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Dog Mountain Chapel

When Tammy was researching our Vermont Trip she ran across a place called Dog Mountain just outside of St. Johnsbury, VT. Dog Mountain is a 150 acre private mountaintop spot created by Stephen Huneck and his wife Gwen, as a place for people and dogs to enjoy themselves. Unfortunately we don’t have Lucky with us on this trip, but we still wanted to visit Dog Mountain to check it out.

One of the special places on Dog Mountain is the Chapel. In the Chapel people place photos and notes on the walls to honor the dogs that they have had to say goodbye to. It was an amazing spot, and when Mazie took a pen and put a note on the wall for Chase it made me shed a fresh tear for our great dog that we had to say goodbye to in 2018.

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Double IPA Lemon Cello from Hill Farmstead Brewery. Wow, unique and good. 🍋

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We had a super coffee and chocolate stop at Rabble-Rouser in Montpelier today. First time I’ve ever been served a coffee in a mason jar with a lid. Worked well except for driving.

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We saved the Mona Lisa in 56m 16s at the Greatest Caper Escape Room in Montpelier. Austin, the owner, has created a great room and makes sure everyone has a great time. 👏 Room 35!

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Family selfie at the Vermont State House in Montpelier.

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The Treehouse in the mist this morning.

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Connected Device Disclosures for Rental Properties

We’ve been staying almost exclusively in Airbnb properties for a while now. We enjoy the unique accommodations and the ability to stay in locations that are not served by traditional hotels.

As connected smart home devices like cameras and sensors get more popular it is common to find them in rental properties. I understand why owners want to have connected devices. It almost certainly helps them manage the property. We have some cameras at our cabin so I can keep tabs on the property when we are not there.

Given the frequent appearance of connected devices I’d like to see properties disclose what is in use and why. The disclosure could list:

  • Device type: camera, thermostat, speaker, sensor.
  • Manufacturer: who makes the device.
  • Model: what is the specific device.
  • Location: where in the property is the device located.
  • Access: list every entity (person, management company, service provider) that has access to the device and what they can do remotely.

A disclosure would help give peace of mind to the people staying in the property while still providing the benefits to the owner. It would help answer questions when you see a device that is clearly online and is unclear what it is there for.

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Vermont Road Trip Log: Day 8, Saturday

We are dedicating this day to our friend Ellen. Ellen is from this area of Vermont and most of the activities today are great suggestions from her!

Weather: Nice morning. Hot and humid in afternoon. Rain showers during outdoor theater, got plenty wet. Rain into the evening.

Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 of Vermont Road Trip.

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Bread and Puppet Theater

I don’t know if we would have ever found Bread and Puppet Theater without a recommendation from our friend Ellen but it was well worth the additional drive to Glover, VT. Bread and Puppet has been putting on political theater since 1974 in this location. The performances feature funny and serious skits, people on stilts and giant flags, and of course puppets of all sizes and shapes.


The “stage” and the band warming everyone up for the show.


A flag performance.


The turkey skit was the funniest of the show.


Giant puppet that was part of the Domestic Resurrection Circus after the main event.


Mazie and I got some bread with a heavy garlic butter shmear.

Why do they serve bread with the theater?

“We give you a piece of bread with the puppet show because our bread and theater belong together. For a long time the theater arts have been separated from the stomach. Theater was entertainment. Entertainment was meant for the skin. Bread was meant for the stomach. The old rites of baking, eating and offering bread were forgotten. The bread became mush. We would like you to take your shoes off when you come to our puppet show or we would like to bless you with the fiddle bow. The bread shall remind you of the sacrament of eating.” — Peter Schumann

I also enjoyed the spirit of the Cheap Art Manifesto.

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Vermont Road Trip Log: Day 7, Friday

Weather: Perfect.

Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 of Vermont Road Trip.

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Pastime Pinball

If you are any kind of a fan of pinball, Pastime Pinball would be your heaven. There is an amazing collection of pinball machines over the years, and they are all maintained perfectly. Everything works, and the game play is just as it was meant to be. They even had one of my favorite machines from my youth, Cyclone. And my favorite one that I played there was the Metallica Pro machine.


