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Vermont Road Trip Log: Day 11, Tuesday

Weather: Good weather, pretty hot. Started raining after we got settled in Rochester. Hot and humid in 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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Vermont Road Trip Log: Day 10, Monday

Weather: Nice, clear day. A bit hot in the afternoon with temps nearly 90 °F.

  • 9:09a: Depart Treehouse.
  • 9:22a: Enter New Hampshire!
  • 9:45a: 1h 15m wait for table at Polly’s Pancake Parlor. Switch up plans.
  • 9:50a: Worst coffee ever at REDACTED. 😤
  • 10:40a: Flume Gorge hike. Amazing! Wow! 🤩
  • 12:00p: Return to Polly’s Pancake Parlor after calling ahead this time!
  • 12:30p: Seated at Polly’s.
  • 1:00p: Pancakes!
  • Check out downtown Littleton, NH and shopping.
  • Found ourselves a bit without a plan in the late afternoon. Mazie suggested we park along the River and Tyler and her could jump around the rocks. Tammy suggested I get a coffee so I get an iced coffee, sparkling water, and a bottle of water. Dehydrated! We had a nice hour or so with our feet in the water and the kids playing.
  • At the end of our tranquil River cool down time the kids were getting out and Mazie fell into a bit of water. Nothing huge, but it happened to have a pocket of baby leeches! When she stood up we though she had algae on her legs, but they were actually baby leeches and she justifiably FREAKED OUT! We spent the next bunch of time clearing centimeter long baby leeches off her legs and calming her down. Whew!
  • Delightful dinner at Schilling Beer Co.

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Delicious “short pours” at Schilling Beer Co. tonight. Combover, Hopfenweisse, and Moonship on Blackberry. 🍺

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Serious about the canning, and an incredibly precise display. 👏

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“One of America’s 10 best towns and main streets!” Way to wear it proud Littleton! 🙌

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Polly’s Pancake Parlor was delicious and the busiest place we’ve eaten at on our trip, by a long shot. 🥞

  • Tyler: 3 OREO Pancakes.
  • Mazie: Buckwheat chocolate chip, Oatmeal buttermilk blueberry, Gingerbread walnut.
  • Tammy: OREO Pancake, Corn and Coconut, Oatmeal buttermilk chocolate chip.
  • Jamie: Buckwheat blueberry, Corn with coconut, Gingerbread with walnuts

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Ever since we did our Charlie Brown Tree with Adam Gale of Rust n’ Grain I’ve found myself appreciating tree carvings more. I love this Moose that was in the Flume Gorge visitor center. I especially liked the details.

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Flume Gorge

This morning we drove from St. Johnsbury over to New Hampshire for the day. Our first event of the day was an amazing 2+ mile hike to see the Flume Gorge. Due to COVID-19 they were requiring tickets and timed entries. When we got there people were actually queued up to get in which seemed surprising to me. As we made our way up the gorge I realized why this was such a popular hike. The route was stunning, which immaculate paths and great wooden staircases going right up inside the gorge itself! I kept wondering what this must be like in the Spring when so much more water must be going down it.

The pictures below are in order as you start at the bottom of the gorge and hike up further until the waterfall at the very beginning of the gorge.


At the bottom of the gorge the water spreads out over this broad granite.


Family photo towards the bottom of the gorge.


Here the gorge is coming out of the boulders and starting to go more vertical.


Crossing one of several bridges as we walk along either side of the gorge.


The elaborate walkways and stairs are impressive to take you directly up the gorge.


Stairs going up through a narrow passage in the gorge.


My favorite photo from inside the gorge with all the lush greens and the walkways.


Family selfie with the falls at the top in the background.


Tammy and Mazie in front of the falls at the top.


Inside covered bridge crossing the Pemigewasset River.


Covered bridge above the pool along the Pemigewasset River.

Here is our walking path totaling 2.3 miles.

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Nice place to put your feet in the water and relax a bit. Littleton, NH.

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Vermont Road Trip Log: Day 9, Sunday

Weather: Still a bit rainy in the morning, but cleared up. Fairly warm in the afternoon. Evening turned out nice.

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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Levitt Amp Conert on Dog Mountain with Mike Mains and The Branches performing. 🎶

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Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium

We visited the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium today in St. Johnsbury, VT. The museum has been operating since 1889, and is a bit of a museum piece itself. It shows what this type of museum would have been like a hundred years ago, with only small modifications to the displays. We also took in two sessions at the planetarium.

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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.