New England

When we left Albany we headed north.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I do not enjoy city driving so avoiding Boston was a big plus for this route.  It also gave us the chance to spend extra time in Vermont and New Hampshire and avoid the interstates for a while.  We started out heading for Burlington Vermont.  I have heard a lot of good things about Burlington but have never visited so we thought it would be a good addition to our continuing search for the next great place for us to live.

Free Ice Cream

Turned out our luck finally gave out weather wise with worsening snow and wind as we entered Vermont, so we headed into Rutland Vermont to find a motel for the night.  The motel was in the middle of a remodel, going from dump to newly painted dump, but we got a couple of good meals in town and a nice visit to the local library.  The next day the weather cleared so we continued to Burlington, had a good look around town, then continued east.  Anyone that knows me and the area around Burlington knows what comes next.  It would be ridiculous to visit this area without a stop at the Ben and Jerry's factory for a tour.  An ice cream factory tour, ice cream memorabilia, ice cream souvenirs, and free ice cream make for an experience that even Disney can't compete with.

Fun in the motel

By the time we were done the bad weather had caught up with us so we drove into Montpelier for the night and found a motel, this one much nicer than the night before.  The next morning it was snowing lightly when we left, but we decided to push on with the idea that we could stop if necessary and wait out the weather.  Our idea was to stay on highway 2 through Vermont, New Hampshire, and into Maine, again avoiding the interstates.  By the time we got into New Hampshire the weather worsened with more snow and wind but after checking the maps we didn't see any better routes so kept on towards Maine.  Soon after lunch the snow stopped and it was a relatively easy drive the rest of the day.  We stopped for a fun visit with Nicole's sister Cathy and her husband Cory who conveniently enough live right on route 2.  The next day we continued on to Auburn Maine where Nicole's parent live, and where we would be staying for the next couple weeks to celebrate Xmas and visit with her family.