June 30

A good day.  The Red Sox won their 50th game before July 1 for only the fourth time in franchise history.  Mike and I took a ride through the area around Burlington, crossed Lake Champlain by ferry and had lunch on the New York side.  The weather was much better than predicted, and on the way home, we picked up fresh clams.  Steamed them to start our dinner, the main course of which was lobster pasta.  Had a nice white wine with dinner and finished off with some port.  Also did the New York Times Sunday crossword in pen with no cross outs.  Mike was largely responsible for this.  Also, while driving on Vermont's back roads saw the two largest wild turkeys I have ever seen.  And visited a farm built with Vanderbilt money.  Best of all, I have many, many pictures, so let's get to it!

An example of Vermont Historical markers.  This one marks the spot where an 11,000 year old fossil of a beluga whale was discovered.  I can not make this stuff up.

This is an old covered bridge undergoing major repairs.  Bridges are covered keep the snow off, not to provide shelter to travelers during times of storm.

There are two identical small ferries used on this part of Lake Champlain.

We took one across to New York and ate here.

The picture of the ferry was taken from our table on the water.  This building is an old boat manufacture built in 1815.  Lake Champlain and Lake George to the south were major trade arterials connecting Montreal to the Hudson River and New York City.  The far shore visible in this picture is Vermont.

Adirondack chairs on the Vermont shore looking out toward the ---- Adirondacks.

These next shots are of a barn on a farm built by one of the Vanderbilt kids and her husband.  I speak true, a barn.  With copper roofs and a clock tower, built so that it encloses a large courtyard on three sides.  The first picture is of the center structure, the second is of one of the wings, and the last is of the outside of the other wing.

The barn, folks, the barn.

Mike and I looked up travel distances back to the Olssonholm driveway using Google Maps.  If I see all I want to see, I have 3700 miles to go.  This excludes my planned side trip to Maine.  The friend I was going to visit will not be there until late July.  I've come about 4600 miles so far.