New York State

We woke up to rain again. So what is new? Today we left the park and drove to New York state to visit Darrell and Judy Patterson who are working at Lake George Escape RV Park. The drive took less than two hours. As we drove into New York we observed rolling agricultural land which gradually began to change to the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. We walked the campground as they pointed out different RV sites, activities and points of interest. This is a very large RV park set up primarily for families with many activities offered throughout the day. They have full-time jobs here for the summer. This was their day off and we appreciate them sharing their off day with us. They served us a nice meal and dessert and we thoroughly enjoyed their company. We talked about our volunteer work and compared experiences. They have two rag doll cats named Alex and Katie (yes they have a Katie, too). While in the park we also talked to Jesse Haman whom we had met at the RV Dreams rally last year. We missed seeing Ginger, his wife, as she was working the early shift today. We look forward to the time when Darrell and Judy can visit us here in Killington.

Several days ago Katie heard some scratching in the walls somewhere so Allan set some traps in the basement storage area. When we returned from the trip today, he found that both traps had done their job. He reloaded in hopes the family was no larger than two (just part of the life in the woods).

Allan wanted to give a shout out to his friends from American Pipe and Hardy Corp. He hopes their fishing trip went well.

Almost forgot to mention Sunday we were chasing our tail. We drove through the old section of Rutland, crossed a bridge over the river and drove up the road. We found that we couldn't cross back over the river on another bridge because of the height restriction. We drove in circles trying to get out of the area. When we came back to the bridge we had originally crossed we found a sign that said weight limit 3 tons. We are closer to 6 tons. Why hadn't they posted that on the other side of the bridge. We followed the river road until we found a one lane bridge that had no height or weight restrictions posted so we closed our eyes and crossed the bridge. We made it! obviously. We stopped to take a picture of an old "mansion called the Wilson Castle" which was built in 1867. It looked in much need of repair from the road.

Restful days with more rain

Thursday was the hottest day we have experienced here, about 80 degrees. I chose to spring clean the RV, but since we only have 30 amp service I could not use the AC while doing laundry, vacuuming, using the hot water heater and other small appliances. It got to about 83 in the RV. Allan decided it was safer to just leave while the "white tornado" did her work. During this time of deep cleaning I found several things we have been missing. Allan was gone a long time, but he returned with a fishing pole, "my Mother's Day present"??

There was a scratching sound in our trailer while we were sitting in our recliners. I looked into the bedroom and could see the mirrored closet doors moving. Katie had found the closet door open and had taken a nap in there. Unfortunately, Allan had hung up his clothes and shut the door subsequently locking the cat in there. She was happy to be let out. We always try to make sure she is located before we leave for any length of time although this is her first time to be imprisoned in a hidey place.

Our plans for Friday were to drive to Montpelier and Stowe for some sightseeing, but the weather was predicting 90% chance of thunder storms so we opted for a much shorter trip. We drove to Woodstock for lunch and Allan let me shop in a huge English/Western store. It was an old barn that had been renovated. Next door was a stable and show arenas. The 4-H shows were scheduled for the next week or so. On our way back home we detoured the long way up Killington Mountain at the ski resort. It was much cooler with more wind at that elevation. The gondolas were running, carrying bikers up the mountain so they could bike down the mountain pretty fast. Looked like a few may have skidded on their backside, but they were in line to go back up again. Oh, to be young again. What am I saying, I would never do that. I had better sense in my younger years, but not Allan. Later that evening, we drove to Chittenden Dam looking for a moose. It was a very scenic drive, but no moose again.

We drove to Rutland to do our shopping today. As usual the farmer's market was going on. Wal-mart and Hannaford were stopping places along with Petco for some grass seed for Katie. We returned home for beef tips and rice cooked in the crock pot. We had a knock on our door. One of the campers let us know the women's bathroom door was coming off its hinges. We walked over there to fix the problem. It had just finished raining. Feels good outside (66 degrees). Sorry to rub it in for you folks in the hot country. We are headed out for a walk in the campground

Work and rest

Tuesday and Wednesday Allan trimmed more limbs and worked with Cliff from the maintenance dept. on improving several sites. They brought in truck loads of dirt and gravel mix (in Alabama it is called chert) to raise some tent sites that had been flooding. Jeanne trained in the office and helped clean the bath houses. Allan did his first 10:00 PM security walk on Tuesday. He had to ask some campers to quiet down and they were very nice in complying. This park is known for the old growth trees that have never been cut. The trees form a tall canopy and late at night it gets VERY dark.

