Cross-Country Vacation 2023

  The web address for our blog is called "travelingvtjs", which refers to Traveling Vermonters Julie and John. The purpose for this blog is to share all the wonderful places that we visited along our journey. In early 2023, we started planning for a cross-country trip to visit family. Our plan was to leave in mid-April and use  Airbnb  and  Hipcamp  to find places to stay along the way. Experience using  TripAdvisor ,  AAA TripTiK , and  Google Maps  for planning vacations and places to visit helped. Purchasing  Wanderlog  and  DayOne  were also useful to plan and record. Because National Parks and camping were on the list, we used  Recreation.gov  for reference and planning too. Being a veteran I was able to purchase a lifetime pass to National Parks for $10 (processing fee & handling charges); it allows us in to all National Parks where a fee is charged. We are both in our mid-sixties so we knew that we did not want to spend all day in a car. We were excited to see fami

Today's plan is to drive 6 hours, 261 miles, with several interesting places along the way.  We left Northeast Vermont Sunday morning, April 16th with a fully packed car. Our first stop was at Singleton's General Store in Proctorsville, VT for lunch. Julie and I grew up in the area and knew this was a great place to get a sandwich and some gifts for our relatives out West.  Bennington, VT. was our next stop to photograph 3 covered bridges. Silk Road Covered Bridge There was also some Black Poplar and Bloodroot flowers here. Black Poplar Bloodroot Paper Mill Covered Bridge was our next stop. Paper Mill Covered Bridge Then, Henry Covered Bridge. All were within a few miles of each other. Henry Covered Bridge We crossed into New York on Rte 67, a beautiful country highway, to find Buskirk Covered Bridge in Buskirk, NY. Buskirks Covered Bridge Buskirks Covered Bridge  Buttermilk Falls was another point of interest in Schaghticoke, NY. Buttermilk Falls After meandering through the

  We started the day with a continental breakfast at the Microtel Inn and Suites.  (Click on any photo to enlarge) Continental Breakfast Today's plan is to drive 7 hours, 402 miles and visit two interesting places along the way. We drove 2.5 hours to the Richmond Aquaduct Ruins and went birding on the Byron Lapp Trail. Added two birds to the checklist, Rusty Blackbird and Rough-winged Sparrow. A Google Maps glitch took us to the near end of the trail instead of the start; a 3 mile hike became 0.4 miles. The water was still high from Spring waters so we were unable to complete a loop hike we had planned. Richmond Aquaduct Ruins The Richmond Aquaduct Ruins is another special place that we visited. I created a separate page with more details and photos. Visit  https://travelingvtjs.blogspot.com/p/richmond-aqueduct-ruins.html We backtracked a bit to eat lunch at Potters Farm to Fork . Potters Farm to Fork After lunch we headed to Niagara Falls, another 2.5 hour drive. It was blustery

Slept very well at the Old Schoolhouse Music Cottage   AirBnb. Woke up to 32° outside and a dusting of snow. The host gave us a tour of the Old Schoolhouse (which they live in); it was a large open room, post & beam, with narrow wainscoting boards, and chestnut floors; several antiques. We ventured to the waterfront of Findley Lake and found a great store Twin Docks Gourmet Food & Deli for breakfast sandwiches, local beer and specialty foods. I bought two cream ales, one strawberry and one Irish Stout.  (Click on any photo to enlarge) John & Julie at Twin Docks Findley Lake Today's plan is to drive 5 hours, 270 miles,  with several stops for covered bridges and waterfalls. We left Findley Lake headed for Ohio where we would take a short Covered Bridge Tour . We discovered these bridges are huge compared to Vermont. First, the Middle Road Bridge. Middle Road Covered Bridge Middle Road Covered Bridge Middle Road Century Bridge Then, the State Road Br

We started today behind schedule! It was the scones fault. Turns out our host at Suite T Airbnb  is an instructor at a local culinary school and delivered scones just before 9AM and they were so good we wanted more! We waited for the tea shop downstairs to open at 10AM. By the time we got on the road it was 10:30AM, an hour and a half behind schedule, but it was SO worth it; Coconut Rum Scones with Lemon Curd, Devonshire Cream, and Strawberry  Jam for toppings.  (Click on any photo to enlarge) Scones and Clotted Cream History of Suite T B&B Breakfast with History Clara J's Tea Room Suite T B&B and Clara J's Tea Room Scones to Go Today's plan was to drive 6.5 hours, 332 miles, and visit two historic sites. Because of the late start we skipped Fallen Timbers Battlefield National Park and headed straight for Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site . It was a 2.5 hour drive through beautiful countryside following Rte 6  and Rte 66 (Yes, that Rte 66).