9/13/18 Burlington, VT - Brewery Tour

It appears that we can't get enough of the Island Line. Lake Champlain is so picturesque and the trail so available from our campground. Today we've decided to spin out onto the lake causeway one more time and then head south to visit breweries near the trail.

On the southern end of the Island Line, there is a Stonehenge replica created by a local Stonehenge expert, described as an exact scale model.

Triker among the stones...

And some boulders turned into art a bit further down...

Once we reach the southernmost reach of the Island Line today, it's on to the breweries... We selected three breweries based on trail proximity. However, travelers need to be flexible. We had planned to start at Magic Hat Brewing, the only one near the trail that ships beer to California. The last mile or so is down a busy highway that Google Maps shows as having a bike lane. Unfortunately, Google Maps isn't aware of road construction and so the busy highway was squeezed down to narrow lanes and no shoulder. 

We opted for plan B and head to the next brewery on our list, Switchback Brewing Company, where we eat our PB&J in their taproom along with a flight. Leslie gives a trike test ride to a husband and wife from upstate New York. The wife has balance issues as a result of her MS and was very excited about the trike as a way to stay active. 

Based on the map, Zero Gravity Brewing is also within striking distance of the Island Line. We find that it too is on a narrow busy street, so we opt for a run down the sidewalk on the other side of the street where we discover ANOTHER brewery, Queen City Brewing, so we pop in for a quick flight and a hot pretzel in their parking lot/beer garden.  

Since Zero Gravity Brewing is nearly directly across the street, we meander our way over there to enjoy ANOTHER flight of beer, along with some free popcorn and a couple of rounds of Qwirkle. This time Paula wins one and Leslie wins one.

Lucky for us, trikes do not require balance. We decide that we should move on before dark, and  climbed back into the saddle. We had intended to stop at Foam Brewers on our way back since they are smack dab on the trail. However, we were forced to admit that three flights should probably be our limit and we rode on past and back to North Beach Campground.

Burlington certainly loves its beer.

9/12/18 Burlington, VT

Today's forecast threatened rain, so we limited ourselves to a quick ride to the southern end of the Island Line. Even with the inclement weather, Lake Champlain is absolutely lovely.

We found this fanciful sculpture outside the Vermont Railway office building, site of Leslie's very first software engineering gig.

A trip to Burlington, VT would not be complete without a stop at Ben & Jerry's... even if they have been bought out by Unilever...

9/11/18 Island Line Rail Trail + UVM - Burlington, VT

Today was an "all you can eat" smorgasbord of delightful riding. We rolled out of our campground, North Beach City Park Campground, and right onto the Island Line Rail Trail. First bite, North Beach itself.

North Beach, Lake Champlain

A little further down the trail, this lovely trestle across the Winooski River where it meets the lake provided our next taste.

Somewhere along the trail, we encountered a local rider who was very interested in our trikes, and very knowledgeable about the local resources and trail history. He explained that Local Motion, a statewide bicycle advocacy group that's very active in Burlington, not only helped make the trail a reality but was also responsible for the ferry that services a 250' gap in the causeway across the lake to South Hero Island as well as making sure that recent storm damage to the causeway was repaired. The gap allows boats to navigate around the island without being blocked by the causeway. Unfortunately, our tasting was limited to the Burlington side of the causeway as the bike ferry only runs on weekends after Labor Day.

Causeway, Bicycle Ferry Landing and the Gap

After reaching the southernmost end of the trail, we went in search of our next tasting at Leslie's alma mater, UVM (University of Vermont), via the S. Burlington Rec Path. 

Paula's note: Why isn't it called UVT?  Turns out UVM is Latin for Universitas Viridis Montis, or University of the Green Mountains.

This was both a metaphorical and literal tasting as Leslie wanted to take a trip down memory lane at the UVM Dairy Bar, a student run ice cream production and sales business, located in the UVM student union. Besides, everyone knows that eating ice cream while on a bike ride is a requirement!

9/7/18 Easthampton, MA to Amherst, MA

9/4 - 9/6: Being a tourist with Mom

Thanks for taking us in, Mom!!

We arrived at Mom's home in Deerfield, Ma. during the Labor Day weekend. Mom has such an in-depth knowledge of, and love for, her local community that she immediately put on her tour guide/concierge hat and went to work. Franklin County is described as the most rural county in the state of Massachusetts. So, first on the agenda was a lovely lunch at Hope and Olive, a locavore destination in Greenfield. Next, was a shopping tour of the local farms and their produce including fresh picked corn, tomatoes, squash, white and yellow peaches. Such a tour would be incomplete without a stop at Clarkdale Farms -- a large local fruit farm in the area. We purchased apples, white peaches and yellow peaches, along with veggies. Of course Paula & I had to also purchase new t-shirts from them. They feature a checkerboard tablecloth pattern with an apple in front, regardless of color. This time Paula chose red, I chose a deeper burgundy red.

In 2014, Western Massachusetts and Franklin County were included in a petroleum pipeline proposal. As part of the proposal, Clarkdale Farms was to be closed by imminent domain. The local community quickly organized in opposition to protect Clarkdale and other farms and succeeded in killing the proposal. Clarkdale Farms is in its third generation of family ownership and is still going strong as are many other family farms in the area. If you concentrate on the second picture, and maybe blow it up, you can see the apple trees across the field.

