Fall in Love with Vermont

 

Vermont

Traveling through Vermont at the height of leaf peeping season was exhilarating. Each day we were there the leaves were changing.  It is difficult to know the exact dates of the colorful leaf season, so I suggest you stay in Vermont for a week so you get to see the color.  We choose the week of October 8th-13^thand we lucked out as far as spectacular colors go. 

        As my husband and I travel, we always try to find the “Scenic By-way” roads.  As it turns out most

every road in Vermont, except the main highways, are designated “Scenic”!  You must pick the backroads and go through all the little towns to get the full flavor of Vermont.

     Here are the highlights of our vacation.

Our first stop was Queechie.  We made advance reservations to eat at the Simon Pearce Restaurant which has fantastic food and is cantilevered over the Queechie River waterfall with a view of a great covered bridge.

Simon Pearce Restaurant over the Queechie River

so many covered bridges in Vermont

 

     Next we hiked down into the Queechie Gorge.  It was fun at the bottom to hop rock to rock and get a view of the Queechie Bridge from the bottom of the Gorge.

top of the Gorge from the bridge

 

bottom of the Gorge

    We spent the night in the little town of Hartland.  The place we stayed was a grandma’s cottage.  It had everything we needed and was so cozy.  We enjoyed a fire outside while watching the sheep in the pasture behind the house.  The night sky was cloudless and starry.

Grandma's cottage in the woods

the sheep that kept us company

 

     The next day we decided to drive 2 hours into New Hampshire to a State Park called The Flume. At this time of year you must have advance timed tickets or you won’t get in. It was a great hike with a staircase built over a cool waterfall chasm. It was worth the drive.

 

     On the way to The Flume we stopped in the small town of Enfield to see all their homemade scarecrows. What wonderful community spirit is shown here.

    The following day we were headed towards Stowe. On the way we had many fun stops. First was Rock of Ages visitor center which was unfortunately closed.  It has a great history tour of the Marble industry in the area. So our first stop was the Barre Cemetery , which shows off its unusual marble tombstones. We walked around the cemetery for about an hour.  It was fascinating.

  Our next stop Burtt’s Apple Orchard.  This apple orchard is so well organized.  They give you buckets and apple picker tools.  We saw families having so much fun. We loved walking up and down the aisles picking apples varietals we have never heard of. As we walked we sipped on apple slushies and ate hot cider doughnuts (these were the best cider doughnuts we had the whole trip).  We were at this place for about 1.5 hours.  

  Our next stop was the Cabot Cheese store.  It was pretty disappointing.  I expected a big store with all things cheese related, but it was a tiny store with a selection of Cabot cheeses, most of which I could get at home.  There was a bakery next door serving beautiful grilled cheese sandwiches and a hardware store serving ice cream, but we had just eaten our lunch so we had to by-pass these treats.

 

   We arrived in Stowe, it was super crowded – traffic was a real problem as we were staying in a downtown apartment (that I would not recommend).  Stowe has a bunch of restaurants, but you need to have reservations this time of year.  We just cooked in our apartment and wandered the town looking in all their cute shops. We wanted to go to the von Trapp family brewery, but it was so crowded with a waiting line, that we chose to just drive around. Stowe is a beautiful town, just too crowded for me.

     The next morning we drove to Little River State Park and hiked the 4.7 mile Stevenson Brook Trail to the History Trail.  The Brook Trail section was fun, crossing little bridges over the creek while fall leaves fell all around us.  This trail had a few steep sections, but we didn’t need our hiking poles. The History part of the trail had many homesteads and small cemeteries.  The state had taken the time to put up kiosks at each homestead along the path, talking about the families who lived there.  This path was fairly steep going down, but again, nothing too difficult. We really loved this trail.

 

     Our next stop was Ben and Jerry’s to get ice cream and see the flavor graveyard.  It was super crowded, about a 45 minute wait for ice cream.  But hey, it was worth the wait. We got flavors we haven’t seen in Texas,  chocolate therapy, coconut seven layer bar, salted caramel blondie, sticky toffee cookie. Our favorite was the coconut seven layer bar!!

