Green Mountain Coffee Visitor Center and Cafe

This picture of the Green Mountain Coffee Visitor Center & Cafe was taken at 1 Rotarian Place in Waterbury, Connecticut.  In 1980 entrepreneur Bob Stiller had a really great cup of locally roasted coffee in a small coffee shop in Waitsfield, Vermont and he decided that Green Mountain Coffee should be born.  A year later "The Best Cup of Coffee in Vermont" moves to this location in Waterbury, Vermont and the rest is history.  In 2006, Keurig, Inc. becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee making two great companies into one.  This coffee is the favorite of Bro and yours truly!

Morse Farm Maple Sugar Works

These pictures were taken at the Morse Farm Maple Sugar Works at 1168 County Road in Montpelier, Vermont.  The photo on the left shows the drilled hole in the Sugar Maple Tree and the plastic insert that is used to gather the sap.  The photo on the right shows the network of tubing that collects all the sap from the  3000 plus Sugar Maples used in making the maple syrup.  Vermont is the largest U. S. producer of maple syrup mainly because it has the ideal climate and soils for growing Sugar Maple Trees plus the ideal spring weather that is conducive for good sap flow.  An interesting tidbit of information is that it takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make one (1) gallon of maple syrup.  It is no wonder why they drill so many trees! 

Who'll Stop The Rain... Day - Day 11 (44th)

One can see that Fall is right around the corner as the low temperature dropped to 55F and the high temperature never got any warmer then 71F today, and yes there was rain most of the day.  The hope of getting any better photos of Mt Washington were quickly washed away today.  Gasoline again came in at $3.679/gallon.  I spent the day hiking the two mile trail through Franconia Notch State Park.  As one can see from the Avalanche Falls photo, there was a great deal of rain, I was totally soaked!  The Flume Gorge, even in the rain, is a spectacular site to behold, makes one think just how much more beautiful it would be if the sun decided to show its face.
Tomorrow, hopefully will bring some tours of Ben and Gerry's Ice Cream, Green Mountain Coffee, and perhaps to visit a place where Maple Sugar is made.  The trip will be coming to an end on Sunday, doesn't seem possible that it is almost over!
Drying out!

The Traveller!

The Frost Place

This picture of The Frost Place was taken at 158 Ridge Road in Franconia, New Hampshire.  This house was home to poet Robert Frost and his family from 1915 to 1920 when he wrote many of the poems that would appear in his third and fourth books, 'Mountain Interval' and 'New Hampshire' published in 1916 and 1923 respectively.  There is also the Frost Barn to the left and rear of the house that has periodic poetry readings which are open to the public.  Between writing his poetry, Robert Frost loved to grow both fruit and vegetables.  The weather, however was not conducive to growing these which eventually forced him to move to a new home in South Shaftsbury, Vermont.  The mailbox, not shown in this photo, is one of the most photographed in the United States as it still bears his name on it!

Avalanche Falls

This picture of Avalanche Falls was taken at the top of The Flume Gorge at Franconia Notch State Park in Franconia, New Hampshire.  The Flume Gorge is a natural Gorge extending 800 feet at the base of Mount Liberty.  The Gorge was discovered by 93 year old Aunt Jess Guernsey in 1808 when she happened upon it while fishing.  At that time there was a huge egg shaped boulder between the walls of the gorge.  A heavy rainstorm in 1883 started a landslide that swept the boulder from its place and deepened the Gorge and formed Avalanche Falls.  I can just picture the boulder rolling down the Gorge like a scene out of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones movie.  Even in today's heavy rain this Gorge was spectacular.

A White Mountains Day - Day 10 (43th)

Temperatures today were a bit more moderate as the low temperature was 69F and the high temperature was 79F, this helped some as the humidity was still hanging around.  There were also some nasty electrical storms, both last night and this evening, including some from cloud to cloud.  Gasoline purchased today came in at $3.679/gallon.  I spent most of the day driving the loop around Mt Washington trying to get a decent photo of the mountain.  Although I was able to snap a few shots of the mountain, my plans tomorrow are to retrace some of my steps from today, hoping to get some sunny weather for better shots.  My plans also include to visit Flume Gorge which I did not find time for today and then to head into Vermont.
Its getting late!

The Traveller!

The Old Man of the Mountain

This picture of The Old Man of the Mountain Profile was taken at the Old Man of the Mountain Profile Plaza in Franconia, New Hampshire.  The Old Man of the Mountain Profile Plaza was dedicated June 12, 2011 to honor the memory of the Old Man which collapsed on May 3, 2003 from the face of Canon Mountain.  The Old Man was made up of five (5) blocks of broken Conway Granite naturally stacked atop one another.  Through the years, water and frost weathering so damaged the small bench that it could not support the weight from above.  Within seconds all the five (5) blocks came tumbling down only to be shattered in many pieces.  A contest was held to come up with some sort of memorial to keep the Old Man's legacy.  The winner of the contest submitted the idea of seven steel 'profilers' to be positioned on the shores of Profile Lake.  These 'profilers' allowed visitors to again see the likeness of the Old Man gazing over Franconia Notch as is shown in the photo.  I was also fortunate to meet the President of the Old Man of the Mountain Legacy Committee, Richard Hamilton who helped explain just what happened to the granite face a little over ten (10) years ago.