Touring Vermont-Covered Bridges

In all fairness to the Granite State, the covered bridges shown below are equally divided between Vermont and New Hampshire, with 2 in each state and 1 that spans the Connecticut River and connects them. But we spent most of our time in Vermont, so they get the nod on that basis. Mom and I spent the day today playing leaf peeper. We fell into collecting covered bridges by accident. The first one we found, near Brattleboro, VT, we found only because we took an unintended turn. Most of the rest were also serendipity, including a sixth bridge I found 2 weeks later on a separate trip to Virginia.

The second bridge, also in Vermont, was the one in the most questionable condition. I've lost track of exactly where we were, but it was some where near Manchester.

We found the third one because I saw a sign on Highway 12A in New Hampshire that said Covered Bridge #23 was down this little dirt road. We wound around about 3/4 to 1 mile down a narrow lane and found this bridge, still in regular (if infrequent) use and in good repair. This is between the towns of Cornish and Clarendon. I would say that this was my favorite bridge, still practical, not ornate or a tourist attraction, but functioning still a link in this small country road. There are houses on both sides of the stream the bridge spans.

Bridge #20 (our fourth of the day) was this long span across the Connecticut River between Cornish, New Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont. Notice the outrageous cost ($9,000)!. I enjoyed the sign reminding riders to walk their horses across the bridge or face a hefty fine ($2). While I was taking these photos a young man emerged from the bridge on his skateboard. I think it safe to say that the builders of the bridge never imagined that.


A mile or so down the road from bridge #20, we saw a sign for bridge #22, so we followed that arrow and found this bridge. It was getting late in the day and the sun was fading fast, but I think I got some decent photos of this last bridge, also near Cornish, New Hampshire.


Finding covered bridges wasn't something we planned as part of our day, but it ended up being fun. If we'd set out to hunt them, I would have gotten a map, made a plan and maybe we'd have missed the joy of the unexpected.

Talking about unexpected, bridge number six is one I stumbled upon in Virginia! I was driving the Shenandoah Valley on October 25th to see the mountains and the battlefields, and there was a sign for a covered bridge. I drove not too far down a farm country road, there it was. It's a beautiful bridge over a small stream (in local parlance, a run) near the town of Mount Jackson (Yeah, that Jackson), VA. I was in Baltimore for a 2 week training class (inflicting training on others) and rented a car for the weekend. More photos on my drive along the Blue Ridge in a separate post.

Tourists in Our Home Town, Part Three

To finish our day, we went to the Seattle Aquarium. They just finished remodeling it earlier this year and it's spectacular. The kids love it. Lukas has announced that he plans to be a Marine Biologist--and a Paleontologist--"you can do that," he says. He's a very serious student of animals. Emelia loves the whole thing too, but I think she likes the water and getting wet. My favorite animals are the River Otters and the weather was so hot that they were just quietly laying beside their stream and doing nothing. I can't say I blame them. By then, I was dragging some too.

Lukas and Emelia both loved the tide pools. They're at the right height so the kids can play in them and touch the animals. Emelia loved playing with the pretend octopus and riding the Orca. Meanwhile, Lukas was listening to a docent explain what whales ate and how. Zack liked seeing the fish in the big tank.

It was an unusually hot day for Seattle. I was glad when we came to a stand that sold Hawaiian Ice across from the Aquarium, we needed that.

We took the monorail back to the Seattle Center. By then we were all tired and Lukas pulled up to a bench and would just go no further. "My legs hurt," he said. Becky tried to convince him to go on, it was only a little ways--and that was true, but grandpa sat down next to Lukas and said "my legs hurt too." We waited a while before we walked the rest of the way to the car. Lukas really was a trouper through the whole thing.

Tourists in Our Home Town, Part Two

After we finished our duck tour and had lunch, we boarded the monorail to go downtown. Only a few blocks, but easy and quick and cheap, and the kids enjoyed riding on the train.

We arrived at Westlake and walked the few blocks to the market. The market is always a little different each time you see it, depending on the season, the weather, the time of day and the day of the week. On a wonderful midsummer day like today, it was packed with people. My first stop was for my favorite snack, a barbecue pork humbow from the Chinese bakery. The sweet pork filling is just amazing, wonderful, an experience of taste and smell and feel and just always a joy.

We wandered the stalls and the kids loved seeing the fish market and the veggies. I enjoyed the flowers, but didn't buy any, since I usually don't keep flowers at home. I looked through the craft stalls and was disappointed in the quality and quantity of the jewelry. Usually there's a lot of good stuff, but it seems that since I was intent on finding something for Julie, the pickings were slim. I finally found a bracelet I liked. We agreed on a price and I was surprised to find that this vendor took only cash and I was short. I said I'd be back. I don't think he expected me to take so long--I didn't get back there until we finished at the aquarium (see Part Three).

When I got to the jewelry stall again, I'm not sure if he remembered me (he looked very old). I reminded him of the price we'd agreed on ($25) and I gave him $40. His wife (she looked older than he--maybe 110) gave me back $5. I said I'd given them $40, and she reluctantly and sloooooooowwwwwllllyyyy gave me another $5. I again reminded her that I'd given her $40 and she needed to give me $15 back, and she got a bit hostile about it. The family (there was a young man too) bickered a bit that I did not understand and finally she parted with a final $5, with the total time for the transaction running around 3-4 minutes. Very unpleasant. I hope Julie likes the bracelet.

As we left the market, there was a man there with his pet python. Lukas and Emelia were immediately drawn to him. Me, not so much. But they oohed and aahed over the reptile and really enjoyed petting him. We returned to the monorail and to our parking spot at the Center. We were all exhausted. Emelia and Zackary were asleep by the time we got to Westlake. Lukas, who was a real trouper, was complaining that his legs hurt. I was dragging pretty bad and Becky was trying to force a smile once in a while, but she was hurting some too. Mike was doing better, but even he was sweating profusely and seemed tired.

Tourists in Our Home Town, Part One

Today, I spent the day as a tourist in Seattle, where I've lived for the last 27 years. Becky and Mike and their 3 kids came with me and we had a great time seeing the things only the tourists see.

First, we did a "duck tour," we rode a WWII vintage amphibious vehicle around Seattle and then into Lake Union. We saw a lot of the city and even I found out some things I hadn't known (Seattle was the first place to have a mechanical gasoline pump!). The grandkids, especially Lukas, were very impressed that the same bus they were riding on the roads could go into the water! I didn't get a great picture of Emelia and Lukas on the water, but they did enjoy it. The duck boat driver had a great store of old jokes and appropriate musical interludes (The Beatles while driving by The Edgewater, where the Fab Four stayed in Seattle in the 60's, for example). This was a great way to start our day in Seattle. After the ducks, we went to the Seattle Center House and had lunch. No pictures, but you've seen kids eating hot dogs before!