July 6 / 7 Women on Wheels Ride In / BEST BLT July 7 / see details below

July 6
It was another beautiful day with blue sky. We had coffee from Jaz's French press, worked on our blogs a bit, and just relaxed for a while.

Stratton Mountain is just one of many ski resorts in this area.

The map shows the area that we are in for our festivities.  The buildings in the bottom center are the set we are in.
Ours is the top row of two, the one on the right.  So we are very centrally located for the event which is mostly across the street up near where the bell tower is.  There are other buildings in the complex and there are women and motorcycles spread all over.  I heard 350-400 were registered. 

I laid out the frogs we brought with us to "frog" people's bikes.

Out in the lobby area there's a desk and a nice lady was sitting there. We figured she's our Den Mother, there to keep watch over us. There was also coffee and little muffins, which is always a plus.

This is one of the buildings, and we're in one like this, right across
from where we go to the welcome center and the festivities.

This is the little "village" where the festivities were held.  The main part for us was at the other end of this walkway.

The coat of arms and name of our building.

And our underground, inside parking ... in case of a storm and rain.  Don't know where
the puddle on the floor came from.  Not from us.

This is the view from our room.

And the pool and jacuzzis.

I called Ruth and Sylvia, our friends from Kansas, and they came by the room. Sylvia's scooter was having issues and not charging. Jaz took it apart and discovered there was no way the thing could charge as the bolts were too long and so they couldn't be tightened to the terminals. So we left it at our place as we we were going to go wander around a little bit. We all wanted to head to the post office … Sylvia had some things to mail, and I wanted to ship a box home. Plus we now needed to get some washers to fix the little scooter.

Jaz and I were going to meet Sylvia and Ruth in the parking lot across from our building. As I was coming out of the garage, for some reason I just couldn't make the turn and headed for the grass, and just laid the bike down there. Crap, 13,000 miles and clear across the country to do that. Jaz and I picked her up, dusted her off, and continued on our way. I figured I was just too tired after riding 14 days straight, and probably wearing my sneakers and riding like a duck flapping its little feet didn't help either. Miss O'Harley must have been tired, too, if she wanted to lay down.

Using a GPS we found a post office … after a gravel, dirt and paved road, but through some pretty little areas with a stream. So the ride wasn't all bad.

The post office where I mailed my package.  Friendly folks, and sure different looking from our post office buildings.

Finally washed the bikes. They certainly aren't clean, but a few layers of bugs and muck are gone. I found where a little of the black was scraped on the pipes when Miss Scarlet laid down for her nap. Her first battle scar.

We took care of our washer business at a local hardware store, then lunched and caught up since we had last spoken or e-mailed. Found a little wood craft shop and looked around. It was way too hot to be doing much of anything, so we came back up the mountain. It did seem to get a bit cooler.

Lunch with great friends, me, Jaz, Ruth and Sylvia.

This is the little market where we bought a few things, like cheese, crackers, a little fruit and lots more water.

People are very welcoming to the group, and even put frogs on stuff for us.

Jaz hand-delivered Sylvia's scooter back to her after it was all charged up and ready to rock and roll.

There were some Women on Wheels goings ons, so we wandered up to see what was happening. There were opening ceremonies with a color guard. What was really cool was that they asked veterans to come forward, and they participated in bringing the colors in, and then all saluted the flag. Both Sylvia and Ruth are vets. I would have liked a photo but didn't think it appropriate to take photos while saying the pledge and so on. But it's in my memory. Thank you, ladies, for serving.

Yes, it's true, our leader for the evening has a frog on her head.
Frogs are the Women on Wheels mascot, and we "frog" or put
little frogs on people's bikes anonymously.  I been frogging 'em up. 

We were "bubbling up" the place.  Jaz nearly always has bottles of bubbles with her for every event so we can spread joy and good cheer wherever we go.  Ruth and Sylvia were happy6 to get into the act, too.

Jaz went back to the room and into the pool for a while. She is not into the crowd/ceremony thing. I hung out for a while with Sylvia and Ruth at the ceremony party and visited with a few others that I know, then came back to the room. So we were both doing what we like.

There are some lovely flowers here.  Don't know what they are; don't care.  They're pretty.

Can't help taking pictures of bears ... for you, Bearclaw!

Everywhere you look there are flags and displays of the red, white and blue.

Tired though. Did take a few photos of different things that are here, a few flowers and so on.

This little building and waterwheel is also on the property.  Haven't walked down to see it close up, though.

And with that, I was tuckered and all in.



July 7, the day of the finding of the best BLT

Today, another beautiful day. But most importantly, in this ride of BLTs, I found what must be the most perfect one. While not exactly a BLT (and I'll describe it in more detail), I'm giving it the medal of honor for BLTs, and as I type and mention it, my mouth is watering for another. More details to follow.

