pacing around it.  I especially enjoyed the sticker on the front of the hood - "Yours can go fast, mine can go anywhere."



Once we got on the tram, it was smooth sailing. We had the 80 person car all to ourselves, except for Jack and one other park employee.  They were very informative, and not in a recorded message kind of way.  They pointed out areas where we could see all the way to Canada, New York, and New Hampshire.  You can tell from Kimberly's expression that she was really enjoying the ride up.

What we didn't realize before today was that we were in Bode Miller’s hometown.  More on him later, but he is a multiple Olympic medal winner for USA, and still lives in the area.  Our guy Jack mentioned that he had just seen him in town yesterday, and that he keeps a pretty low profile but is a very down to earth local in these parts.
The guys also told us about a lot of 'firsts' that this particular part of Vermont is responsible for in the world of skiing.  Something about first high speed lift, first gondola, etc.  I asked if I am still allowed here, since I am a snowboarder, and they acknowledged that although they are skiing purists, they welcome all kinds at this mountain.
That felt good, because all I can picture when I think of skiing purists are these guys, and I just can't see Kimberly and I rocking this ensemble.
When the tram reached the top, we had a short hike left to the observation tower for a full 360 degree view from the mountaintop.  It provided incredible views, especially looking down at the valley and seeing how Franconia Notch got it's name.  Here are a few sample shots, pics do it no justice.



On the deck of the observation tower, there is this compass that shows you in all directions which peaks and ranges you can see.  To the north, there is a pass through the mountains that looks like someone used and ice cream scoop to remove a section of the range (credit Ranger Jack for that description).  It was pretty amazing that we could pick out nearly every peak on the map, we really lucked out on the weather.
On the way down, we saw a little Snoopy/Red Baron style plane towing up a glider. He just happened to release the glider right above us, and of course we grabbed a pic.


On the way down, Jack told us about the local ski museum at the base of the lift.  As I mentioned, we're not big skiers, but wanted to support the locals, and he said Bode Miller had been allowing the museum to showcase his medals.  Well, we lucked out, because the nicest woman in the Northeast happened to be opening up the museum, and asked if we'd like to see the medals up close.


I'm not sure about any of you, but I've never envisioned a scenario where I would be holding an Olympic gold medal in my hand for any reason. I can tell you they are heavy, biting one only hurts your teeth, and they are specifically engraved with the full description of the event. We both thought it was pretty cool, and I can't thank the woman (didn't catch her name) enough.

For the next few hours, we drove through western New Hampshire and into Vermont.  My friend Aaron had said 2 things about Vermont - don't speed, and Vermont feels very - Vermont. He was right on both counts.  Police everywhere, and things just feel different.  The best word I can think of to describe it is proper.
People here take care of their possesions - lawns and landscaping are meticulously manicured, houses are well maintained, everything just looks, well, proper.  Add to that fact that every vehicle you see is a Subaru, a Volvo wagon/SUV, or a Saab - to way more of an extreme than the rest of the Northeast.  Also the area we are in appears to be mostly farmland.  This pic is off Google image, but it sums up what we've seen better than anything I have.
Despite all the proper-ness, this story was on the radio every few minutes.  Seems like everywhere you go, someone has a local that is running over multiple police cars with someone else's tractor.


Our home for the next 2 nights is Button Bay State Park, just under an hour south of Burlington and right on Lake Champlain.  We were surprised at how remote the park felt, and the setting of the multiple tiers of mountains in the distance across the lake was like a postcard.  Here's our campground.


No explanation necessary here.



We did find out that one part cooped-up kid + one part generic molded plastic playground toy = human science experiment. She didn't seem to mind.

After a quick setup of the Big Truck (we've gotten this somewhat down to a science - I can have the Jeep unhooked in about 4 minutes, during which time Kimberly can have the Big Truck in full camping mode), we were off to Burlington to see what we could see.  On the agenda - a brief stop at Magic Hat Brewery, followed by dinner at American Flatbread, also home to Zero Gravity Brewing Co.
If there are any diehard Magic Hat fans reading this, skip to the next section.  I have nothing against them, but this visit confirmed what I had suspected after viewing their website.  Their beers are OK, but they struck me as the Harley Davidson of microbrewers, selling an image, apparel, and a marketing plan more than the actual product.  Their tasting room was more of the same.  I bought an empty 'genie' growler as a souvenir, and it was a bit awkward explaining to the guy at the checkout that even though I could fill it up for $2, I preferred not to.  Cool place, just not for me.

Zero Gravity, on the other hand, seemed to take the opposite approach.  It's hard to find much about them, and their location is very understated (see below, that's where we ate), but their beer was excellent.  It helps that they brew an excellent Belgian Tripel, my personal favorite.


One thing that was not my personal favorite (or Kimberly's) - our server.  She seemed very uncomfortable dealing with people, which seems like a poor fit for her chosen vocation.  Add to that that she was a dead ringer for a female Cousin Dale from Vacation (see below), and it made for a challenging evening.  (You may recognize the actor from his subsequent work on Silver Spoons, teaching us all a very valuable lesson about the perils of bullying 'the Ricker').



We were only a couple of blocks from the lake in downtown Burlington, so we figured we'd take a stroll to the waterfront and check out the city.  It had a very cool vibe to it, almost like a college town, except without the puke and 4 for $5 neon 40oz ads. Tons of people walking around, a cool boardwalk and bike path, and lots of green space right down by the water.  Our exhausted daughter grabbed a couple of photo ops right before she alternated between boneless ragdoll and Tasmanian Devil.



Tomorrow looks to be a more relaxed family day, with hopefully a visit to the Shelburne Museum (Thanks Laurie & Rick for the recommendation!) and a few other Vermont-y things.  More to follow.


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