Vermont Road Trip

A (long ish) weekend in NYC called for a road trip.  I had originally planned on going to PEI and New Brunswick, but Lingon ended up having a conference in Toronto at the tail end of our road trip period, so off towards Canada we went.

We started off the drive by going through the Taconic State Parkway, which is a parkway that sort of starts in the Bronx, and took us up to Vermont.  It was a pretty road, mostly well maintained, lined with many trees and state parks.  Our trip was in early September, so while it was not prime fall colours time yet, some of the leaves had begun to change to yellow and red, though not the dark crimson colours I was hoping for.  One takes what one can get!

Our first destination was Woodstock, VT.  I had read this article on northeast roadtrips, and pretty much stole the itinerary there.  Our first stop was the Woodstock Farmer's Market, recommended by friends who went to school in New Hampshire, and boy were we hungry after being in the car for what seemed to be over 5 hours.  I got a piece of salmon, and Lingon got a turkey wrap, both were very good.  The market itself had a ton of fresh produce, flowers, etc., anything you would expect at a market.  It also had a huge cooked food deli section, salads and pastries/bakery section for to go, or eating at the lovely seating right by the river outside.  Great quality food, and overall charming and cute.

We drove past the White Cottage Snack Bar, where said article told us to eat ice cream and fried food, but unfortunately we had eaten too much the past few days in NYC, so I had to give a pass to both.  I was crushed.  But we did not say goodbye without taking a quick photo.

Such sadness as I see that photo again.  :-(

Next, we check out the Woodstock Inn, which is the premium lodging in town.  We took a walk inside, and it seemed cute and cozy, but for some reason did not seem like my kind of place to stay.  (Also, after seeing how small the town was, I'm glad we did not - I had thought about spending 2 nights here!  The town was super cute, but it was tiny!)

We walked a little and saw this funny sign for Suicide Six which for some reason does not seem very funny now, and a tad inappropriate, just by itself.

Other things the article told us to do included Gillingham's General Store, Yankee Bookshop (Vermont's oldest continuously operated independent bookshop) and The Prince and The Pauper (a restaurant institution - some guy saw us checking it out and told us it was really good and to check it out for dinner since it was closed for lunch).  So we visited!

Then, we went back to our car, and guess what, we got a parking ticket!!!  The meter was camouflaged into the railings where we were parked.  Sneaky.  It was the nicest, and one of, if not, the cheapest tickets we had ever received, and it said basically to pay $10 for the ticket or support a local store and purchase something and they will reverse the ticket.  So we went to the general store and Lingon got a $2 coffee.  Haha.  If only all parking tickets could be that nice.  We got a $85 ticket from SFPD, not quite so nice or forgiving.  Lol.

After that, we headed to Quechee.  No idea how to pronounce that name.  Our friends had told us of a good lunch spot, Simon Pearce, which ended up being a glassblowing place too.  Super cool, but all the products were $$$$.  There was a dam right there too with an old rickety looking bridge that we drove across, really pretty area.

Next off, we went to Waterbury.  Not sure if this is a big place, but there were actually 3 things we wanted to do there!  The first, which was the highlight of my trip, was the Ben and Jerry's factory tour.  Every ice cream lover's dream.  The tour cost $4 and included a giant sample.  Ours was the AmeriCone Dream, Vanilla Ice Cream with Fudge Covered Waffle Cone Pieces & a Caramel Swirl, which I devoured.  I had fun, and the factory had cool pictures that were nice and bright and cheery.

Then, off to the Cabot Annex Store for cheese samples.  Both this and our last stop closed at 6pm, and it was something like 5.42pm, and each place was 1 minute from the past, so I can't say much about it except I speed-ate a ton of cheese samples and they were yummy.  Lingon joked that this was our dinner, so I probably ate a bit more than I should have, but no regrets there!

Lastly, to the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, where I had a yummy super cold refreshing sample of cold pressed apple juice.  My old roomie said this was a must-visit, and I'm glad I did!

Sad I did not get to spend more time in both places.  But maybe some day we will come back!

