Downtime in Vermont

Dancer and I bailed out of the house on Thursday and hit the road to Vermont - we're staying at a lovely motel just outside of Montpelier, with the puggies, and having a fine time.

Yes, we have the internet and a laptop, but no blackberry, cellphones don't get signal.

We've rented a room with a kitchenette that is pet friendly, the views from the front of the hotel are stunning. Unfortunately the weather isn't holding out yet, and it's been wet and gray, so no pictures or video. To be honest though, we're both having a huge amount of fun doing *nothing* for once. The TV is on, we've both got books and we're napping the evenings away.

Today we went into Montpelier itself, with the pugs in tow. It's a small town, and has the feel of a bit of a hippy town. Only 4 chain stores on the high street (2 banks, 1 grocery store, 1 pharmacy), but tons of little craft stores, second hand book stores, the New England Culinary Institute has a couple of restaurants, a bakery.

After that we headed over to Bragg Farm who produce their own maple produce, picking up a 1/2 gallon jug of medium grade A maple syrup for my parents, and some other touristy stuff.

We headed back to the motel, dropped off the exhausted boys in the room, then made a pilgrimage to the Green Mountain Coffee head store - we both love coffee (Dancer is a huge coffee snob!), and have a Keurig machine these days. We browsed their museum, then bought some fun things from their store, before sitting down and enjoying a nice cup in their cafe.

Dancer is going to a dance class and performance tomorrow, so I've got the boys all to myself. I'm going to head to either the Harpoon brewery head office, or to an event they are hosting at an Olde English style pub, which is closer. If the weather holds off, I think I'll head to some of the walks around here too.

Although high on my list of things to go and see, if I can get a break in the weather, is the Dog Chapel. Oh yes. Worship the dog.