Dear Vermont- I Love You

First off, thanks to my amazing sister Erin for letting me come visit her! Everything just worked for the trip- I needed to go and get out and I like to think she needed me to come. I felt uplifted and refreshed.

Okay, here's a day by day breakdown of my trip:

Thursday/Friday
I flew red-eye. We left SLC at 1145. Not to disappoint, there was a "celebrity" of sorts on the flight. Okay, most people who aren't LDS and didn't go to BYU-I won't have a clue who he is, but Kim Clark was on my flight. He wears a suit, even to fly red-eye, flies 1st class, reads The Economist magazine and needs both a neck pillow and a back pillow to fly.

We ended up getting delayed quite a bit. Having to circle JFK a few times because so many planes were trying to land and then we had to diver to Philadelphia because we had to circle more and were running out of gas. Supposed to leave JFK at 910, didn't get there until 915, flight was delayed more, didn't get to Burlington until 245!

It was okay though, because it was super rainy, so we didn't have a ton planned for Friday. We got to Erin's, I changed out of my travel clothes (my costume, naturally) and we went downtown Burlington. They have a neat little part of town called Church Street. Lots of shops, a huge variety of restaurants. We went down by the waterfront and it was gorgeous!!! Then we met up with Dave after he was done with school for the day and went to a lovely homey place and had a great burger and fries for dinner. I loved it 'cause the restaurant had ginger ale to drink and I heart ginger ale.

I was soooooooo tired that I fell asleep at 930, so I crashed on my comfy camp cot in the den and slept the sleep of the dead!

Saturday
So I missed the first session of conference, don't jduge! I'll catch up and read the talks this weekend.

We went up to the Stowe/Waterbury area, ready for awesomeness! We took a golondola ride (ask Ana and Jack and that is how you say gondola) to the highest point in Vermont (a whopping 4000 ft.)- it's called Mt. Mansfield. Then we had a healthy lunch of cider donuts at Cold Hollow Cider Mill- don't worry, we drank some juice too. Then we hit the Ben & Jerry's factory. I'm a little offended that they weren't making ice cream that day. It's a pretty hip place and it was insanely busy!!! we got samples of Milk & Cookies ice cream, which really is just cookies & cream, but it was still really good! Dave opted to not go with us- he stayed home and got all smart and medically knowledged and whatnot.

I'm sure we did something really tasty for dinner- oh yes! Grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade tomato soup (you should try Erin's recipe, it is great). After the kiddies were in bed, Erin, Dave & I started Star Trek.

Okay, side bar: Dave made the comment about how Phippen girls never start movies at night to actually watch- we start them to fall asleep to- please tell me we're not the only family who does that! :)

Sunday
Erin & I went by our onesies down to Sharon to watch conference. Thanks Dave for staying home with the kiddies. For those who may not be familiar, Sharon is the birthplace of Joseph Smith, Jr., first prophet in modern times of the LDS church. The LDS church now owns a lot of property there and has a visitor's center and a regular meetinghouse on site.

I felt at home as soon as I stepped out of the car. There was amazing music wafting through the trees, it was a beautiful Sunday morning. I felt such peace! We wandered the grounds for a while and then went to the chuch building to watch conference. There were close to 100 other people there- it was pretty cool. After it was over, we just wandered for a while longer and basked in the beauty of the day and of the Spirit. It was an amazing thing and I walked away with a stronger testimony than when I got there that morning. Best idea ever Erin!

The rest of the day was spent watching more conference, having snacks, playing, all good Sunday things!

Monday
You all need to go visit Shelburne Farms if you're ever in Vermont- it is a must! It is property once owned by a Vanderbilt and now it is a huge working farm/educational center/visitor's center/awesome place. Sad for Ana- she got pecked on her hand by a chicken who did not appreciate her poking her hand around looking for chickens. I would love to work there!

We spent most of the day there- but not before we had a puppet show! Ana made puppets of all of us with that day's outfits and we had quite the performance.

Then we went to Shelburne Orchard- another amazing place with amazing donuts!

Monday night, we had a great dinner at a local seafood place called Ray's. I decided to be adventurous and I tried lobster for the first time! I am so proud of me. I liked it a surprising amount- it was sweeter than I was expecting.

Tuesday
We didn't do much Tuesday. I needed to be at the airport around 230 or so and so we got up, made a trip over to Walmart (flash drive and Beauty & the Beast for me, Thomas the Tank Engine dvd for Jack, Barbie & the 12 Dancing Princesses for Ana), had a tasty lunch at Wendy's and then it was time to go.

I had such a wonderful time- Erin was a fantastic hostess and filled it with as much fun as we could manage in just a few days! I highly recommend everyone visit Vermont in the fall- be warned though, lots of people have that idea!

Some concluding thoughts:
-There is only 1 Wendy's in the entire state of Vermont- what is up with that?
-Vermont thinks they are Canada. Half the places there fly both the American and Canadian flags, and half their directional signs say how many km to your destination. They also don't have exit signs coordinate with mileposts.
-Vermont is amazing.
-Cider donuts are food essential for a happy life.

It really was a grand time! Enjoy the slideshow!