With Mom expecting music friends from England in the next few days we had to create a lattice top peach pie, an apple pie, and an apple crisp to assure they would have plenty of desserts. Here's a look at the peach pie.

One of the places we toured with Mom was Kringle Candle in Bernardston, MA. It's an offshoot of Yankee Candle, thankfully not as large. We had a lovely lunch there as well at the Farm Table Restaurant.

Entrance to Kringle Candle.

9/1: Abbreviated Trip into Canada

And then there were the best laid plans. We crossed into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie with the intention of traveling across to Quebec. But the stars weren't aligned.

We got into the KOA at Sault St. Marie.  This is a delightful KOA. The owners appear to also be dog people. The campground included a DIY doggie grooming salon and an agility course.

It was yet another rainy day, so we opted to explore the area in the van. We started at a lovely farmer's market, and then on to the Canadian Bush Pilot Museum. At the market we purchased steaks for our grill and ground cherries. The cherries were small and had a leaf-like husk around the fruit that was the size of a cherry tomato. It tasted sweet and tart at the same time. It would have been delightful in a salad, but they didn't last that long. :-)

The Bush Pilot Museum had lots of planes on display, knowledgeable passionate docents, and plenty of interactive exhibits. They did a great job with two films showing a bush pilot's responsibilities, and how bush pilots have fought forest fires. Seeing how the planes would skim the lake surface to fill up with water to dump on the fires was breathtaking.

We finished our day at the OutSpoken Brewery. Nice brews, nice patio, and several Qwirkle games.

We broke camp the next day intending to continue our Canadian sojourn. Unfortunately, the van's toilet had other ideas and presented us with a leaking valve. Hoping to find the nearest RV service center to get it fixed, we reversed course and trekked back down Michigan's Upper Peninsula and across the Mackinaw Bridge once more. We stopped in at the nearest Camping World in Houghton Lake, Michigan. Of course, they smiled sweetly and offered a service appointment 3 weeks in the future. Argh!!!!

After scratching our heads, we decided that the next best option would be to head to Massachusetts where we could enjoy Leslie's mom's hospitality, the beautiful scenery and riding in western Mass,  while working out a solution to our plumbing issue.

The most direct route took us east across Michigan, but our day was getting long in the tooth so we opted for a stopover. With the ongoing oppressively hot and sticky weather, we treated ourselves to room at the Day's Inn in Imlay City, MI. Since we still had our lovely grass-fed steaks from the Sault Ste. Marie farmer's market, we went in search of a town park for a barbecue. At Lion's Park, we found shade, grills, and an entire park to ourselves. Afterwards, we explored a bit of the town. Unlike many of the rural towns we had been through across the midwest, Imlay City is thriving. It turns out that it's the headquarters for Vlasic Pickles, which no doubt provides good jobs and a solid economic base.

Next morning, we left before sunup in the hopes of making western Mass before nightfall. Of course even before sunrise temps were still in the mid 80's with heavy humidity. The most direct route east took us across the Canadian border at Sarnia, and through the Ontario communities of London, Hamilton, and St. Catharines reentering the US at Buffalo, NY.

Of course, Leslie was certain we could power on through to Deerfield in one day. I was a bit dubious and more than a little whiny, but also ready for a break from the weather and the road. New York state is definitely worthy of its Empire State nickname based on its sheer size relative to its diminutive New England neighbors. It's a very long way from Buffalo to Syracuse and on into western Mass.

8/30: Last day in Marquette

We started our day at Tourist Park, a campground owned and operated by the city of Marquette, conveniently located right on the trail network. Our first goal was to ride into town and through the town park. We passed the power plant and the large structure that allows ore train cars to dump their loads into ships. Definitely not what we would consider lovely scenery, but a suitably iconic structure for the IOHT, Iron Ore Heritage Trail.

The scenery improved immensely once we got into the park. Local cross country teams were warming up along the trails; it appeared that there would be a set of competitions as the day went on.

Then we dropped into the bike shop where Paula bought another sign -- the N+1 sign that she told you about in the last post. They also had other bicycle art that we liked...

Next up on the trail was a lighthouse that was built right into the watchman's home.

Then we picked up the Iron Ore Heritage Trail. I really liked their logo. We also recorded some of the historical plaques along the way.

The plaque about pelletizing iron ore was quite interesting. The process of turning ore into pea-sized pellets significantly extended the lifespan of iron ore mining in the region by making the mining of low grade ore profitable. Under one of the trestles along the trail, there was a shed cover to protect riders against pellets spilling from passing trains.  Underneath the trestle, the ground was covered in pellets, so we were able to get a good view of them. 

This was the Negaunee Public Schools Administration building. Paula decided she could have worked here. I reminded her she had already retired!

And here is the local mountain bike club's clubhouse. Pretty neat building. This area has an extensive network of mountain bike trails.

And wouldn't it be fun to renovate this amazing stone building (with an unlimited budget)?!?

And lastly two trail signs for mountain bikers: The Rusty Bike Trail and Sissy Pants Trail. With our trikes we decided to stick to the Iron Ore Heritage Trail. 54 miles today, almost all paved.