- Joined
- Mar 11, 2011
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- 26,018
Went to Vermont for a little "vacation". I drove 869 miles the first day to Syracuse. Was going to drive to Troy, N.Y., but my father in law had enough. No biggie. Drove the other 430 miles the next day to get there.
So when we get there, we have to open the place up. It hasn't been used for a year, so the water, etc., has to be turned on, cleaning to do, etc. Primed the pump for lake water use, and it fired right up. Heard something, and there were some pvc fittings that were broken, and had to be replaced. Tried fixing the leaks with what we had, to no avail. We had minimal tools, so had to wait until the next day to go to the hardware store. I replaced the fittings, and turned the pump back on. There's two bathrooms, upstairs and down, and both toilets were cracked, and leaked water all over the place. So, I replaced both toilets. Heating element was out of the water heater, so that was replaced twice, the first being a lemon. The water pump for the well water had a busted flange. Turns out, the guy that did some work for Pop didn't winterize the place as he said he did. He didn't drain the water, open the valves, put anti-freeze in the toilets, etc., so everything busted. Then, the water pump stopped working. We looked for hours trying to figure it out. Checked the switch in the box, it was good. Ran an extension cord to the pump, and it worked fine, so wasn't getting any juice. Turns out that Pop forgot about a switch he made upstairs, to turn the pump off, without having to go to the basement. Wife was cleaning, and turned the switch off.
We left with my step son (19) having a fever. Thought he was over it, as he was feeling better. Get a call from the step daughter, saying the son went to Prompt Care. They told him he had to have his gall bladder removed. WTF??? 19, gall bladder removed??? We were going to take my wife to the airport so she could fly back, but before we did, we got a call, and he went for a second opinion, and turns out he has mono.
But, with all that going on, we still managed to have a little bit of fun. What the hell, we're in the beautiful state of Vermont, just a few miles from the Canadian border. Wife and I went for a couple hundred mile ride, and took some photos.
Pop's summer get away. He's had this place for over 50 years:
Looking out from the front porch:
Went for a ride. Lake Willoughby:
Down the road:
A few waterfalls along the way:
Becker content added:
More Becker content:
Other end of the lake, on the beach:
Found a trail, and walked back a bit:
Went to Stowe, VT. This is Maria Von Trapp, of The Sound Of Music fames, lodge. Apparently after she fled the Nazis, she settled here, as it reminded her of her home in the Alps:
Looking out:
Did a small hike to these falls. Crappy photos though:
On the road in Smuggler's Notch. The road was twisting and winding, and sometimes one lane:
Got out and walked a bit, for some photos:
Back at the lake, with the loons out and about:
The final sunset:
As you can see, it wasn't all bad, and I'm ready to go back. Hell, we want to live there. Thanks for looking.
So when we get there, we have to open the place up. It hasn't been used for a year, so the water, etc., has to be turned on, cleaning to do, etc. Primed the pump for lake water use, and it fired right up. Heard something, and there were some pvc fittings that were broken, and had to be replaced. Tried fixing the leaks with what we had, to no avail. We had minimal tools, so had to wait until the next day to go to the hardware store. I replaced the fittings, and turned the pump back on. There's two bathrooms, upstairs and down, and both toilets were cracked, and leaked water all over the place. So, I replaced both toilets. Heating element was out of the water heater, so that was replaced twice, the first being a lemon. The water pump for the well water had a busted flange. Turns out, the guy that did some work for Pop didn't winterize the place as he said he did. He didn't drain the water, open the valves, put anti-freeze in the toilets, etc., so everything busted. Then, the water pump stopped working. We looked for hours trying to figure it out. Checked the switch in the box, it was good. Ran an extension cord to the pump, and it worked fine, so wasn't getting any juice. Turns out that Pop forgot about a switch he made upstairs, to turn the pump off, without having to go to the basement. Wife was cleaning, and turned the switch off.
We left with my step son (19) having a fever. Thought he was over it, as he was feeling better. Get a call from the step daughter, saying the son went to Prompt Care. They told him he had to have his gall bladder removed. WTF??? 19, gall bladder removed??? We were going to take my wife to the airport so she could fly back, but before we did, we got a call, and he went for a second opinion, and turns out he has mono.
But, with all that going on, we still managed to have a little bit of fun. What the hell, we're in the beautiful state of Vermont, just a few miles from the Canadian border. Wife and I went for a couple hundred mile ride, and took some photos.
Pop's summer get away. He's had this place for over 50 years:
Looking out from the front porch:
Went for a ride. Lake Willoughby:
Down the road:
A few waterfalls along the way:
Becker content added:
More Becker content:
Other end of the lake, on the beach:
Found a trail, and walked back a bit:
Went to Stowe, VT. This is Maria Von Trapp, of The Sound Of Music fames, lodge. Apparently after she fled the Nazis, she settled here, as it reminded her of her home in the Alps:
Looking out:
Did a small hike to these falls. Crappy photos though:
On the road in Smuggler's Notch. The road was twisting and winding, and sometimes one lane:
Got out and walked a bit, for some photos:
Back at the lake, with the loons out and about:
The final sunset:
As you can see, it wasn't all bad, and I'm ready to go back. Hell, we want to live there. Thanks for looking.
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