After spending the night in Walmart’s parking lot, well worth the money (and, actually we did go shopping twice), we drove a short distance to Fort Ticonderoga on the shores of Lake Champlain – a real slice of American history.  And the sun shone.

There we experienced the refurbished fort and heard its interesting story: built by the French in 1755, taken by the British in their second attempt in 1759 (after failing in their first attempt in 1757 even though they greatly outnumbered the French), and then captured by the Americans in 1775 by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold.  It was decommissioned as a fort by George Washington in 1783, as the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War was signed.

Throughout the morning, costumed actors related what life and war were like under its various owners, and how events affected the local Indian, French, English, and American soldiers and settlers (did I say settlers, oops).  Fife and drum performers marched and played and explained how music was used to communicate with the soldiers.  A musket demonstration showed just how slow and unwieldy these weapons were. The officers’ barracks and troop barracks showcased weapons and how the troops lived.

The grounds are both immense and beautiful.

From Fort Ticonderoga we drove a short distance to the Ticonderoga ferry, a platform pulled by a cable across a narrow section of Lake Champlain.  In seven minutes we reached Vermont.

The best word to describe Vermont is lush.  Vermont is called the green state, and the winding roads we traveled surely attest to that.

We camped in Branbury Vermont State Park, at the foot of Mt. Moosalamoo and along the side of a rocky stream – in the middle of the woods but within walking distance of a beautiful lake and beach: peaceful and relaxing. The Green Mountains National Forest borders the park to the east.

Day 2:  Goodbye to Branbury Vermont State Park, one of the more beautiful places we’ve stayed in (among a host of beautiful places).  Hello Green Mountains.

Our first goal was to drive through the Green Mountains, up over Brandon Gap and back down, ever so slowly.  For nine miles the road was all small stones that were laid in preparation for new pavement.  Very steep and very slippery, not feeling we had total control of our traction, but there were few cars on the road, and once we were able to really look around, the views as we got deeper into the Green Mountains were breathtaking.

We traveled on scenic Route 100 that wound through and around the eastern part of the Green Mountain National Forest.  And it is so true: the mountains are totally covered with trees and vegetation.

We stopped at Warren Falls on the Mad River, that seemed to be a popular place (though we didn’t know it when we started the trail) for locals to go wading and to cool off.  There we met a group of religious boys and their hiking counselor from a camp a little ways off; the counselor told us they had been hiking on and off marked trails.

Our next stop was the famous Green Mountain Coffee and Visitor Center.  We sampled different types of coffee, had a cup there (the best coffee we’ve had in a long time), and bought some to take home.  As we sat outside the store, enjoying our coffee of choice, lo and behold, right across the street was a laundromat, so of course, we took advantage of that.

Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream factory was just down the road.  Realizing that there was a long line for the tour and an even longer one just to buy some ice cream, we decided it was not worth it.  We can get it back home (and everywhere else).

We looked for a campground and found Little River State Park, beautiful, woodsy and on the Waterbury Reservoir.  A quiet secluded campsite awaited us.  We like state parks: sites are usually set apart and quiet, and although they may not always have all the hookups (they differ even within each state), we often don’t need them as they almost always have fresh water and a dump station, and our solar panels and battery provide electricity.

Day 3:  On the road again, through the Champlain Islands, over numerous bridges, some very long and some very short, lunch on a pier, over the border to Canada once again, and into Montreal to visit family.