As Wednesday was our last day to work this week, we decided to sleep in today. Allan slept in longer than I did. I was awakened by Miss Katie who wanted to eat and look out her window to see if there were any bird or animal trespassers. I have taken Katie outside for three days in a row which may not have been the best decision as she thinks she should go out everyday. She sits on the picnic table most of the time and listens to all the bird sounds in the park. She is a happy kitty.

Quechee Gorge

Friday we drove to Quechee Gorge which is about 35 miles from here and had lunch at Farmer's Diner. We checked out a few stores and then walked the rim of the gorge. Allan walked down to the waterfall for pictures. On our way back home we drove through Woodstock which looks like a neat town to walk the streets. We made a stop at Taftsville for more water pictures and covered bridge. Many of the post offices are located in country stores. We needed a few stamps while in Taftsville.

Saturday we drove to Rutland for the big farmer's market. Talked with several interesting people and made a few purchases which included some flowers. We ate at Friendly's Restaurant which is more of an ice cream establishment but serves meals also.

Today Allan worked trimming limbs and I trained in the office and helped clean the bathrooms.

Redneck washing machine

The first order of business today was getting our fingerprints taken at the Rutland City Police Dept. My fingerprints were hard to get the detail. I may have to go back for another try. Allan has been working my fingers to the bone.

Upon returning to the campground Allan and I started back trimming limbs. We are trying to get the campground looking good for all the campers coming in on the 4th of July. We are fully booked. I stopped off at the bathrooms and looked into the mirror finding blood running down my neck. Black flys went for the jugular vein. We were very tired when our work day ended.

It has been impossible for Allan to located the leak inside the washing machine as it has rained almost everyday. He will talk to an appliance repair person tomorrow. It is sitting out in our campsite so it won't leak in the trailer. I took advantage of this clear day and did laundry in our washing machine outside so we are officially trailer trash.

We got some pictures of the office, bathhouse and lean-tos. And the washing machine sitting in our yard.

A short work day

We scheduled ourselves only 3 hours of work today. Allan and I worked together again cutting branches and hauling them down to a dump pile. It required a lot of bending and stooping and cutting overhead. We were tired when noon arrived. Found another moose pile dropping in the campground. So far we have only seen chipmunks, squirrels, birds, of course, and snakes in the park. After work Allan checked out the washing machine. He found a leak but not where it is coming from.

We drove to Rutland to see what was selling at the farmer's market. It is smaller on Tuesdays but Saturdays are suppose to be big. We also learned they close a street in town on Fridays during the summer and offer food vendors, entertainment for kids and music of different styles. We bought two different kinds of lettuce and some kohlrabi. I did not know what to do with it. We got a sample to taste. Tonight I added it raw to a salad and we both liked it. Tomorrow may bring something different. We also bought two doggie cookies for the park ranger's dogs. Sorry Maggie, they would not be good if I mailed them to you or brought them to you in November.

We decided to drive down the road to hunt for moose again. Still no moose. I found it interesting to see quite a number of houses have their Christmas lights still up and turn them on every night. We saw two farmers working hard plowing their fields until almost dark. Sorry no pictures today.

Something we learned about Vermont and Wal-Mart. There are only four in the state.

Another rainy day, after day, after day

This past weekend we took a drive north of here over the mountains. Still didn't see any moose. I wonder if they are really out there. We got a late start so we did not get to visit the Sheldon Museum or the Morgan Horse Farm. We did walk the streets of Middlebury and had lunch in a little cafe. There was a big waterfall in the middle of town. Middlebury College is located there. The college has it's own ski slope several miles away at the gap and have a top ski team. Sean, the assistant ranger at Gifford Woods, spends his winter as head of the ski patrol there.

Sunday we attended church at Roadside Chapel Assembly of God. The pastor was elsewhere that day, but the service was very good. They have very talented worship leaders. We met several people who seemed very friendly. We plan on going back. We explored Rutland some more and had lunch there after church. Sean helped Allan pull the washing machine out of the trailer as it has an internal leak which he has to track down and repair.

Today we did tree trimming along the camp loops in between the rain. There was a thunder and lightning storm this morning. During that time, we spent in the office with more orientation and going over future needs of the park. The ranger let us do laundry at her house.

Training period

We had Monday to settle in and get acquainted with the park and the area. We drove to Rutland which is about 20 minutes away. It has one of the few Wal-Marts in the state. It is NOT a super store. We drove around the town and located a church where we plan to attend on Sunday. They also have a Home Depot and several restaurants.

Gifford Woods State Park is located just outside of Killington, Vt. It was established in 1931 and a lot of the buildings were built by the CCC during the Great Depression. It has 22 tent/trailer sites with no hookups, 21 lean-to shelters and 4 rental cabins located on 285 acres. The Appalachian trail runs through the state park so many of the campers are hikers and they have a lot of day use people using the trails. Today, Gifford Woods contains one of the few old-growth hardwood tree stands remaining in Vermont. Killington is known as a ski resort and a lot of the lodges and motels that cater to the winter crowd.