 

   Our next day in Stowe, we left town again and drove 45 minutes to Burlington, Vermont.  I had made reservations at Local Motion, a bike rental shop, for 2 electric bikes.  Burlington has an amazing bike path that runs 35 miles along Lake Champlain.  We rode the bike path and then got on the bike ferry which took us out to Hero Island.  We rode out to Snow Farm Vineyard and had a glass of wine. It was a great ride.

 

the bike ferry to Hero Island

The Causeway to the ferry

beautiful scenery along the path

    We then walked around Burlington and had lunch at poke bowl place.  It was a wonderful day. Burlington is a great city.

 

    On the way home we stopped at Cold Hollow Cider mill.  It was really crowded – this is a tour bus stop-but we managed to get a cider tasting.  It was really good hard cider. 

 

   The next day we were on our way to Leicester VT where we rented a little cabin.  This was a great cabin, but a bit close to the owner’s house.  But the owner’s weren’t intrusive and their property was full of flowers and neat landscaping. I would stay here again because it was well placed. 

On  the way to the cabin we stopped and did the  TAM Otter Creek Trail to the Arnold bridge. It was a hike through a field filled with cows- it was interesting- a bit scary, but the cows seemed to be used to it

                                                            

                                                           

    On the next day we headed towards His Majesty’s Fort at Crown Point.  The history of this place was very interesting. It was an excellent day to explore this area. We visited their little museum, which was well worth it.  The ruins of the fort and barracks are being restored. They are doing a great restoration job.  We had our picnic lunch on the southern shore where Lake Champlain meets Lake George.

picnic at Crown Point

Barracks ruins at Crown Point

Crown Point memorial

  

Our last stop that day was at the fantastic Robert Frost Interpretive Trail.  This an ADA compliant trail.  All along the trail are posts that contain Robert Frost poems. Robert Frost was from this area..

 

These are just some of the places we stopped.  But I must say that the drives along the backroads were so rewarding.  Driving slowly through the falling yellow, reds and oranges is and amazing experience.

 

Oh and one more thing, you must have a maple creamie before you leave Vermont!

Sedona, Grand Canyon South, Flagstaff- 2021

 

Sedona, South Rim Grand Canyon, Flagstaff  - March 2021

 My husband and I were looking for a spot to go hiking.  But March is a tricky month to travel in the USA.  Most states are too wet, too cold, or too snowy.  So I researched the average high and low temps for Sedona, Arizona and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and found that historically the average temps were between 40-65 degrees, which makes for super good hiking conditions in a desert climate. I will be honest and say we lucked out. It was snowing the week before and the week after.

So off we flew to Flagstaff. We landed at 1 pm and picked up a rental car.  Hint: I like booking rental cars through COSTCO travel because they allow the spouse to drive for no extra charge.  We immediately drove 35 minutes north to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and The Wupatki National Monument.  Connecting these two parks is a 34 mile scenic road.  The scenic road, is well, scenic, and worth the drive- especially since we needed to kill some time before checking into our hotel.

scenic road

The cost to enter the Volcano park and Wupatki  is normally $25 per car, but due to covid, the visitor centers were not open, so the rate was $20 per car, which I paid for online.  There was a ranger at the Volcano entrance who would take debit or credit (no cash) for entrance.

 

Sunset Crater Volcano erupted in 1085 spewing molten lava and changing the landscape of that region dramatically.  Hikers used to be able to scramble the igneous scree, perilously, to the top of the volcano, but that is not allowed anymore due to the scarring of the land.

 

 We walked two trails while in the park.  The first was the A’a trail- a short ¼ mile trail that gets you up close to all the hardened lava rock formations.

 

The second trail we walked was the mostly paved one mile interpretive trail with well maintained signage that told the history of the area.  The trail was quite scenic and there were restrooms at the trail head.

