We could HARDLY WAIT for Memorial day weekend to arrive so we could get Lady T back on the road and put this miserable New England winter behind us.

Originally, we had selected DAR State Park in Addison, VT for our stay. The ride up was great and since we left on Saturday morning, there wasn’t too much traffic. We arrived at the park around 2 PM and proceeded to our assigned site. After backing Lady T in, I noticed that there didn’t seem to be any hook-ups. Anywhere. On any site.

Jay had recently done a lot of work on the genny and it was running like new but in typical J&J fashion, it crapped out just before we left. SO, there we were, sitting on a site without hookups, with a quarter tank of water and no generator, watching our utopian camping weekend quickly fading from view. We called the front office just to be certain and the gal we spoke to confirmed that they didn’t have any sites with utilities. However, she did offer to provide a full refund in light of our predicament. We were very impressed by this and although we didn’t end up staying, we give DAR State Park an A for excellent service!

I thought it would be impossible to find another campground that would have spots open on Memorial Day weekend but to our surprise, we found one on the first try! Whispering Pines Campground in Vergennes had availability with full hook-ups, so off we went. It was just a short drive from where we were and when we arrived, we were guided into a nice spot by a gentleman who we presumed to be the owner. The nightly rate was cheap and we were pleased with the site until we realized…wait for it…NO FIRE PIT?!?! Now, no offense to those folks who don’t mind camping without a fire pit but to J&J, it is non-negotiable! Once again, we were on the phone, hoping the third time would be the charm. We called the next number on the list, which belonged to Hillcrest Campground, also in Vergennes. The woman on the phone said, “Sure, we have a spot for a 28 ft RV. Yes, it includes utilities. Yes, of course, the site has a fire pit.”

We arrived at Hillcrest in minutes and were guided to a site up on a small ridge overlooking a shallow pond. We noticed that most of the rigs on this property appeared to be permanent so we were thankful that they found a space for us! The site was spacious, with a fire pit near the edge of the ridge, and the area was clean. Even though we have our own bathroom now, I always check the on-site facilities. The women’s bathroom was very small but clean.

After our initial “site drama”, the rest of the day was relatively quiet. After settling in, we walked around the campground a bit. Most of the permanent rigs were old but the grounds were well kept. For dinner, we cooked some dogs on our new Coleman Xcurison Road Trip Grill and relaxed by the fire.

On Sunday, we visited Jay’s grandpa, Ken, aka G-Pa, and then spent a few hours in Burlington, the largest city in Vermont. The last time we were there was about 12 years ago, so we were surprised to see how much it has changed! Burlington was always a sort of bohemian gathering place, with head shops on every corner, Dead Heads playing hack on Church street, and live local music streaming out of artsy little clubs. These days, the Church Street Marketplace has evolved into more of a cosmopolitan tourist attraction. The hippie element is still present but is has been subdued by hordes of families and shoppers. This isn’t a bad thing…just different than what we remembered. My favorite part of this trip was sampling the vegan mini cupcakes at a place called…you guessed it, My Little Cupcake…YUM! Afterward, we visited the Burlington Boathouse Dock. It was a bit overcast but we just sat for a while and enjoyed the view of Lake Champlain.

Sunday evening after dinner, we started a campfire and were treated to a free concert, right at our campsite! We had no clue that what we were listening to but after a quick search, we determined it was the Spring Peeper Frog. Jay recorded a short video and posted it to our YouTube channel…check it out!

Overall, we had a nice weekend just enjoying the outdoors and visiting with family. You can’t lose when you visit Vermont. It’s beautiful any time of year and is quintessential New England!

See you on the road,

J&J

We had booked this trip before we bought the RV, so we called the campground and asked to be moved to a site big enough to accommodate 28′. Since the new site didn’t include utilities, this would be the first “real” test of the generator, appliances, etc.

We decided to leave early and drive an extra hour North to visit my grandfather in Vergennes, VT. The route we decided on was the same one that I’ve driven many times and I knew that there was one questionable underpass in Westminster on Rte 123. I looked it up before we left and triple measured the height of our rig to make sure that we would be able to pass.

The ride to Vergennes was smooth. I was concerned about the driveway of the home where my grandfather lives but when we arrived, we had plenty of space to squeeze in without any issues. We visited with gramps for a couple hours and then made our was to the campground. When we arrived, we bought a couple bundles of wood, which we used as blocks to level the RV.

SUCCESS!! We were officially camping in our new (to us) motorhome. As it began to rain, we just smiled at each other. The last few years, it has rained at least one day on every one of our camping trips. Now, we didn’t have to worry about digging ditches, soggy tents and hanging up garbage bags in our screen tent!

We knew when we bought the rig that the passenger side had been damaged and a leak was present in the bunk area. It was re-sealed before we completed the purchase but after doing some research, we were prepared for the leak to return. It started to really downpour in the early evening and sure enough, we started leaking like a sieve. I put my raincoat on and quickly got up on the front end to tape a bag over the area where the bunk window was leaking, Guess we can’t get rid of those garbage bags yet!

On Saturday, we had planned on attending the Southern Vermont Garlic & Herb Festival in Bennington but since it rained so much the night before, we stayed at the campground and went on Sunday instead. At the festival, we were guided into a huge hay field, where we parked next to a few other motorhomes. We had a great time, sampling different garlic and enjoying the entertainment!

After the festival, we drove over to the cemetery in Arlington to visit my grandmother’s grave. It was a tight squeeze turning the rig into the cemetery but we took it slow. We managed to exit pretty easy as well, scraping a few low hanging tree branches on the way out. On the way home, we saw a flea market which, of course, we had to stop at. After checking out the tables, we had some lunch and got back on the road.

Our first trip was a tough one but we couldn’t be happier with our rig! She held up surprisingly well on the mountainous terrain of Vermont and everything worked like new. We will have to work on fixing that leak, so stay tuned for future repair videos.

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~J & J