We spend the night in at the Sheraton in Burlington, VT, which was uneventful, great beds for a good night's sleep.  Our Starwood Platinum breakfast was a free entree at G's Restaurant, but we did not even make it to breakfast to see what it was.  Yelp gave it pretty dismal reviews, so no regrets there.

We had dinner at Misery Loves Company in Winooski, VT, which really seemed like an extension to Burlington.  Got the beef tartare, scallops, and squid ink spaghetti.  The beef tartare tasted a bit weird (some weird herb-y thing) but otherwise dinner was enjoyable.

The next morning we drove off, to Canada, and our short visit to Vermont ended.

The Great American Summer Adventure Part 3 - Yellowstone National Park

This is yogi bear reporting live from Jellystone Park!  Smarter than the average bear!

Well, here we were, Jellystone Park.  Just kidding, Yellowstone Park.  I guess I knew about Yellowstone Park even before I really knew about Yellowstone Park.

After leaving Grand Teton, we headed for Yellowstone.  I was determined to find a bear, and a college friend had seen some during his trip, so I felt confident.  We followed this map to the areas that were supposed to have bears, partly to find bears, partly because these areas were interesting.  Our first stop was at a marker in the map called Mud Volcano.  Not sure if we actually saw the mud volcano itself, but the area was full of muddy stuff that smelled like sulphuric gas emissions.  Bubbly bubbly.

Then onto the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (I thought that was just what people said, in reference to the Grand Canyon National Park, but this was really its name).  The pictures I saw online were great, but seeing it in real life was just spectacular.  We first headed to Artist Point, where we could view the Lower Falls.  Wedged between an extremely steep and narrow gorge area, the river resulting from the falls gushed down.  The rocks had varying pretty colours due to the geology and the gases emitted from... the water?  Lol.  Clearly not a geologist.  Then we headed to Uncle Tom's Point, where we could get an Upper Falls view.  The landscape there looked much different, way more lush, with coniferous trees lining the sides of the river and the falls.  Off to N Rim Drive via Grand Loop Road, where there were various lookouts.  Just stunning.

We stopped in Canyon Village for a coffee for Lingon, and guess what we saw?  Singapore laksa!!  Who would have thought.  Anyway they had this diner style restaurant too so I took a photo of that since I thought it looked cool.

After this, we headed to Lamar Valley to find bears.  No luck, but we saw some bison and elk.  The valley itself did not look all that pretty.

Following a disappointing bear-watching trip, we realized we were doing well on time and went to the Mammoth Hot Springs area, where they had these terraces of limestone.  I enjoyed looking at them and they were really cool, but they were not many educational signs that taught me how these were formed.  We even saw some elk in the village!

After this, we were tired, so we decided to head to the hotel.  I had gotten lucky and managed to book us at the Old Faithful Inn, which is a historic lodge.  I even managed to get us a room with a private bathroom, thank goodness.  The thought of having to share a bathroom just creeps me out, so I am very very thankful!  They had a very cute bear soap!  The lobby was gorgeous, made of wood, with 3 levels of balconies looking down on the main floor.  There was an outdoor patio where one could see Old Faithful geyser hissing and spouting away.

We had dinner at the Obsidian Dining Room in the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, because the menu looked a little more Jackson-y, with Montana trout and bison burger (I wish we had actually checked out the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room menu at the restaurant itself before dining, because we checked it out after and they had trout and a few other options that were slightly different from the online version.  Also so you know, one has to make reservations for the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room.  Another one for next time!).  The food was OK, both a bit overcooked, but I liked my trout better than the burger.

Following dinner, we went to see the last eruption for the evening on the balcony, where we froze to death while awaiting the geyser.  No pictures because it as almost pitch black by the time it erupted.

The next morning, I had every intention of watching the eruption.  There is a geyser predictor which for some reason did not work when I woke up, because there are actually long intervals in the night (based on my short research).  I called the front desk and they gave me a time, and we went about 20 minutes before it was due, and ended up waiting about an hour before the damned thing erupted.  Totally worth it to be the first people there, without the summer crowds, with that sunrise in the background.

One last tourism push before we exited the park.  We visited Grand Prismatic Spring and Fountain Paint Pots which, I suspect due to the freezing temperatures in the morning, were just kind of steamy and not as pretty as what I expected and I was pretty bummed.  I'm sure I'll be back, and I'll choose a less early time to visit and see the visit colours, but for now we were tired of being tourists, sleepy, and ready to relax (ish).

