I Had To Try

 

 I have been out of Tim Horton country for a few days now, but I am in Dunkin Donut country apparently.  It wasn’t until the other day when looking for a spot to pull over I noticed that the donut shop had a huge car park, and I needed to stop.

After securing whatever was rolling around, I decided to check out the shop. Walking through  the door I realized that this wasn’t just a stop for a donut, but a actual science experiment, as right there in the case was the legendary Boston Cream.

The Things I Will Do For Science

I took the donut back to the van and brewed a cup of espresso, before tasting the delicacy. Now I know the experiment would be more accurate if I had a Tim Horton Cream Boston alongside the Dunkin , but I didn’t and so relying  on memory I ate the Dunkin, washed it down with expresso, and determined that the Dunkin  was good, but Tim’s was better. It wasn’t the cream, as they are probably the same, it was the texture of the donut, that wasn’t as good, as Tim's.

Google the self-appointed state line greeter welcomed me to Vermont. I wonder if everyone gets a Google greeting.  Or just the van with a name. Google will also tell me sometimes that "We have found a faster route" And I just wonder if back in Palo Alto on top of pile of garbage from the 1960's where Googles headquarters sit, if there isn't a room full of people watching my travels???

Vermont is familiar territory having been here several times, but never staying by Lake Champain.

I headed to Button Bay State Park.  The park is located on the southern end of the lake, on land was originally a farm. It’s a spectacular  setting.

Lake Champain

This must be a busy place in the summer. The park has a swimming pool, and a huge picnic pavilion that they say can seat 300. I had no problem finding a seat, as the pool was closed, and there were only a few campers in the park.  

Again, these State Parks are a exceptional value, with camping at $28.00.  there is no electric hoop  ups  here, but water, a dumpster for trash,  and a sewer cleanout are available at no extra charge.

The lake is also the start of the of the Champlain Canal that connects the Hudson river to the great lakes, and even the ocean if you want to go that far. I don’t think the Canal is used much for commercial traffic now a days but I did see some pretty skookum yachts anchored up in Hudson Falls. 

Hudson Falls 

The fall colors were really exploding so I wanted to stick around for another day or so in spite of the State Parks closing for the season on the 9^th.

I Could Return Here For These Colors

I found Coolidge state park . the park is near the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge. I thought it might have been named for Rita Coolidge, but it wasn’t.

Rita Coolidge

Cal was president back in 1923-1929. I remember that my father didn’t care for him but I do not remember why, I still know very little about him, but he is probably mostly remembered for his nick name "Cal" being used frequently in crossword puzzles where they need a three-letter word

The park itself is nice enough. Its up a long narrow road that I thought was one way until I met another vehicle coming down while I was going up. We had enough room to squeeze by  each other but I backed down the road quite a ways when I met a vehicle towing a caravan and we had no room to pass. Fortunately, I can do reverse.

Cal's House & Visitor Center

I visited the Coolidge Homestead in the morning, and then headed west with a plan to elude the New York toll road, as the van with a name license plate is in plain view unlike the bike, I rode across the state last time whose plate was hidden under the trunk…….