Tuesday we started training and work. Our schedule is pretty much up to us as long as we work 30 hours between us per week. There is lots to learn and do here. They have everyday jobs like clean up and jobs that need to be done weekly or monthly. And then there are many special projects such as painting and repairing and gardening. We are trained in cleaning the bathrooms, site cleaning when someone checks out of a campsite and cabin cleaning. These will not be everyday jobs for us.
This week beside the routine schedule, Jeanne has done some gardening and Allan has done some clean up around the office and mowing.

Kent Pond which is pretty large for a pond is located across the highway from the state park. We hope to fish and put our inflatable kayak in soon. Tomorrow we are suppose to get our fishing license. This is one of our perks. We can get free use of state parks and their facilities as available and discounts at many attractions. We are planning a day trip on Saturday. The weather is suppose to be sunny and in the low 70's. We have had a number of rainy days here and high temps have been in 50s -60's. We are very happy and blessed with our site, job, area and temperature.

Farmington to Gifford Woods

Friday night everyone gathered around after work for a campfire and hot dog roast. Allan and Ron grilled the hot dogs and the women brought in the fixin's and dessert. Terry and Jake brought home made ice cream. Everyone ate till they were full.

Saturday morning we dumped the tanks, pulled the slides in, connected the truck and jumped the ditch that Allan had dug for the electrical last week. There was a crew of young men who came in this morning to finish digging the ditches. We enjoyed our week with this great group of people. We hated leaving good friends and the project not finished, but we were committed to another volunteer job in Vermont.

We traveled Hwy. 2 from Farmington across New Hampshire into Vermont. Hwy 2 has a reputation of being very rough. There was a short section that was one way and gravel where they were working on the road, but otherwise it was not too bad. Katie continued to let us know when we hit bumps in the road. We stopped at a McDonalds for lunch that had a river running beside it. They even had tables along the river. This is the first McDonalds we had come across that had a stop off for people canoeing and kayaking. We saw Mount Washington with some snow hanging on. We caught Interstate 91 south to East Thetford, Vt where we camped at Rest and Nest Campground. We drove into Lebanon, NH and Claremont, NH to a super Wal-Mart. It was a beautiful drive along the Connecticut River. We saw covered bridges. Allan got a few pictures with his camera, but it will be some time before they are developed.

Today we left for Gifford Woods State Park where we will be volunteering until mid-October. We traveled Hwy. 4 which took us by Quechee Gorge where they were having some type of celebration. There were miles of bumper to bumper cars. We drove through Woodstock which seemed like a neat town. It was busy, too. Before getting in to Quechee we experienced bad roads again. They were like wagon ruts in the road. We traveled slow. The speed limit was 35. Allan found it very difficult to steer. The elevation increased as we traveled toward the park. As we pulled into Gifford Woods we had to put jackets on over our short sleeves. Tuesday the high is supposed to be 52, just the way we like it. We were greeted by Christina, the park manager, and Shawn. They directed us to our campsite the only one with hookups. We walked the park and were very impressed with everything. The bath houses were exceptionally modern and very clean. Besides campsites they had lean-tos which have a roof, three walls and a floor. They have four cabins, also. We haven't seen a moose, but we have moose droppings across the road from us. Katie loves it here. She will love it even more when she figures out we aren't moving so much.

Our trip through Maine and the Atlantic Provinces of Canada were enjoyable but not as impressive as the scenery of New Hampshire and Vermont. I think we will like this place. We will enjoy our days off touring the countryside.

Farmington Conference Center

We reunited with some old friends from Campers on Mission at Farmington, Maine. The project is at the Farmington Conference Center. We arrived last Saturday and will depart this Saturday morning. Most of the group will be here two more weeks and then go to another project in New Hampshire.

The women have worked hard on thoroughly cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms along with painting the bath/showers. They have also been doing some sewing projects. Judy Connoway is leading a Beth Moore study on Daniel for us which is powerful. Earne taught us to bead T-shirts.

Jake and Allan are redoing the electrical hookups for the RV's. They also worked on an electrical problem with the sewage pump and did some plumbing repairs. Wilton and Terry have installed doors and built a covered entrance to the basement. Ken and Bob are adding a deck to the back of one of the buildings. Billy and Ron are installing a partition wall in the girls dorm. This is only the start of the work that will be completed in two more weeks. Lots of achy muscles.

They had well over 100 inches of snow this winter and the snow collapsed the roof of the cafeteria. This has been rebuilt with more work to be completed.