As for my bear-watching quest, how did that fare?  Not so well.  However, I did see bison and elk.  In learning about animals, I found out that a little animal called pika exists - a distant relative of the famous Pikachu?

There will be a next time, Yellowstone.  And Yogi Bear, I will find you.

See here for part 1 of this trip in Jackson, WY, and part 2 in Grand Teton National Park.

The Great American Summer Adventure Part 2 - Grand Teton National Park

Hello and welcome to part 2 of Lingon and Mushroom's great American summer adventure.  We did Grand Teton over 2 calendar days.  We tried to knock out most of the stuff in the lower part of the park on the first day, and pretty much succeeded.  We did not do it in the most efficient manner, but thankfully that did not cost us more than 30 mins of driving time, but it still annoyed me.

The smart thing I should have done was to start with Mormon Row, since it was by itself on Antelope Flats Road to the east of the main highway.   Mormon Row was kind of interesting.  I suppose early Mormons settled here, and the remnants of their buildings and settlements remained.  Apparently this is the most photographed barn in the world, by TR Moulton, who may have been the first settler here.

Then we should have headed to Schwabachers Landing off the main highway.  The photos I saw online were much prettier than mine. This is basically a spot with a river meandering through, and there is the lower and upper landing.

Going back in the opposite direction leaving the park and re-enterint at a different entrance on Teton Park Road, the Chapel of the Transfiguration was probably the most special thing to me in this park.  A mere log building, the setting of the chapel, with the Tetons in the background, was simple yet magnificent, with a large glass window framing the mountains.  Imagine going to service, sitting there, listening to the word, and looking out at one of the marvels of the world.

After that to Jenny Lake.  I got it in my head that Inspiration Point was a thing to do, but since we did not want to hike around the lake, we paid $15 each for a round trip boat ride to the landing across the water.  $15 well spent, though I maintain it is very pricey.  There were 2 hikes to do here, Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.  Normally one can get to/from each place, but the park was doing some work so we had to loop back to the boat landing area to the other point.  Nice views from Inspiration Point, but by the time we got to the falls I think we were both quite tired and ready for dinner.  My GPS said 3.36 miles for both hikes.

This concluded our first half day in the park.

On the second day, we headed up the main freeway, US-26,

We first went to Oxbow Bend, which is part of the Snake River.  I read there would be animals, but no such luck.  Still very pretty with the reflection of the Tetons in the river.  By the way, there is some really high quality beef from somewhere called Snake River Farms, which I presume is in Idaho.  We first heard of it at Wakuriya, a Japanese restaurant in San Mateo in the Bay Area, and our post on that restaurant is here.

Then we stopped at the Jackson Lake Dam.

Finally, we drove up Signal Mountain and Colter Bay, but by this time we were Teton'd out, so I did not take any photos worth sharing.

We tried to go to Leeks Pizzeria, and thought it was part of the Signal Mountain Lodge, but when we got to the lodge this thing did not exist.  Just as well, since we got there way before it was supposed to open.  It had really good reviews, so I must admit I was a bit bummed.  A little later on, we saw a sign that said "pizzeria", and lo and behold we found Leeks Pizzeria, though not at all at Signal Mountain Lodge.  It had some nice pizzas, menu here, definitely a nice option in the park, and I was glad that we found it.  We got a small BBQ chicken pizza for maybe $15, and enjoyed that very much.

I had some great expectations for Grand Teton National Park, and I'm glad it lived up to my expectations.  The only thing we did not get to do was Phelps Lake, but we ran out of the time the first day, and then I was too lazy after.  Gotta save something for next time.

See here for part 1 of this trip in Jackson, WY, and part 3 in Yellowstone National Park.

The Great American Summer Adventure Part 1 - Jackson, WY

The great American summer adventure, coined by Lingon.  Condensed into 2 days.  Lingon had a conference in Park City, and since Wyoming was so close by (mild sarcasm intended), we decided to do the weekend before there.

