Field Trip #1

This will look like all we do is travel, but it's an optical illusion. This post is about a trip we took in MAY. Just wanted you to know that we stay home, too.

Everything in New England is close. Within five hours or less you can be in another state, near the ocean, or clean up to Canada. For this trip we decided to go to an area in Vermont right on the New Hampshire border.

Our first stop was at the birthplace of President Calvin Coolidge. His hometown is frozen in time to the 1920s. This first picture is the front parlor of his father's house. In this room Vice-president Coolidge received a phone call telling him that the president had died suddenly. Coolidge's father (who was a notary public) swore him in as president at 2:47am as the kerosene lamp shone.

The guide told us that Coolidge's favorite drink was Moxie. I've had it. I don't like it but L does. There's no accounting for taste, I suppose, but L IS drinking the elixir of a world leader. I guess that counts for something.

The next day we wanted to find a particular covered bridge. In the Which Way, U.S.A.? book we studied for New Hampshire, it mentioned the "Cornish-Windsor" bridge. Since we would be nearby, we made sure to go and see it. Here's a sign about it:

Here's the view of the river the bridge crosses (rain was on its way):

Here's the bridge itself:

A picture of some tourists in front of the bridge:

Studley McGuire in his frog boots:

But wait, what's this? I was making my way back to the truck thinking that Studley and his father would be along shortly. Evidently Studley wanted to look over the edge into the water. Studley's father apparently encouraged this behavior, recording it for me to view later when I would be home. Near a doctor if I needed resuscitation.

And it was a LONG way down, about 30 feet. This picture does not do the vertigo justice:

When they returned to the truck (keeping me in the dark as to their shenanigans), we began to drive back to the campground and discovered that Windsor was the place where Vermont became a republic for about 14 years. The only other state to have been a republic was Texas.

On the wall was the ACTUAL signed land grant from King George III himself:

On the last day of our trip we made it to Montshire Museum (which was fantastic!). It is a science museum with three floors of hands-on activities as well as a "Planet Walk." You start at the sun and walk to the planets, all distanced and sized comparatively. We decided to stop at Neptune as Pluto was WAY too far away. Besides, it's not a planet any more. Yeah. That's why we didn't go.

On the way back home we decided to stop at the Quechee Gorge. You'll find that we're really into gorges and chasms and stuff. Since the next post will be about the Ausable Chasm, I leave you with just one picture from Quechee: