Sturbridge Campground

I'm not sure what the history of this campground is. It's part of Thousand Trails, but the sign and the literature all say Outdoor World. It functions like one of the Thousand Trails. You are supposed to figure out and pick a site before you actually register. When we arrived, they told us the only area big enough for our motor home was in the "D" section -- up on the hill.

They told us to walk up and pick out a site. There were actually only two possible spots. The RVs are parked back to back with less than a foot between them. There is a bit of grass between sites, but they are really close together. But, there is enough open area for Auntie Violet's satellite dish to get its fix. (Not so sure that's a good thing as we have been watching golf all day...)

The sites are all back ins and there is no escort to or assistance at the site. We are using Passport America for five of the seven nights of our stay (they don't honor it on Friday and Saturday.). Even at the 50% discount for PA, it's a lot to charge for a rather old run-down looking place with rutty dirt roads and no gravel or concrete pads. And then they add a $3 per day "resort fee!" We will use it for a base camp while we explore Connecticut and Rhode Island this week as well as a road trip to Salem, so we thankfully won't be spending much time here.

We did drive into Sturbridge late this afternoon to pick up milk and orange juice.

We stopped at a small local fresh market that had homemade meat pies. We picked up a chicken pot pie, stuck it in a 325 degree oven for half an hour and had a great meal. I wonder what one would be like if you froze it...?

I Love Vermont! Part II - Green Mountain and Ben and Jerry's

Our next destination in Vermont was the town of Waterbury. Waterbury has two claims to fame in our book. The first is that it's the home of Green Mountain Coffee. Of course, we had to stop and pay homage.

The Visitor Center is located in, of all things, a still active train station! The Cafe is a hangout for people awaiting the train as well as those just enjoying the day. These very pretty planters line the platform all the way around the building.

Forry was disappointed that we did not get to see the coffee bean roasters, but we did a good job of checking out all the variety of K-cups for sale --

Waterbury's second claim to fame is the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Company. You park in a lot next to a hillside of wildflowers --

Then climb the hill to the factory where there are both tours and a cone shop --

There were lots of people around. We got in on the last tour of the afternoon. Unfortunately, there is no picture taking allowed inside...

What I didn't realize (I guess I'd never really thought about it...!). is that the ONLY way Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream is sold is in those singular pint containers.

The story they tell on the tour starts with the local dairies that are all within 50 miles of the factory. We did get samples of the ice cream they were making that day -- one with cookie crumbles in it that was really good!

Today we left the Frosty Acres RV Campground in New York and headed for Massachusetts. Here we are on the bridge that crosses the Hudson River looking over at the railroad bridge --

 I couldn't quite figure out why so many of the trees along the New York and Massachusetts Thruways were so bent and laid over --

After seeing so many broken limbs, it dawned on us that this was the damage caused by that early October snowstorm they had last fall (the one that made us head for Florida instead of Maine!). The heavy snow fell on trees that still had their full canopy of leaves, weighing them down, bending and breaking many of them.

We made a stop at a Pilot station just as we started out and bought diesel for $3.97 gallon. We spent $17.85 on Turnpike tolls in New York and Massachusetts. We made it into Sturbridge RV Park a little before 3 PM and settled into probably the last space large enough for Auntie Violet.