It's off to Ben & Jerry's we go.

Today was Ben & Jerry factory tour day … I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. YAY!!!! It was going to be a perfect day, all the way around.

The self-guided rides were going to be leaving at all times of the morning. Ruth and Sylvia rode in Sylvia's van, and Jaz and I rode the bikes. We followed Highway 100, which is one of the most beautiful highways we've been on. Yes, I know I keep saying that.

Just ariding, toward the ice cream.

We got on the road about 8:30., me starting out in a hoodie, which was perfect for the ride up until about 20 miles away from the destination of the Waterbury factory, when it got warmer. We quickly discovered that this highway is no ordinary one. It reminds you of home in many ways … it's an old road, full of cracked pavement and frost heaves, with lovely turns and curves for your motorcycling enjoyment. But there are many other things to be seen.

This highway takes you through some gorgeous countryside, with ski resorts and ski runs impressed into the hillsides. There are chalet style buildings for your skiing and other winter sport enjoyment. There are mountains covered with lush, green trees everywhere, which must be why they call this “The Green Mountain State” and have a Green Mountain State Park. You can see why it's called that everywhere you looked. Green, green and more green. In fact, the origin of the name Vermont comes from the French words for green mountain, “mont vert.” Still learning French.

Some of the green mountains and country.  This does not begin to show how green it is here.

We followed the highway and there was so much that we would have liked to stop to take photos of. But on the way to Ben & Jerry's we decided we wouldn't stop. We'd do our photo stops on the way back. So we just enjoyed the ride, the coolness from the shade from the trees overhanging the road, and from the rushing creeks alongside which threw cool air up at us, too. The fresh smells, including something with a pungent odor that might be fir or pine, make the ride even more pleasant. It was an excellent ride, and we got to come back the same way.

I felt good riding today. Had my boots on, I felt refreshed. I needed a day off. Should have taken all day yesterday off … oh well. I could have gone in Sylvia's van with them, but I wanted to ride, and was glad I had.

The rally committee had flaggers at each major highway intersection, with flags with cows on them. That was a great way to have a ride guided, without it being a truly “guided” ride. It was helpful, and just impressed me with this group's organization.

The flaggers were also wearing bright shirts, and this was an excellent idea on their part to help everyone find their way to the destination.  The cow flags were also great.

We made notes of things we wanted to stop at on the return trip … a covered bridge, a waterfall, barns, other interesting to us pieces of history or folk lore. We even saw a pink concrete truck, and would have loved a photo, but that one got away from us.

The Ben & Jerry's factory is about 110 miles north, on Highway 100. Once we got there they had flaggers to help us to parking, then we meandered over toward the factory itself. There's a cool bus painted up with cows. That was definitely a photo op.

What's not to like about this bus?  Ice cream, cows and lime green.

Then we went inside to hand over our coupons for the tour, and got into a group that was going in just 10 minutes later. Timing truly is everything for this type of thing.

We were turning in our coupons for tour tickets.

The tickets are in our hands and we are ready for the tour.

Top 10 ... I would like to try them all.

We were led up a stairway, to the sound of mooing cows. But there aren't really any cows on the property.  The milk used for the ice cream is purchased locally from the farmers.

The Cow Jumped Over the Moon Theater.

First we saw a short movie, which gives the history of Ben and Jerry who became friends as youngsters. Later on one kept getting rejected by medical schools; the other kept getting thrown out of colleges. They decided they needed to find something to do, and figured food … and then focused on ice cream. They started out, with the first shop opening in an old gas station in 1978. They gave out samples, and traveled in a bus marketing their ice cream, until the bus burned up. They also established a free cone day to mark their one year anniversary. In fact, in June all the Ben & Jerry's stores still have an ice cream cone giveaway day. They truly are entrepreneurs.

The ice cream making lines were down, but we learned some facts about the making of this delicious stuff. The ice cream ingredients are mixed to a milkshake consistency, then cooled to 22 degrees, which is about soft-serve temperature. Ice creams that are getting chunks added have them added at this point through a chunk-feeder … nuts, cherries, cookie dough. They put through 110 pints of ice cream a minute. It's put on a conveyor belt where it goes to be frozen hard for about two hours. It's packaged and put in groups of eight pints per group, covered in plastic, and loaded on pallets. Each pallet holds one ton of ice cream. They make about a half-million pints a day, from three plants, including the one we visited in Waterbury, and even one in Nevada.

So what do you call a cow that's stopped giving milk? A milk dud!! Yeah, I know. Our tour guide told us some cow jokes.

The super scoopers handed out the samples. Today's sample was Boston Cream Pie, and was quite delicious. It was a creamy, vanilla-type but like the cream filling in a Boston cream pie, with some creamy chunks in it. B&J sure does like chunky things.

This one's for you, JGayle.

