Beautiful Vermont Countryside

We planned on spending the day checking out the Vermont countryside and some of the scenic tours suggested from some of our travel information. We got a later start, but what a wonderful day it turned out to be. We didn't have an exact itenary, just heading south in the direction of some beautiful scenery and came across some unexpected surprises:

Calvin Coolidge - I knew his birthplace was some where in central Vermont, but not long after leaving we came across President Calvin Coolidege's birthplace, the home he lived in with his wife and children and the "Western Whitehouse". What a nice surprise! Though his father had been a state representative for Vermont and a well known farmer, he was brought up in what would now be considered meager beginnings. There's a tour of the small home of his birth and childhood. Furniture was sparse with wooden plank floors. The actual barn, tools and carriage-sled were there.

Coolidge built a home on this land when he married and moved into it in the late 1890's. The home was not 'fancy' by any standards, but was nice. Linoleum floors throughout. The kitchen was so small and the oven so tiny it's hard to believe you could actually cook family meals in it. In addition to both his childhood and adult homes and barn, the 'Western Whitehouse' is there, though it's difficult to imagine something as plain and simple as that as a home office, much less a western whitehouse! His office was simply a room built over his childhood home--that's it. It's the room he was in when he found out Harding had died and he had just become President of the United States. It was just a wonderful, quaint, simple town...but just serene with beautiful mountains in the background.

We then moved on to several small Vermont towns that are quintessential Vermont. The foilage throughout the entire New England area is just now beginning to change color and it's so pretty. Though just now beginning to change colors, the greens are no longer intense, but are fading. Some foilage is beginning to turn a beautiful golden/light brown. And then we began to see a few limbs that have turned this gorgeous Reddish/Orange color. Breathtaking. I can only imagine what it looks like when the entire area turns that beautiful Red/Orange/Golden color. Wow. In addition, the towns we went through were small and quaint. Many with homes 100+ years old. We took pictures of some of the areas to give you an idea of what the Vermont countryside looks like right now.

Lastly, we drove up to the mountains and ski slopes and drove around. Apparently Vermont must be a huge draw for snow skiers. We saw lot's of signs for 'Snowmobile Tours' too. Imagine going on a snowmobile tour. Of course, in the ski resort areas some of the homes and townhouses were just gorgeous...and probably cost millions too. All in all, Vermont is just a beautiful place. I can't imagine living or working in Vermont, but I can't think of a better place to just come and relax. I'd definitely come back to Vermont again. We had a wonderful few days here, but it's time to move on.

We're quickly discovering the temperature is just dropping rapidly. The average temperature at night is already down into the 40's and today with the high in the low 60's, I definitely missed having a light jacket with me. If we forget to turn on the heater at bedtime, we wake up to temperatures in the 50's inside the trailer. But, I must say I just absolutely Love this weather. I'd live in this climate year round if I could. Mark's convinced I'd hate the dead of winter and maybe so...but I'd sure give it a try and see!

We leave tomorrow morning for Bar Harbor, Maine. Based on the average temperatures in the Northeast, we're going to have to kick it in gear.