Final Day and Recap

20 & 21 June 2022

Our last day of vacation was a pretty relaxed day. It started a little earlier than the past few days, but nothing super early. We finished the last of the sweet orange rolls, showered, and packed up our things. We were on the road before 10am. 

We had about a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us, but like the last long drive, it was very manageable. We only had a few options when it came to driving from Saranac Lake to Burlington. Lake Champlain makes it a challenge to cross between NY and VT. Ross, being the expert navigator, as he has been this entire trip, found a route that uses a car ferry to cross the lake. I had never driven onto a ferry before, so we figured, why not?! It was easy peasy. I just had to follow the car in front of me and the people pointing me in the right direction. Once we were on board, I didn’t want to get out of the car, but Ross was all about it, so I eventually followed. It was a neat, short trip, but I’m glad we did it. We snacked on some leftover pizza before hopping back in the car to exit onto dry Vermont land.

We weren’t going to be able to check into our last Air BnB for a few more hours, so we went back to Church street to see if there was any last bit of shopping we wanted to do. I kind of wanted to stop back at the Fjall Raven store. We made it back there and eyeballed all of their wares again. The bags are all really nice - actually all their stuff is really nice. I tried on a few things from the clearance section again, but as expensive as all their stuff is, even on clearance, I couldn’t pull the trigger. Nothing fit right enough. I was bummed, because their stuff is great, but just not my day. We’ll look for more things at a different store some other time.

We finished our stroll up and down Church street and tried to decide what to do next. It still was about 45 minutes before check in. Citizen Cider was just down the road, so we decided to check them out. They were closed the last time we were in Burlington. We ordered a flight of the fruit ciders particularly because one of them was called Pineapple Pants. That one and two others were just meh and the other two were decent. That wasted enough time that we could head over to our Air BnB.

Our last room was technically in a different city, called Essex Junction. The room was above a garage at someone’s house, but it was very nice. We took the requisite nap for about 3 hours and then decided on one last dinner.

We had seen a ramen place while we were on Church street and decided to head back into town to check it out. Gaku Ramen was a little slow with the service, but otherwise a tasty meal. I took advantage of my last chance to get one of my new favorite ciders - A Citizen Cider Dirty Mayor. It’s a ginger infused cider, which I really enjoy. The ginger was a nice touch to the meal too. We got some tofu steamed buns, a bowl of veggie ramen and a bowl of veggie rice. Luckily Ross liked the ramen more and I liked the rice. We swapped a few bites then stuck to our own bowls. 

And just like that, we needed to get back to the room for bed. An early morning was looming and after 10 days of sleeping in, 4:15 was fast approaching!

Stats for the day:

Steps: 6,124

Times I wished FjallRaven pants fit me: At least 10 

Fast forward a few hours - we are home! 4:15am did come too quick, but it was a relatively easy morning. We were out of our Air BnB on time, topped off the rental car with gas, and waited in the Delta ticket like for seemingly longer than we should have. Luckily, the Burlington airport is even smaller than Milwaukee, so navigating everything else was a cinch. We plopped into some rocking chairs and waited for our flight. Our return flights didn’t get changed like the outbound, so only one connection today. Our first stop - Detroit.

We landed early in Detroit, so we had a full 3 hours before we had to board our next flight. We wanted a snack, or at least a coffee, so I stood in the long Starbucks line while Ross ventured for some food. I hit the rush hour it seemed and I know the folks behind the counter were working hard, but dang it did take a while. I got Ross’ drink, but then a good handful of folks that ordered after me got theirs and I was starting to worry mine got lost. Eventually enough panic set in and I asked about it. They said, oh it’s right here and almost done…Cool. Got our drinks and moved on. By that time, Ross had sat down, ordered and eaten a whole omelette. I relaxed with him at the restaurant for a few minutes before we wandered closer to our gate.

I brought our two new games with us and we decided to play our new Funky Fungi game. It was pretty easy to learn and I won, so that was pretty cool. I was still hungry, so we found a place for me to grab a snack. I got a breakfast veggie & egg burrito. It was quite mediocre. And just like that, it was about time to board our flight. Like all our flights, we were in boarding group Main 3 - aka the very last people to board. It was funny because by the time they get to our group, they just say All Passengers because there are only about 5 people left waiting. That’s fine - less time sitting in a small airline seat. One last flight to go! Can’t wait to get back to the 100 degree weather waiting for us….

Well lucky for us it wasn’t 100 degrees when we landed. Only 93. Yeah. Still the hottest day we’ve seen! Our flight was uneventful though we had to wait about 15 minutes once we landed to get to our gate. Colleen was waiting for us after we got our luggage. Our first stop before heading home was the vet!

Our Murph had spend the entire time at the Vet so they could give him all his meds and watch how was doing. Sounds like he made friends with all the techs and was a very good boy. Murphy had to make his rounds to everyone to say goodbye before they would hand him off to us. I’m happy he was so good and everyone was so caring! 

Finally we were home! Simon saw us coming from the upstairs window and greeted us at the door. He even gave us a little meow like, “where the heck were you???” Murphy and Simon have been reacquainting themselves with each other. We started the unpacking process, got the sprinkler on the lawn, and I checked on the garden. Yay for some fresh strawberries! I think I have some pine berries growing too, but I’m not positive. Time will tell! It’s great to be back home!

Stats for the day:

Steps: 6,473 (as of 3pm)

Ripe strawberries: A good handful

Weeds that need plucking: An excessive amount

Temperature swing from VT to WI: +20

Overall, this was another great trip. Nothing felt rushed and we really enjoyed the daily naps! Things we found interesting on this trip:

• Drivers are much nicer, I was let into traffic or allowed to cross when I  didn’t need to be so many times
• There are more EVs and EV chargers in VT and upstate NY than probably all of WI. Even tiny Montpelier had EV chargers all over the place
• VT & Upstate NY are super similar to WI “Up North”. They just have mountains and Moose
• I’m not convinced there are actually Moose…didn’t see a single one
• Montpelier is a tiny city for a state capital

Stats for the Trip:

Favorite Event: Baking at King Arthur, Biking in Burlington, Leahy Center

Most Unique Experience: Bobsledding on an Olympic Run

Favorite Air BnB: Montpelier’s Chic in the City

Favorite Meal: American Flatbread Co 

Worst Meal: Stromboli at JFK Airport

Favorite Drinks: Morning Tea in Montpelier, Citizen Cider Dirty Mayor, Ubu Beer

Biggest Surprise: How much I like Ross with a beard

Miles Driven: 550

Steps: 115,121 (approx 48 miles)