Both these trails were a good way to stretch your legs after a plane ride.

 

Continuing on the scenic loop road, which features many opportunities to see the beautiful mountains of the San Francisco Range, we finally reached the first ruins on  Lomaki Pueblo Trail. This easy 1/3 mile walk lead to a castle like ruin. Make sure to take time to walk up and duck through the ruin doorways to view some spectacular vistas.  There are also cool folded rocks around the area, that make for a great geology lesson. 

 

Our next stop was the Box Canyon Ruins.  It was a fairly easy 1 mile out and back trail that leads you past about 5 different ruins. 

 

I wish the visitor center had been open, because we missed the Wutpaki Pueblo ruins located behind the visitor center. ( I stole the picture below from the internet, so you wouldn’t miss it like we did.)

 

We stayed at a Country Inn and Suites off highway 89.  It was NOT a great hotel and would not recommend staying there.  It was dirty and dated with mismatched furniture.  The Radisson company needs to take their name off this particular location.  

 The next morning we headed to Sedona to do some hiking.  We drove around a bit and found an alternate trailhead for the famous Devil’s Bridge hike. Devil's Bridge Trailhead has only 8 parking spots located down a dirt road. It is the favored parking of people with ATVs.  In addition to those 8 spaces, there is overflow parking for Devil’s Bridge along the road, but this forces you to walk along an ATV road- the dust picked up by the ATV’s was terrible.  The alternate trailhead was along the Mescal Trail.  The Mescal Trail intersected with the Devil’s Bridge trail and was well groomed and scenic with no ATV dust! So glad my husband read the trail maps and found this route.

Devil's Bridge

Devil’s Bridge/Mescal Trail was a fairly easy 2 mile walk, but once you get to the Devil’s Bridge trailhead it was about 1 mile pretty much straight up, while climbing over fairly big rocks.  We got there around 9:30 am and the trail was already getting crowded.  We made it to the top and there was an actual waiting line of about 40 minutes for people to get their Instagram pics on the natural arch.

  We decided to just enjoy the view for a few minutes and then head on down. 

tough going up, tougher going down

It was SOOOOOO crowded on the way down.  It was nerve-racking to have to wait for hikers to come up a level so you could go down a level.  Going down was much harder than going up!!  Glad I did this hike, but I would not do it again.  My advice to you is to go super early or possibly pretty late to avoid the throngs of people.

 After 3 hours of hiking we drove into town and stopped for pizza and beer at Famous Pizza and Beer Restaurant.  We had a nice table in the sun and ordered of course pizza, salad and a local beer.  Everything was delicious and the view was great.

With a full bellies, we headed to the grocery store to get all the food we would need for the next few days.  While traveling I like to eat my own food.  I don’t mind cooking at all. Before leaving home I created menus and a grocery list so I wouldn’t buy too much food.

 

When we travel, we carry on all our luggage , except 1 checked bag.  This checked bag not only has our hiking poles, it carries things that are expensive to buy, once you arrive on vacation. I bring plastic bags to pack up picnic food, foil, a container that has various spices, a sharp knife, a pair of scissors, beer and wine opener,  paper towels, toilet paper, full sized sunscreen, a glass container for microwaving food, wet wipes, bug repellent, rain ponchos and a small collapsible cooler.  I have really learned to be prepared when traveling.

 

One checked bag with all the extras

Delighted is the word I would use for the place we would be staying for the next 4 nights.  Sedona Pines is a planned community of manufactured homes. The amenities for this place were great.  A large semi-heated pool and hot tub spa were in one area and then down the road was another large, adult only, hot tub spa . There was free mini-golf, ping-pong, basketball, playground and gas grill area.  There was a clubhouse with an event calendar that included lectures and live music.  The office had DVDs for loan.  I loved that the small homes had a kitchen, dining-living area and a bedroom with a comfortable queen-sized bed and a decent sized bath area. Little home away from home.

