From the post title: VC = Vehicle Coordinator.
This creative display on Elder Warner's cubicle pin wall
shows that there are occasions when he really does have
TOO much time on his hands - though rarely.
(Perhaps this happened while awaiting a computer fix.)
My post may seem a little too much like a travelogue,
but since we have just learned that we will be able to
extract this "real time" mission report blog and make
a hard copy to revisit at some point, I want to capture some
of the wonderful adventures we have had while on mission business.
This will be one of those.
As part of Vince's duties to take care of the fleet, we occasionally
need to travel so he can re-install TIWIs or otherwise
provide service. Last weekend, we made one of those northern
trips - to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, including an overnight stay.
We didn't get a picture of the young Elders who he had to
meet up with, but these below, Elders Jones and Smith
serving in Lowell, MA, will represent the Lyndon Elders.
After a two and a quarter hours trip - which included
stops to take phone calls from Elders and Sisters,
about both vehicles servicing and supply requests,
we arrived at our lodging. The Fairbanks Inn celebrates
one of the founding families in St. Johnsbury.
This town historic marker that was on
the property of the Inn documents that
Thaddeus Fairbanks with brothers invented
the first platform scale here in 1830. They are one
of two families whose industrial incomes helped
establish this beautiful historic community and endowed
many of the public institutions that still bless people here.
Once we unloaded, we set off to explore the town.
This is the beautiful railroad station which now serves
as St. John's Welcome Center, plus houses some
government offices and other entities.
Inside, it was easy to travel back in imagination to a day
when the trains still stopped here . . .
. . . with passengers
purchasing tickets and waiting . . .
. . . in the bench chairs
for their departures, or for incoming visitors.
The welcome clerk on duty as we approached
noted that she knew "about Idaho" because she had
recently returned from a trip to Hope, Idaho to visit
a former resident of St. Johns, and we could tell
she was sorry this friend was no longer living close by.
We walked across the street to have lunch at the diner
as the clerk recommended, and enjoyed the Vermont
"hospitality" of self-contained wait staff. She took our order,
served it, superficially inquired about our satisfaction, etc.,
without breaking a smile. Finally, she came by to
dutifully recommend dessert from the chalk sign nearby.
When I responded that I would like one of each, but because
it is January, I'd have to pass! She immediately understood
my reference to the Diet Resolution Season, and smiled
and made a cute comment in a chatty way.
Rewarding to break the ice!
* * * * *
Next we walked up the hill to visit the historic St. John's
Atheneum, which was a historic home, and now contains
the town's library and a beautiful art gallery.
(This pic is from the web; there was snow on the ground
when we visited, of course.)
Inside we were thrilled and warmed by the lovely
wood-worked details of the second floor galleries
featuring turned spindles and plane-shaped railings.
Here in a different "room" is a metal work
spiral stairway and upper gallery.
I could spend hours here, but it would be
difficult to concentrate with all this beauty around!
We continued our walk, ended up on Railroad Street
again, visited the local shops, and enjoyed our wander.
Earlier, we had driven into the historic homes neighborhood
and they could be copied into a ceramic Christmas village,
they are so picturesque and romantic.
For dinner, we drove to nearby Danville and found
the Creamery Restaurant there. In the bottom-floor
restaurant and pub area, we relaxed and enjoyed
candle-light ambiance with lovely seafood dishes . . .
. . . which were presented to us (below)
on this fun old-fashioned chalkboard menu.
The restaurant seats only approx. 30 people,
with only a couple of "family" wait staff.
So the menu travels to tables one at a time,
can be easily updated for changing daily fare.
This mode is a way to pace how the orders are
submitted to the kitchen to avoid
overwhelming their limited capacity.
Very intelligent and homey approach!
(I had the Creamery pasta with chicken;
Vince had the Shrimp Scampi.)
Our appointment with the Lyndon Elders was set
for around 11 a.m. in a town only 10 minutes away.
We had made arrangements to bring them pizza lunch.
Our free morning hours were planned, therefore,
to have some winter fun on the St. John's rail trail
where we were NOT disappointed .
Rail trails in New England are a wonderful idea!
When trains became irrelevant, towns and local
governments or organizations stepped in to preserve
their winding "footprint" as year-round recreation areas.
They are practically perfect for a certain style of
biking and walking, and of course, cross country skiing.
They tend to be wonderfully scenic in a back-trail sort of way.
Above is one view we encountered as the trail crossed
a small icy stream. Below, we stopped to enjoy this dusky
horizon view back toward St. Johns village.
It looks like sunset, but was actually early morning.
One feature that made this trail extra interesting is
the series of 30 ft. diameter pipe tunnels that allow
the trail to cross under the highways and roads.
We weren't sure what these would be like, but we
knew it was likely we would need to step out of skis
to get across. Luckily, they are not black-top lined,
or even just muddy earth, but soft, acoustically-nicer
wood beams. Soft sounds - easy on ski boot cleats.
Here is Vince, below, clipping back into his skis,
ready to resume and ski through a "canyon" cut through
the typical New England rock landscape.
The beauty is not limited to the broad landscape view,
but was encountered even as we watched the trail
tracks right in front of us and snowy pathway ahead.
My turn to pose in front of the first tunnel -
you know its me because of my pencil-eraser
hat and blue coat.
We began our skiing near Railroad Street, at the rail trail
head where parking was provided for 6-7 vehicles.
We skied for a short 1 hour out and then returned.
I wish we could have kept skiing for more of the 20 miles
that were possible, weaving along the river to nearby
town stops on the original railroad. At one point, near
the one-third mark of our course that day, we were close
to the backside of the Fairbanks Inn where we
had lodging for the previous night.
When I showed son Riley pictures from our snowy fun
and also sent a moving-shot of the Franconia Gap
downhill ski resort that we passed both ways en route
by auto to and from St. Johnsbury, he commented that
it looked a little boring. "Flat" was the descriptor he used.
But last weekend, as an older woman with injury/surgery scars
from cross country skiing on a too-steep and icy downhill slope
that is part of a Utah County trail, my lamp is filled
abundantly by the many players involved in this rail trail.
I am grateful for the railroad industry who used resources
to blaze the trails originally, conscious of the mild gradient
that makes this safe and pleasant for an old couple.
I praise the vision of community leaders and visionaries
for seizing the opportunity to re-purpose these lanes.
I thank the sponsors and volunteers who improve and
share the trails with us, two folks visiting from Utah.
Life is good!
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