Rhonda Bracey: At Random

My last full day in Vermont, sadly. It started with me waking up at dawn and racing down to Lake Champlain to catch the sunrise.

Sunrise over Lake Champlain, Vermont, 22 July 2017

Sunrise over Lake Champlain, Vermont, 22 July 2017

Shoes and shingles (water shoes [Aleader brand] for the whole family + visitors)

With matching towels, there’s no argument

Two of the antique quilts on my bed at the cottage

That was followed by a hearty breakfast at a local diner.

Eggs Benedict

Then it was off to South Burlington to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, where we did the tour. As a person who sews, I loved the tour and learned quite a bit about how they make their teddy bears. Based on the machines we saw, most of the sewing is done on Juki industrial sewing machines.

Bears of all sizes – the large ones look like they’ve had too much Christmas food and drink!

There are gray bears, black bears, blonde bears, brown bears…

Political bears from the 2016 Presidential election campaign

Cutters for the 20 parts that make up a finished bear

Juki industrial sewing machines

List of patients at the bear hospital

My friend was offered a 1999 SLK Mercedes Coupe (red, of course!) at an excellent price, so in the afternoon we took it for a test drive. It drove really well, and after some negotiation, she bought it from the seller the day after I left. A perfect car for a Vermont summer. Totally impractical for passengers (none) and luggage (minimal), but perfect for putting the top down and enjoying the fresh air on the backroads of Vermont.

Then finally, it was nearly all over, finishing with a last boat ride with the girls to see the sunset, with a bottle bubbly of course!

Goodbye sun, goodbye Vermont

Tomorrow, I start the long trek home to Australia — Burlington to Ronald Reagan Airport at Washington DC, Reagan to Dallas Fort Worth, Dallas Fort Worth to Sydney, Sydney to Perth, and then the 2-hour drive home (yes, I’m being picked up!). That’s about 25 hours in the air, not including any airport wait time.