 

 

After breakfast the next morning we headed out with our picnic lunch for another day of hiking.  The first hike of the day was the Birthing Cave Trail.  It is a 2 mile round trip out and back trail to a cave.

I thought it might be a place where native women gave birth but it got its name more recently because it is considered to be an energy vortex.  You might go there to meditate on preparing your body to either get pregnant or have an easier birth.  The large “mouth” of the cave resembles a woman’s nether part. Anyway we hiked there. It is a great view once you climb up into the cave.

 

Ascent to the cave

at the mouth of the cave

With our picnic lunch consumed we drove to our next destination, Boynton Canyon.  It is a 6 mile roundtrip out and back trail.  We  hiked in 2 miles to where the energy vortex is supposed to be.  We scrambled up the base of a hoodoo shaped rock to get the incredible view and possibly feel the energy. 

On the way back down we met a man handing out heart shaped rocks.  At first I thought he’d ask for money- but his message was that everyone in the world needs a heart connection and here is a tangible thing to remind us to use our heart when making decisions. What a beautiful thing for this guy to do… And it is even better because I collect heart shaped rocks.

 

The next day was a Friday and the weather was perfect.  We headed to the famous Cathedral Rock. Holy cow there were so many cars vying for so few parking spaces.  There was no shoulder on the road and the road leading there was a dead end (though google maps shows an exit street, it is gated.) We managed to weave our way through the traffic and got out of there- no Cathedral Rock hike for us. The city of Sedona needs to close the road to all car traffic and just shuttle people out there.

 

This is what I didn't get to see up close.

We were in the area of The Chapel of the Holy Cross and decided if it wasn’t too crowded, we would tour it. Well the cars were pretty stacked up, so we parked at the bottom and walked uphill.  The church was gorgeous and the view was incredible. I am glad we hiked up.

 

 

Trying to figure out what to do with the rest of our day we remembered a park we had passed yesterday called Crescent Moon Ranch. It was an $11 fee to get in, but so worth it. There were nice picnic tables along a creek.  Then after lunch we walked to The Buddah Hand rock swimming area. 

We soaked our feet and legs in the frigid water and ironically enjoyed the back view of Cathedral Rock without the parking hassle of this morning.  

Got the back view of Castle Rock

Here’s a tip, the ranger told us that once the weather gets hotter, Crescent Moon Ranch Park reaches capacity by 9:30-10:00 am because the swimming holes along the stream were super popular. We walked for about an hour upstream along a great path and stopped at a rock deposit to find cool geode/quartz rocks. We also enjoyed learning about the history of the ranch through a series of historical kiosks located near the picnic area.

We spent most of the day here wandering the park and relaxing. 

 

Then we headed back into the town of Sedona.  I had my eye on a craft store, Sedona Art Center, that sold only local artist’s works.  I bought a really neat vortex inspired Christmas ornament.

We tired quickly of the weekend traffic in the downtown area and retreated to our resort for a swim in the pool.

 

On our last full day we got up early to beat the crowds to hike the Sterling Pass Trail to the Vultee Arch. The Sterling Pass Trail should be named “The Straight Uphill Rocky Pass Trail”  It was a brutal trail but so many stunning vistas that we kept going.  When we got to the saddle of Sterling Pass, there was snow on the trail, so we turned around, so we never got to the Vultee Arch.  We saw only one hiker on our way up the trail, but coming down we met up with about 50 other hikers, so the lesson is to be on any Sedona trail by 7:30 am.

 

That afternoon we took a leisurely drive out to the ghost town of Jerome. A high school classmate recommended this town as a fun alternative to hiking.  It was a super cute old mining town with unique shops, art galleries, bars and restaurants.  My husband napped in the car as I wandered through this ghost and pirate inspired town.