Tyler playing one of the older pinball machines..


Historical pinball section, all in great working condition.


Royal Flush pinball machine with clear acrylic case.


Modern pinball section.

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Hildene: Lincoln Family Summer Home

We visited the Hildene house, which was the private family house of the Abraham Lincoln’s only child that lived to adulthood, and became quiet wealthy.


Hildene House from the front.


Rear of the house from the formal gardens.


Hildene House formal gardens.


Hildene House dining room.

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Afternoon ice cream at Cold Cow Creamery. Tyler opted for a Blondie bar from a coffee shop instead. The Maple Shake was tremendous.

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A Mile of the Appalachian Trail

I have had a growing interest in the Appalachian Trail ever since I read Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods. So it was a special treat when we were driving back down Bromley Mountain and there was a parking area that connected directly to the Appalachian Trail.

We decided to hike a mile up the trail and then come back. It was fun to pass some through-hikers on the trail, and to taste a little bit of the AT.


Trail head from parking lot.


Trail head map and information. Walking sticks and water available.


Bridge crossing Bromley Brook.


Densely wooded trails with white trail blaze for AT.


Board walk to make it through muddier sections.

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Alpine Slide at Bromley

In my head Alpine Slides look dangerous. There is no good reason for that. Visually they look like a luge track and it makes me think of people on bobsleds going at insane speeds. Now having done it, this analogy seems utterly ridiculous, but that is what was in my head. When Tammy put the Alpine Slides at Bromley Mountain on our plan for the day I was anxious.

Mazie, Tyler and I were all first timers on the Alpine Slide. Shortly after getting going I realized this was all just a bunch of fun. The slide was very long and had a ton of fun turns. As a bonus, the chair lift ride up was gorgeous as well. Mazie had a blast and would have gone a dozen more times. Tyler got into the groove of it after a while too.

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Vermont Road Trip Log: Day 6, Thursday

Weather: Perfect!

  • Hung out at schoolhouse and made breakfast using eggs from the farm.
  • Walked the farm and checked out Studio Hill.
  • Left for Saratoga Springs.
  • Lunch at Kaleidoscope Cafe and met Bruce the owner.
  • Went to Saratoga Springs race track and watched and bet on three races.
  • Drove to Walloomsac
  • Dinner at Taproom at Browns Brewing
  • Battlefield memorial
  • Movie at Hathaway’s Drive-in.

Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 of Vermont Road Trip.

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We saw the Jungle Cruise at Hathaway’s Drive-in! It has become a bit of a tradition to go to a drive-in movie on trips.

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Saratoga Racetrack

We went to the horse track today! 💸

We’ve been to Canterbury Park with the kids and have had fun. Saratoga however is much, much bigger. It took us a while to just figure out where to go and sit. Then it took us a while to figure out how to read everything and understand how it all worked. But, after a bit we mostly got the hang of it. By the end I felt confident to go up to the betting stands and say stuff like “$10 on 5 to place”. Careful reading of the program was a big help.

Our bets for the day. We only had two winners. I made an epic bad on on Race 6 after getting enamored with the idea of an “Across the Board” bet, which is actually three bets in one: one to win, one to place, and one to show. I thought the bet divided amongst them but it actually multiplies, so I ended up betting three times what I thought. Ooops. And that horse was absolutely terrible in that race, coming in last by several lengths.

We had a super fun time and it was cool to be at such a historic race track.

Race 5

Tyler bet on Swinging sticks to place.
Mazie bet on Magnificent Chrome to place.

Race 6

Mazie bet on 9 to show.
Tyler bet on 5 to show. Winner!
Jamie made a terrible bet on 1 “across the board”.

Race 7

Tyler bet on Mystery Bank to show.
Mazie bet on Land Biscuit to show.
Mazie bet on Mister Kringle to show. Winner!
Tammy bet on Life on Top to win.
Jamie bet on Landbiscuit 7 to place.

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Beer flight at Brown’s Brewery.

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Great sign for a brewery.