Awake: 5:31am Temp 53 sleep 6+09 lots of rain during the
night overnight @ Stowe, Vermont.
After breakfast, we drive the Suzuki (7 miles) south on hwy 100 to the
Best Western Hotel parking lot. Here we meet Therese D. & ride with her to
the Burlington Airport to pick up her friend, Joanne, who is flying in
from St. Louis, Missouri for a vacation. While we’re waiting for Joanne to
arrive, we had lunch; when she does arrive, she joins us in having lunch
also.
Next, we start our touring by driving south on hwy 2A, then hwy 116 for
(45 min) to the town of Starksboro, VT. This small factory: Vermont Folk
Rocker” got our attention in a brochure advertising “the chair that feels
like a quilted cushion.” It literally has 72 moveable blocks of hardwood
tied together with nylon rope to make the flexibility possible. We sat &
rocked on 3 different models of chairs….all very impressive. Therese was
quite interested in buying one for her daughter for Christmas until she
asked about the price: $1275.00 to $1400.00. A chair ordered today
wouldn’t be available until December 20 due to filling a recent order of
70. Comfortable chairs, uncomfortable price!
Then we continue southbound on hwy 116, hwy 17 & hwy 7 (50 min) to just
outside of the town of Middlebury, VT. I had called & scheduled a group
tour for 4 @ the Maple Landmark, Inc. toy factory. This family owned &
operated company has some 30 employees & they utilize a lot more modern
machinery with computers & laser automation then the “Folk Rocker”
company. We were amazed @ the variety of wooden toys manufactured with
much precision & detail. The owner, Mike, whom we met in the factory,
started this business as a teenager in the family garage some 30 yrs ago.
From here, we drive to Therese’s daughter’s condo up in the mountains on
hwy 17 near the ski resort of Sugarbush. The beautiful fall colors of this
area of Vermont are brightly lit up with sunshine during our mountain
climb. Therese /Terry invited us for dinner @ the condo but….the time is
now 5:45pm. To avoid having Terry drive us back to the Best Western after
dinner in darkness to pick up our car, we volunteer, with her permission,
to use her car to get our car while she & Joanne are preparing dinner. 40
min one way + a fuel stop for both cars, we return about 7:30 for wine &
8:00pm dinner of: Italian chicken sausage with green noodles & marinara
sauce. For dessert: Vermont cheese, crackers & apple slices. A wonderful
day & evening dinner meal; we leave about 9:40pm & return to our bus @
10:20.
High temp? Lights out: 11:30pm
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