We packed car the next morning and left our small home and headed 2.5 hours north to the South Rim of The Grand Canyon ($35.00 entrance fee). I booked a room for 2 nights inside the park at the Yavapai Lodge motel.  The price was high about $250 a night for a basic motel type room, but I reasoned that hotels in Tusayan, the nearest town 25 minutes away, were just a bit cheaper, and we wouldn’t have to contend with the lines at the main entrance to get in. I am glad we spent the money because getting up early for sunrise and staying late for sunset would have been a hassle if you weren’t in the park.  Travel tip- you must book all national park accommodations months before you go.

Yavavpai Lodge motel rooms

 A  tradition of ours is to eat in the main dining room at National Parks. Travel tip- eat breakfast or lunch in the dining room, if you eat dinner there you must be dressed up.  Breakfast and lunch are hiking casual.

Tip: I made an online lunch reservations for 11:30- you get better seats at 11:30 than you do closer to noon.

We had a white table cloth and napkin lunch, with cocktails, a (shared) burger, fries, salad and  french onion soup in a historic log lodge building. Cost for lunch with tip $60 

 

To wear off some lunch calories we strolled along the rim of the canyon, going down about ½ mile on the Bright Angel Trail to the first tunnel for some great photos.  We learned later that there were pictographs on the opposite side of the tunnel.

 

yes that is snow

We checked into our motel room, made some dinner sandwiches and salad, went for a walk to the little grocery store, had a glass of wine and went to bed early.

 

Early to bed, early to rise for the sunrise over the canyon.  We chose Mather Point. It was a brisk 37 degrees that morning- so I was glad for a hat and a warm jacket. We stood and waited with a great group of people who actually took turns taking pics from the best vantage points- score 1 for humanity.

(In a “It’s a Small World” moment, one of the people in our group was best friends with a former student of mine - what are the chances?)

My alien spaceship pic

We kept our momentum up and drove, parked, then walked to most of the overlooks stopping to take pictures .

Then we made our way to the East entrance (which was closed due to snow) to see the Desert View Watch Tower.  The tower against the blue sky made for great photos.

We once again scabbed together some dinner, trying to use up all the leftovers and groceries from the trip.  The we set out for Hopi Point overlook for sunset. You must either walk to the sunset viewing points or take a shuttle bus down Hermit Road- no cars allowed.  We found a parking space and began to walk.  We walked for about 45 minutes to some of the overlooks along Hermit Road and then decided to take the shuttle bus to Hopi Point.  There was a huge problem with the shuttle buses- due to Covid, they were only allowing 15 people per bus.  We knew that this would be a bigger problem after the sunset when EVERYONE wanted a ride home.  The sunset was stunning.  But as feared the temp dropped and the winds picked up and we had to wait 30 minutes for our turn on the shuttle bus, or walk back 5 miles.

I thought sunset was worth the wait- my husband didn’t think that...See what you think???

 

Our last morning, we got up and checked out of our room and decided to hike the 2 mile Ooh-Ahh! Trail.  I think we finally got acclimated to the elevation, because this trail looked like it would be tough- but it really wasn’t that bad, even going back up.

Exiting the park we noticed the long lines of cars waiting to come into the park- it reinforced my decision to pay the extra money to stay inside the park!

 

Last leg of the trip was back to Flagstaff.  I wanted to explore the Lava River Cave, a place my research found on Atlas Obscura website, but alas, all the back country forest roads were closed to traffic because these roads were still covered with ice and snow. So sad that I didn’t get to use my new headlamp.

 

I hope I can hike this cave some time!

Once back in Flagstaff we checked into our hotel. This was also a Country Inn and Suites, but in DOWNTOWN Flagstaff and it was super nice.  We loved the vibe of downtown Flagstaff with its wonderful independent restaurants.  We ate at a cute restaurant called the Cornish Pasty Company. We had good beer, an appetizer called a Scottish egg and a lamb pasty.  It was all tasty.

 

This was a great 8 night get-away. 

If you would like help planning your next adventure contact me at jackiebarnes217@hotmail.com

or visit my website at jackiebarnestravel.com