Me in front of Dan and Whit's heating system
Everyone else was up before me, and was already finished with breakfast – I had no idea I slept so long! We loaded up in both Mom’s car and Carol’s car, and just before departing to show Carol the Hanover-Norwich-Hartford-Quechee area, Carol noticed she had a particular “check engine” light on. She checked her service manual and discovered it indicated she had low tire pressure. We needed to get that fixed before she took off back to Canada, so with Mom and me in the lead we drove through Lebanon and past numerous gas stations til we arrived at Flanders and Patch on the Miracle Mile. And did they dish out the miracle! They took her car, right then and there, and said they’d fix it up and have it ready for her – AT NO COST – by the time we got back from our whirlwind sightseeing tour of my old stomping ground area.
Carol in front of Norwich Inn's glass door
Carol climbed into Mom’s car and away we went to Hanover – drove through the small and quaint downtown, around the Dartmouth College Green and crossed the bridge over the Connecticut River into Vermont and the small town of Norwich. If you are ever in Norwich you must visit ‘Dan and Whit’s’ country store. It’s a must see. They don’t make ’em like this anymore. We spent at least half an hour there, then wandered next door to the Norwich Inn, also quite a beautiful place to see.
From there we drove down to Hartford past the bicycle path I helped to bring into being back when I was Chairperson for the Conservation Commission in Hartford from 1989 to 1993. Then on to Quechee after passing over the Quechee Gorge, which is quite spectacular. THE place to see in Quechee is Simon and Pierce’s glassblowing and restaurant building. It’s situated on the edge of the Quechee River and
Glass blowing at Simon and Pierce in Quechee
used to be an old hydropower plant. Now they even have a clay studio there where they make the ceramics that are sold in the gift shop. The restaurant hangs out over the river – I used to waitress there, once upon a time, long, long ago….It’s a wonderful place – do visit it if you’re ever in Quechee.
We enjoyed another half hour gawking at all the lovely items, then headed back to pick up Carol’s car. And there it was – all finished, no check engine light coming on anymore, and NO BILL! Amazing! Thank you and many kudos to Flanders and Patch Auto on the Miracle Mile in Lebanon, NH – they did indeed deliver us a miracle, as time was of the essence that morning, for Carol still had a 6 hour drive ahead of her to get back to her home in Gananoque, and it was already almost 2 p.m.!
Clay worker trimming a bowl
We all hugged good-bye and Carol drove off. Mom and I went back to her house and spent a pleasant afternoon hanging out together 🙂 She was going to drive over to her boyfriend’s house on Lake Winnipisaki the next day, so I decided to rent a car before she left so that I’d have wheels for the weekend. She was having a renter move into her house that weekend to one of the upstairs bedrooms and asked me to be sure to keep my bedroom door locked while I was out and about. Little did I know what that would lead to…
The old Quechee River hydropower dam
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