Back From Vermont

We had a great trip to Vermont over the last weekend to attend my brother Andy’s wedding.  We left Virginia on Thursday morning (6 Aug) and drove straight through, arriving in Vermont about 5:30PM.  It is about a 580 mile drive door-to-door, so it makes for a fairly long drive with the kids.  The drive was uneventful, aside from some sporadic downpours between Albany, NY, and our destination in Essex Junction, Vermont.  After arriving, we spent the first night at Karen’s sisters house.  On Friday, we went to my parents’ house to visit before leaving for the wedding in the late afternoon. 

The wedding was held at 6PM at Andy & Pam’s house in Georgia, Vermont.  The wedding guests were limited to immediate family members with a separate reception for friends and extended family scheduled on Saturday afternoon.  They have a beautiful home that they purchased set on 10-country acres.  They have done a lot of work insde the house (and out) over the last year to really make it wonderful.  They have enlarged and completely remodeled the kitchen and built a master bedroom suite above the garage.  They have also added a separated 3-car garage (in addition to the 2-car garage attached to the house).  They also have a nice pool in the backyard that was recently replaced, as the old one collapsed this past winter.  All in all, it was a beautiful setting for the wedding.  The wedding was held on the wraparound porch that surrounds over half of the house.  The guests were seated on the lawn.  It was a very nice and informal ceremony that finished ahead of the rainshowers (thankfully)!  It was very nice to be able to witness their exchange of wedding vows.

We spent Friday night at my parents house, and Saturday morning I fixed the exhaust fan in their upstairs bathroom that had stopped working.  We went out and purchased a replacement fan at Home Depot and then had to do a little creative installation as the old fan had been installed incorrectly.  When all was said and done, the new fan worked like a champ.  At lunch time, I took the family to “Al’s French Frys” in Burlington….a landmark for great french fries!  Saturday afternoon we drove back out to Georgia (VT) for the wedding reception.  Andy and Pam received almost 190 RSVPs for the reception!  Thankfully, the weather was absolutely perfect.  I was able to see some Aunts and Uncles that I hadn’t seen in many years.  I also got to see my cousin Ike that I hadn’t seen in probably 15+ years!  I also saw many “old” friends of the family.  I also met my neice Eliza’s boyfriend and was happy to learn that they had announced their engagement.   It was a lot of fun!  Unfortunately, Karen wasn’t feeling well and we left before the fireworks and bonfire.

On Sunday we drove up to Johnson, Vermont, and had breakfast at my brother Eric’s house.  On the way there, we drove across two covered bridges so that the kids could see a bit of Vermont history. Kathy & Eric cooked up a huge blueberry pancake breakfast, topped with some of Eric’s real Vermont maple syrup that he made this spring.  It was delicious!  Eric graciously gave me a half gallon to take home, and I bought two quarts from him as well to give to some co-workers.  We also go to see Eric’s art studio which is being built as an addition to his garage behind his house.  The studio will include an office, and area to paint indoors and lots of wall-space to display his paintings.  It is huge and is going to be a great place for him!  We spent the late morning around his pond while the kids hopped on the trampoline and played croquet before driving back down to Essex Junction. 

Sunday night, I took the kids over to Underhill Center to Scott & Susan’s house to visit with them for awhile.  The kids really enjoyed spending time with Uncle Scott and Aunt Susan and they had a blast with Aunt Susan’s horses.  We also watched some of the Olympics with them before heading back to Essex Junction for the night, where we stayed again with Karen’s sister Sue and her kids. 

Early Monday morning, we drove south to Chittenden, Vermont, and spent a couple of short hours with Karen’s other sister Laura and her husband Andy at their newly remodeled home.  They remodeled Andy’s grandmother’s house by adding an addition that nearly tripled the size of the original house.  They did a great job and now have a wonderful “new” home for their 8 children.  It was designed to meet the unique needs of such a large family, with an oversized kitchen and dining room as the centerpeice of the house.  While we were there, Andy showed us video and pictures of their 5-weeks in Norway where he was working on an assignment.  It was beautiful, and was quite dramatic as we viewed it on his 12′x8′ projection screen in his home theater that he constructed in his basement.  Unfortunately, I neglected to take any pictures of their new home in the short time that we were there! 

We left Chittenden around 1PM and drove part way back to Virginia, spending the night at a hotel in Moosic, PA.  We drove the rest of the way home on Tuesday morning so that we could get the dog back from the kennel.  It was a great trip, albeit a short one.  We managed to see most of the family that still lives in Vermont, and were reminded how much we love and miss the beauty of Vermont.