New England Adventure-Day 7

♫The Hills Are Alive♫

Day 7 – Friday, October 13, 2006

I could have spent the day in Goldilock’s bed....

....but the shops in Stowe Village enticed me to get up and head to town after Ken made us a big breakfast.  There we saw the most amazing art-crafted furniture in one shop, and I realized what I’d do with my money if I ever became wealthy.  I especially liked the coffee table game tables--but I just went to the website for the furniture and found they no longer carry the game table but they do have the mirrors I liked.  It was a beautiful morning to be walking around the small village.  We even came upon a consignment shop where we found some more books and a cast iron muffin skillet for just $1.

After lunch back at the cottage we donned warmer coats and headed for the mountain--Mt. Mansfield--Vermont's highest peak at 4,395 feet.  However, we elected not to take the Toll Road to the top but instead opted for the Gondola ride to the 3,600-foot level....

The road was billed as treacherous for man and car, but that is the way to go if you want to walk along the Ridge.  The winds and the temperature convinced us the Gondola was the better way today.  Stowe had mostly lost its leaves by the time we arrived so the view from the ride was more grand than beautiful.  As we neared the top one of the cables broke--no, just teasing.  There was no calamity--just some snow on the ground....

We walked around a bit, climbed up a few rocks to a path that led into the woods, but when Ken pointed to a cave and said, "That's one of those caves the brochure warned us not to go into if we should get lost on the trail," I decided to turn back.  I did take a photo, though, of one of the little "fairy caves" I saw at the bottom of a tree along the path....

As we drove back to Stowe we decided to take the road to the Trapp Family Lodge of the von Trapp "Sound of Music" family.  It's elegance must have been of the "understated kind" when you consider the cost of their least expensive room.  We could only think they must offer amenities we could not see from the lobby.  
Back at the cottage Ken made a simple, but elegant salmon dinner for us with my help (90-second rice in the microwave and boiled corn-on-the-cob), stoked the wood stove, and we settled in for a quiet evening again of music and books....

The next morning I again did not want to leave my cozy nest.  The bed faced the sliding glass doors and when I opened the wall of curtains I could sit in bed with my coffee and my journal and take in the glorious colors of the leaves that remained on the trees in "our" woods....

We were taken with the birch trees we saw in Massachusetts and Vermont and wanted to add them to our woods at home if we could.  Ken's scrambled eggs and sausage enticed me out of bed soon enough.  We had miles to go before we slept, and besides, we had to be out by 10:00 a.m.  So we tidied up the place, packed the car, and headed for the Shelburne Museum on the other side of Burlington.  HERE is the website for Goldilocks Cottage.  Be sure to look at all the photos!