Absolutely zero rush this morning.  The only thing we needed to do was end our day in Shirley Mills, Maine (almost 6 ½ hours away) and make it down for the hotel breakfast before they stopped serving at 10am.  Three-fourths of us made it… one chose sleep over breakfast.  Any guesses on the identity of this noggin?

When we came back from eating, a few hits from the pillows and then tickled feet, and we finally got him stirring… at least enough to start stirring.

After everyone was upright and the car was loaded, we headed off to our first adventure, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream factory. We had about 30 minutes to kill before our tour started so we visited the Flavor Graveyard… the finally resting place of their retired flavors.

I thought this was really cute… The boys not so much.

The Waterbury, Vermont location is their original factory. Since Ben & Jerry sold the business to Unilever for a gabilliondollars, they now have 2 other Vermont plants and another in Holland.

The ice cream and cow puns were hilarious. There was the Vanilla-vator (elevator) and a Moo-vie (movie), I am almost 16 pints tall, and we followed the herd as we went through the factory. 🤣

We couldn’t take many pictures inside the factory – they said they never knew when a Hagen-daz spy was present 😉, but it was fun to watch to milk, cream and sugar moved through the facory and assembly line.   The Mooovie told us about the start of Ben & Jerry’s. Two cool tidbits: they started after taking a $5 ice cream making course from Penn State; and Ben had a terrible sense of taste and smell, so the chunks were left in the ice cream originally for Ben, but became part of their signature style.  

For the most part, everything was automated within the factory, but human supervision was required, and that’s where the real show was.  As we are watched the ice cream containers being filled, they would move to a spot where the caps would be put on, and then the containers were flipped over, so the expiration date could be put on the bottom. We noticed that the caps got jammed up on one line, but Lineworker Garrett was checking his email on his phone. So the containers were filled, not capped, then flipped, which spilled ice cream. One after the other after the other, and Garrett is still scrolling email.  Mike and I were tapping on the window to try to get his attention, but clearly, he couldn’t hear us. Finally, he glanced up from his phone and noticed ALL the spilled ice cream down the line. He cleared the jam, and the line was up and running properly again. But then the containers started coming down on the left side empty and uncapped.  Poor Garrett just started collecting the empty containers and throwing them in the trash.  Eventually, another guy came to help, but it was just too funny to us as we listened to our guide rave about the technological marvels of their factory while the actual factory looked like something on Laverne & Shirley!  Poor Garrett.  I sure hope his line got straightened out.

After the tour, we decided we needed a little more than the tour samples, so we got in line for more ice cream.  This sign caught our eye.  No tips allowed.  Seemed like a good idea at first, but after watching Lineworker Garrett inside for a while, I wondered if maybe we ought to reward those who work a little harder?

We snagged one more picture and then said goodbye to Ben & Jerry’s (and Garrett) 😁

Off we went headed to the capital of Vermont , Montpelier.  The Capital itself was impressive, but the architecture on the old homes was really cool.  Absolutely no cookie-cutter homes here – Everything was old and distinct.

We made a pit stop to explore Morse Maple Syrup Farm. Leo loved their homemade tree art.

We learned some interesting information on maple syrup, and now know why REAL maple syrup is expensive. Did you know it takes 4 forty-year-old trees over six weeks to make enough sap to create 1 gallon of maple syrup! The trees are “tapped” and then tubing runs from the tap all the way down to the sugarhouse.  This was just an example at the farm, but as we drove through Vermont, we could see the lines running through the woods.  Also, did you know maple syrup can be darker and lighter just depending on the blend of trees? Neither did we.

The sugar house isn’t in season right now.  Tapping is usually during the fall, but we got to explore on our own. I loved the lifecycle of the tree. The center marker notes it’s start: 1834 small, winged seed flutters to the ground. 1898 Great-Great-Grandpa John Morse died, and 1994 160-year-old tree dies Wayne and Rebecca Morse cut it down.  Clearly the Morse family has been here a very long time.

They had a great souvenir shop, with lot of maple syrupy things (clearly they believe in the power of maple syrup) and some hats that we almost brought home.

Vermont is a beautiful state.  Lots of Mountains and wide openspots, with these beautiful, old barns all along the drive.

Then we crossed into New Hampshire… State # 44!

We have had a long day of driving and these two have been such troopers… plus it helps that Mom’s Café is now serving New Hampshire too

We followed this truck FOREVER and loved watched this gigantic dog! He had his own “tent” in the back of the truck for shade and every now and then he would peek out to check where the truck was.  Mike said he was an akita. Boys and I thought he was part wolf.

Again, the scenery looked like something out of a painting.

I’m not sure who names the towns around here, but at one intersection we could go left for Mexico and right for Peru.  The boys didn’t think this was nearly as funny as Mike and I did.

We made a stop at Walmart for s’more supplies (I’m still giddy from all the Ben & Jerry puns and we really are getting supplies for S’mores) and we rolled on through northern New Hampshire, and then…

Maine… State #45!  I know Maine has some big towns and cities, but it is littered with these tiny little towns and hamlets.  Each with a downtown straight out of a Hallmark movie.

Since we knew we were going to do a late check-in for tonight, we decided to stop in for dinner in Guilford, Maine.  Pronounced WAY different than our Guilford. Here it is Gill (like what a fish uses to breath) and Fudd (like Elmer Fudd). Gill-Fudd. We saw great reviews for the Red Maple Inn so we decided to give it a try.  Great folks, great food, and great location!  We are even thinking of driving the 20 minutes back for 4th of July.  They have an American Flag painted on one wall and they ask all active duty military or veterans to sign the flag, and when they do everyone in the restaurant stands ♥️🇺🇸

As the sun started to set, we arrived at our home for the next 2 nights, Northeast Whitewater Lodge and Guides. We loaded up the luggage but left anything that wouldn’t go in the mini-fridge due to the critters it could attract. 

We walked and turned the corner, Surprise!  We are staying in a Yurt!

Mike hates camping but we are compromising with the yurt – it is insulated with fans, mini-fridge and electricity. It is so cool! It has beds for 6 people so plenty of room to spread out and relax. No internet at the yurt, but you can get a signal up at the office/bathhouse.  Did I mention bathhouse?  Of yes, good old fashioned shared camping bathhouse.  

We got settled and played cards, and then before bed had to get redressed to use the restroom one more time. (they loved my bathhouse outfit).