Since there was only one United flight in, we took that one which departed late, naturally, and arrived in the evening around 9.00pm.  I had heard so much about Jackson (city), or Jackson Hole (valley area including Jackson), but sadly my plane seat did not have a window and I did not get a chance to see the mountains as we landed.  However, the airport setting was really beautiful - I had read an article before about the airport being one of the most scenic landings in the world, and truly, it was.

We actually changed our flight to arrive a day early, so we were supposed to be car-less.  I called Enterprise, and Brian from the Jackson Enterprise helped me out and made the car rental process super easy.  Thank you Brian, I will write you a review on the Enterprise site.  Truly amazing customer service.  On top of that, we got an upgraded, which honestly I was not that wild about since our new vehicle guzzles gas.  But there it was, part of the great American summer adventure.  You can see Lingon right there.

We spent 2 nights at Jackson.  The first night we stayed at the Quality Inn, and the second night we stayed at the Rawhide Motel.  Both were not cheap in absolute, at $209 and $174 (before tax), but seemed the cheapest tolerable option.  Guess we are in a resort town, so high prices were expected.  Both were rather unremarkable, but clean enough.  Both had awful sagging beds, but Rawhide Motel at least had duvet covers, and seemed a little brighter and cheerier than Quality Inn.  Quality Inn provided a breakfast that was rather inedible, the bananas were the best part, but otherwise the sausage terrified me, and the cheerios tasted like sawdust.  Rawhide did not have any breakfast, but that was just fine by me.  Wifi at Quality Inn gets zero points, while Rawhide's wifi was pretty good.  In conclusion, fine for a "cheap" place to stay, you pay for what you get.  Lingon was sufficiently displeased, but I suppose staying in motels can become part of the great American summer adventure.  Haha.  No pictures of either since they were rather unremarkable.

We took a walk around town, and found Pinky G's Pizzeria, and got a slice of pepperoni and a slice of cheese, $4 and $3.50 each.  Not bad, large slices, not anything special by any means, but nice for a later night snack.  They had live music, so the place was rather hip and lively, and I was glad to have seen it.  What creeped me out was they put pizza boxes under the ovens on the ground.  That REALLY grossed me out.  I was glad we did not get our pizza from a box.

Jackson as a town was not too bad.  There was a local Starbucks (haha!) that we spent a few hours in since our hotel wifi was the pits.  The town square had 4 cool entrances at each corner made of antlers shed by the elk each season, picked up by boy scouts.

There were 2 places I had wanted to eat in Jackson.  The first was Teton Thai, actually in Teton Village about 15 minutes outside of Jackson.  They are on that Travel and Leisure list that I chase.  We tried the dishes the article recommended, which were the laab, pad gar pow with crisp-skinned duck breast (rice with duck cooked with basil and some yummy sauce) and tom yum soup, and I added the duck noodle soup on top of that.  We had arrived right when the restaurant opened, and were shocked to be told that our wait for food may be up to an hour, since there was a group of 20 who had arrived early.  The place definitely filled up.  All the food was very good, especially for being in Jackson which I definitely do not think of as a food destination, much less Thai food destination.  Our food arrived in 15 mins.  Thanks for the speedy service!!  :-)  Randomly enough, this restaurant has another branch in Idaho.  I'll save this for the next time.

The other place I preselected was the Gun Barrel Steak and Game House.  I think the name pretty much sums it up.  We ordered the mixed game grill - a combination of our elk steak, buffalo prime rib and a venison bratwurst.  I especially loved the elk steak.  We got a side of fried tomatoes which were nicely breaded, but I thought the tomatoes were a tad sour.  We ended the meal with bread pudding, which was rather dense, and the sauce had a liquor taste which I did not like (but of course Lingon did).  The restaurant was really superbly outfitted with stuffed animals, and had custom ironwork for a lot of the fixtures.  Supposedly their gun collection was sick too, but I have no means to judge.

