June 24th – Vermont

The drive today was absolutely gorgeous.  We started out from Bangor on the highway and then got onto the back roads. As soon as we got off the highway we saw another snapping turtle to be rescued.  (I would have just left the turtle in the middle of the road).  Rob picked the turtle and put it in our trash basket until we could reach water and release it. We turned around to check the turtle and it had climbed out the basket and onto the middle seat. Did I say that snapping turtles stink?  Well, yeah, they do. 

After releasing Little Snappy we drove up into hills and to New Hampshire and the White Mountains.  All during our drives in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine and today in NH and Vermont, we saw Moose warning signs. I had always thought that Moose were out West in Wyoming and Montana. Well, they are all over New England and Canada, too. People up here see Moose like we see deer in Columbus.  It seems to be a serious problem.

The scenery up here is gorgeous. Okay, I already said that. We drove through small towns in the hills; everything had a fresh pine smell. We could see mountains in the distance. We even passed a large stand of white birch trees.  Everything was just so pretty. Of course, there are very few people here. I think I might go stir-crazy since I am not really one with nature. There was a definite lack of urban areas...and let's face it, 4 buildings does not make up a town.

Instead of going directly to the hotel, we drove straight to the Rock of Ages quarry. Yes, that’s right…the Rock of Ages quarry. Rock of Ages supplies the granite for all of the cemetery headstones and mausoleums. They supply granite for buildings (mostly in Asia) and all the statues and monuments that you see around cities.  The place is huge and the visit was very worthwhile.  At Rock of Ages, we saw the quarry, how the granite is cut and moved, and how the designs are sand blasted onto the granite.  The granite is cut out in 10 foot benches (with diamond). It takes about 4-6 weeks to bring out a bench.  The bench is then cut to thinner slabs depending on the purpose. There are sculptors who design and create the statues. There is enough granite in his location to last 4,000 years. That is because the granite in the picture below goes down 10 miles.  Each one of the lines in the picture is 10 feet high. 

When we got to the Comfort Suites, we talked to the owner during check-in.  Rob realized that the hotel owner is the friend of one of his very good friends in Milwaukee.  It is a very small world. Here we are up in Vermont and we run into a mutual acquaintance. Afterward, we drove into Montpelier for dinner. We saw the State Capitol of Vermont (more interesting than Columbus) and had dinner at a very nice pub.

(Tonight we had to get more Kahlua. I hope this bottle makes it to Columbus).