Day 52, North Clarendon, VT

Departed the rally and finally start to head south.  Drive along the Lake Champlain Byway to Proctor, VT.  First stop the Vermont Marble Museum.  The museum is housed at the Vermont Marble Co. which at one time was the largest company in the US.  The company quarried and fabricated the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.  Lots of different marbles and an in-house artist making sculptures.  I even got to chisel some marble myself.  It sure takes a long time to sculpt anything so I will leave sculpting to the artist.  Next stop Wilson Castle.  Built in 1867, it is a fascinating house with a lot of the original furnishings including a fireplace in each room, stained glass throughout, four turrets and a marvelous view of the Green Mountains.  The house is about 4 miles outside of the fairly small town on Proctor and is privately owned but it is no longer used as a residence. The house is in some disrepair and funding is an issue.  I hope the family can do something to restore the house as it is really a gem as AAA claims.  Checked into Iroquois Land Family Camping, our first campground in a week, for laundry and other necessities.

Day 49-51, Essex Junction, VT

A little rest & relaxation at the rally which was much needed.  We finally used our bikes which have been folded up in our basement since we bought the coach.  A nice feature of the coach is an air compressor.  Filled each bike tire in about ½ a second.  We did a few things outside the rally such as a cruise on Lake Champlain on the Spirit of Ethan Allen, III.  The water was smooth as glass with temps in the mid 70's and a cool breeze.  We had the best seat on the boat, a nice shady spot on the top deck just in front of the control room.  We also attended the Saturday farmer’s market in downtown Burlington - more free food and spirits too!  Caledonia Spirits of Vermont had samples of their gin.  Now gin is the one spirit that I do not really care for but Caledonia does something different - they age the gin 4 months in American oak.  The result is a nice amber color and a taste similar to bourbon.  It was delicious but running out of room in the coach so no purchase this time.  The rally was a bit disappointing as it was much smaller and not as many vendors or seminars as other rallies we have attended.  The Saturday night all you can eat pig roast dinner was nice and of course, I ate all I can eat and then some.  Although BBQ chicken was available, Rosemary actually preferred the pulled pork.  Wonders never cease.  We did attend one seminar that was attended by one other couple, Josef and Jana, about our age who lived locally and recently purchased their first coach.  We invited them to our coach for a beer and a look at the one item not functioning as it should on our coach - the entrance door shade that would not stay down (we’ve been using a clip to keep it down).  Turns out Josef has a business involving shades among other things. He took our shade home and brought it back the next day, reinstalled it and now it is all fixed.  More beer and new friends in Vermont.