Back to breakfast, the most important meal.  I'm always a sucker for bakeries.  So when we got slightly lost around the town square, we saw a place called the Great Harvest Bread Company, I was sold.  I wandered in there, got some samples of their scones and bread, and said we were going there the next morning, and we did.  I got the raspberry white chocolate scone and chocolate almond scone (I think the latter had cream cheese in it which I did not love), and these scones were crispy on the outside and super moist on the inside.  To die for.  Loved the white chocolate they used too.  Lingon got a blueberry muffin (seemed like it had some bran in it yum) and a breakfast sandwich.  They were both great too.  I did not realize they were a chain, but when I just googled them I found out there are many locations!

Well, that seems to be all for Jackson, which is really quite a lot for what a small town it was.

Onto part two for Grand Teton National Park!

See here for part 2 of this trip in Grand Teton National Park, and part 3 in Yellowstone National Park.

Iceland Day 4 - (CenterHotel Plaza Breakfast and) Golden Circle

I wanted to write really quickly about the breakfast at CenterHotel Plaza.  This breakfast was included in the rate, which in late July/early August was about US$165, decent for being in such a central location.  Now the breakfast was not stunning, but I just wanted to let people know what they have, and I think it is really not bad.  Granola, cereal, oatmeal, assorted fresh fruit, scrambled eggs (these were cooked WAY too well and though I did not eat them I can only imagine they were horrible), bacon, sausage, hard boiled eggs, many different kinds of bread, jams, and my favourite (and most unhealthy) oat squares which was some bar with oats and either chocolate or raisins/dried fruit.  The spread was really decent and I think it deserves a thumbs up.  Too bad no pictures, but it was not gourmet or anything, and nothing much could be left to the imagination.

This was our last morning at CenterHotel Plaza.  Gosh I will miss not having to think about breakfast.  The road trip begun and I was excited.

We picked up the rental car from Budget, and after GPS and insurance it cost an arm and a leg.  Luckily we have plenty of cup noodles so we will be saving money on food and I probably will not eat out much.  Funny sign at the rental car company.

We saw a number of cars stopped by the side of the road, and this was the first site we saw.  Beautiful and got me excited about what was to come!

Our first stop was Þingvellir.  I learned that Þ is like "th", some small knowledge about the Icelandic language which up to now scares the crap out of me.  These long and weird names and vowel and consonant arrangement...  Anyway without digressing so much.  Þingvellir is the site of the world's first parliament, and started in 930AD.  Do you know in those days a judgment against someone could be passed, but it was up to the individual who pressed charges (pardon my knowledge of judicial terms, most of my knowledge comes from Law and Order SVU) to enforce the law.  So, imagine I sued someone who owed me money and I won but he/she refused to pay, I would have to hire a hit man to do a number on said person, or I could seize his/her car for payment.  That's how I imagine life at that time to be like.  Hehe.  Beautiful site, even with the drizzle that pounded down on us.

Next stop we went to some site of 2 geysers, Strokkur which was active and Geysir which was defunct.  There were a number of other pretty coloured pools too but I'm not sure if they were actually formerly geysers.  I waited in the rain with the bitter cold blowing on my frosty fingers, and managed to get this cool shot.  I've wanted to go to yellowstone to see Old Faithful for a while now, but this will do for now.

Last stop was Gullfoss, a waterfall which is apparently stronger than the Niagara Falls according to a sign there (I don't really believe it, but I've never been to Niagara).  It was really quite powerful, and between the rain and the splash from the falls itself, it was a bit of a damp experience.

We were supposed to have a couple more stops along the way, driving along the Kaldidalur pass which was not allowed by the rental car company, Deildartunguhver which is supposedly Europe's most powerful hot spring, Viðgelmir, one of the largest lava caves in the world and Hraunfossar, a seemingly less spectacular falls from the pictures.  Sadly time was not our friend, and we decided to return to the hotel instead.  Being the kind of person who likes to do everything, I was really bummed, but I also had a poor night's sleep and rest was much needed.

We are staying at the Icelandair Hotel Hamar, which is quite pleasant (expensive at 28,900ISK which is around US$260) and new seeming.  Breakfast is not included, and is 2100ISK/person.  It has a golf course.  Here is a picture of our room.

This was dinner for the night.  Tastes like home sweet home and cost is a fraction of anything we could have gotten here in Iceland.  Complete with a hard boiled egg stolen from breakfast this morning.  :-)

Distance driven: 302.9km

Good night and good luck!