There were displays of various types of ice cream scoops.  Some were pretty fancy.

Old ice cream recipes typed out ... pretty archaic at this point.  Now it's all secret stuff.

After our ice cream tour, we wanted lunch, and asked one of the guides at the B&J parking lot for a recommendation. She said a place called Juniper's Fare was excellent, so we set our course for this fine establishment. It's in Waterbury, where Highways 2 and 100 come together.

Home of the best BLT.  Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

We parked our vehicles at Juniper's Fare and made our way inside. There were home made baked goods, and a menu that had hot and cold sandwiches, salads, breakfast and more.

I've circled the one ...

I spotted a BLT-like sandwich. I've had a lot of BLTs his trip because they aren't too much, and not so filling like a burger and fries. I ordered this version, called a Brother Paschal, or a BLT PLUS. It was bacon, lettuce and tomato, but had the extras of Cabot cheddar, avocado, red onion and herb aioli on Red Hen brand bread (wonderful bread by the way).

The BEST BLT EVER!!!!!  Yum!!!!!

When my sandwich came, it was huge, and looked absolutely delicious. I had no idea what an understatement that was. When I set my lips and mouth on that sandwich, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was, hands down, the best BLT I've had on this trip, or ever. How do you even bother to mention a BLT anyway? They're just a sandwich. Not this one. Flavorful, filling and the sign of a sure success … a sauce that gets all over your hands, making it a must to go to the washroom immediately after eating.

I told the waitress how good it was, and she brought the chef out. I couldn't tell him enough good things. Wish I had another one right now as I sit here at 12:18 a.m. writing a blog about world's best BLT in my mind. No kidding, it was the best, and I think I'm spoiled. Will I bother to try another one now that I've had the best? I think not. Thank you Juniper's Fare for a delightful lunch.

With my tummy full of good food, my sights turned to the ride back to the hotel.

We made a photo stop at a waterfall, and played a little around there, taking a couple of photos. I wet my neck snake Sylvia gave me last night, and the sleeves and neck of my blouse, and we visited with some other folks from Wisconsin. We played leap frog with them the rest of the way back to Stratton Mountain.

We stopped at a cemetary in one of the towns.  This one died in 1844.

Died 1837.  Interestingly, Mrs. Tabatha was known as the wife of.

There were some unique headstones, and I'm glad we stopped. Cemetaries can be fascinating, particularly in this part of the country where they date back so many years.

It looks as though there was some logging history in this area, and we have seen a few trucks loaded down with wood.  We didn't stay much longer, though, because with the humidity and heat, we were dripping ... literally. It was as though someone was running water over our heads.

This was the most unique headstone of all.  It's a way of seeing the history and soul of a town by visiting cemetaries. 

There were stops for the covered bridge, a couple of barns, and a motorcycle on a rock which was an advertisement for a motorcycle shop. Pretty clever, I'd say.

Just one of the many little rivers and creeks we passed.

Every place has its wierd diseases.

There are  4,411 flags in this field ... those who were killed.

There's a lot of history in this part of the country, and a lot of pride in what this country is all about.  They realize freedom does come at a price, at times a huge one.  They will not forget that as shown in displays like this.

There's just so little time to do things. Many of these towns were chartered or established in the 1700s. Londonderry was established in 1770; Hancock in 1781. It would be interesting to stay a while and learn something about the area since so much of our history came from this side of the country. Maybe another time.

This old barn is actually a Food Bank of Vermont.  Old, weathered barns with the vents on the top are prevalent. 

This little river is near the waterfall where we stopped to play for a while.

We played at the waterfall and met some great people from Iowa (idiots of wandering around, or something like that according to them).

This little bike has a western saddle for a seat. 

The bike is attached to the rock with the kickstand and then has wires out from all sides, too.

Emerson Motor Works is right across the street from where this bike is located.

You can see how hazy it is ... covers up how green the hills and mountains are.

Ruth and Sylvia had come back earlier via a different route. But we called them later to see what they were doing, then went across to the evening's festivities to visit with them. Jaz then returned to the room to go for another swim, and I went with Sylvia and Ruth to visit with them for a bit in their room. I also painted my toenails. What a bad biker I am. Lol

This is the bike I voted for in the bike show.  Yeah, I know, it's purple.  But very pretty.

Plus it has this great toad sitting on the back rack.  This toad's for you, Daisy Korn.

They had gondola rides, which we were too late for.  We ended up being just as glad we had not gone as they were totally enclosed so very hot, and there were tons of mosquitoes at the top of the hill.

Unbelievable what you find ... Fat Toad Farm.  Would love to bring some of this home, but don't want to pack it, or go to the post office again until further down the road.

Welcome to Jan, my Honda-riding, Harley-friend-packing friend. Jan will know what I mean.

So, with that we are all in for this evening.