Day 3

Another one of our slow moving morning.............I love it. I am not a fast person to begin with, for awhile I could hold my own, but now I am finding that mornings are becoming a challenge for me........and I do like mornings, the promise of a full day ahead. A day full of surprises and things that will amaze me...........but I also know that I have a hard hard time pulling myself up from under the covers and removing my head from the pillow too............

We are off to discover Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

It was ok, the tour guide didn't speak very loudly, and of course there were quite a few little children and they can only contain themselves for so long............but the ice cream..............oh my. The flavor for that day was carmel something.......it had hunks and chunks of carmel in the ice cream and it was yum-dilly-ious!!! We did the gift shop and I got a t-shirt for all of the grandchildren and then we both looked at each other and knew we HAD to have more ice cream. I opted for a cold coffee drink and it was wonderful. I think what I liked most about the whole tour was that these two young men, had no formal business training, weren't doing that well in their work lives and just decided to try something together and it worked. It didn't happen over night, but it did work and continues to work........the American dream, right? Neither of them have hands on with the company now, instead, they are both active and participating in the good works that the company does........I like that part too. One of them wears a business suit and the other still hangs out in chinos and a polo shirt........

When they were out and about sharing free cones, they traveled in a van like this........unfortunately it burned to the ground........there was a whole story to that, but I couldn't hear it. Wish I had gotten a better snapshot of the van/bus..........those small white-ish dots on the bottom are cows.

We went to find Warren.......that is where they have the "famous" general store. It was crowded.....but upstairs where the clothing and jewelry shop is, it isn't as bad..........and they have some delightful things to offer........sadly, nothing in my size..........but I almost weakened and bought a ring.......but I didn't. Now this is the first time that we could get up close and personal with the Mad River............so look out, here comes the photos..........

Looks calm and peaceful.........oh, but then we got brave and walked over to the bridge, which has the two skinniest lanes of traffic that you can imagine and started snapping there..............

We then spotted this little pull out area and I saw this cute little red house..........so of course snap snap I was off taking more pictures..........

Isn't it cute? It has a tin roof (as did many in the area) and it was just nestled into this little area, all by itself..........but then I looked around and found a pathway down to the river..............yup, you guessed it............more pictures.....

Then I spotted this one shot, I don't know, maybe I am starting to think that I am a photographer or something, but I climbed down this little embankment to get a good shot........hope you like it........

There it was, just this one single day lily, blooming in all of it's glory. I have to admit, this vacation was totally different for me. I usually am starved for the gift shops and such, and trust me I was still in them and ooohing and ahhhhing over all of the wonderful things crafted by the local artists...........but for some unknown reason, I was totally enthralled with the flowers, trees, and houses. We drove around the town for a short time and found this wonderful pottery studio.......

Odyssey Stoneware was the name and I purchased a few things there and then found these pretty flaming reddish flowers that just popped out at me..........well I looked up at her window boxes and look what I saw staring at me........I am fascinated with gargoyles and he is just sitting there peeking out at you....loved it. Now we drove down a little ways and I spotted it........oh man, I begged my friend to find a spot for me to hop out and snap pictures..............she was so good, honestly, she just did her very very best to accommodate me with my picture taking the whole trip..............Here is what I spotted........

It is the sweetest little cottage like house that has been kept up and maintained..........the flowers around it are to die for and maybe because it was yellow it just jumped out at me...........I don't know, but here is another photo closer..............

Well then I walked back to where Karen had parked and it was called Alta Day Spa and Boutique...........shoot, I don't know what I was thinking........probably wasn't. Guess the word boutique threw me off (it's easy to do) and I was expecting a whole different inside..........it was mostly a spa. Now I have never had a massage or gone to a spa, so I was just walking around and looking at everything.........and then I spotted the one little area that must have been classified as the boutique area.........handmade jewelry. This jewelry was nice, but I have to say, nothing better than what I offer and it was going for $95 for a bracelet!!!!!! I brazenly asked the woman behind the counter (and she had THE most beautiful skin.........duh.........spa!!!) if they sold a lot of the bracelets..........she said that as soon as it comes in, it goes out.............sigh. Here are a few of the flowers in front of the spa...........I know, I know..........I am on a flower vacation.

I don't know if you notice all of the clouds in the previous pictures, but the blue sky didn't hold for long and it started to rain again..........so we took off for the resort and called it a day...........