Barton is located in northern Vermont near Lake Willoughby and Crystal Lake.
Sadie, at 8 weeks old, loves to play. She is a precious, green eyed, energetic, and a very smart chocolate lab. Rich and Sylvia just brought her home and within moments of meeting each other, Jake was playing with her. When we come back in a month, it will be interesting to see how much she has grown.
Lake Willoughby
What a beautiful lake. Its about a 20 minute drive from Barton. Yankee magazine named Willoughby as the third best lake in New England in 2010. It was formed by glacial action and is over 320 feet deep. It looks like a Norwegian fjord. Robert Frost spent summers here. From 1884 to the early 1900’s, small steam boats operated on the lake. Lake Willoughby may have gotten its name after a man named Willoughby was crossing the ice with a horse-drawn sled. When the horses broke through, Willoughby and his driver were drowned, and the lake was called Willoughby in his memory.
Mount Hor
The photo is a view from the summit with the wind turbines in the background. Sandy had the opportunity to put the Jeep into 4 wheel drive and enjoy the dirt roads.
We hiked to a beautiful pond. Then, after more dirt road exploring, we found the hiking trail to the summit. Jake really enjoyed being off lease and the opportunity to run. The trails were muddy, so Jake got a nice hot outdoor shower when we got back to the RV.
White Caps Campground
The sunsets from the RV were stunning, when it wasn’t raining. White Caps Campground is located at the southern end of Lake Willoughby. We were able to pull in and had great views of the lake. There is canoeing/kayaking, fishing, and numerous hiking and mountain bike trails. The park only had 30 amp service. The power went out because of the constant rain/wind storms. Verizon signal was very poor to non-existent. There were a few clear local antenna tv stations. No cable. The park had wifi, good enough to surf but not stream. There is a clothing optional beach nearby. Our neighbors from New Hampshire went, but, with the temperatures being in the 50’s, windy, and sporadic rain, we were surprised to hear there were 3 naked guys drinking beer by a fire. We could hear them hooting and hollering at sunset. Party naked!
Barton
It was wonderful to visit with Sandy’s parents, Rich and Sylvia. Jake loved chasing the squirrels at their house. He spent hours staring out the porch windows watching them. Wild turkeys also visited while we were there.
We had a great time at the shooting range with Rich. Sandy enjoyed shooting his 22 gauge rifle and actually hit the tiny metal target. Don’t mess with her!!
Crystal Lake
Its near the village of Barton and is a glacial lake approximately 1×3 miles in size and about 100 feet deep. We went to Danielle’s (Sandy’s stepsister) birthday party at Gail and Gary’s lake cabin. It was an enjoyable shindig. The cabin had been there for a long time and was recently remodeled. Its a wonderful summer retreat on the water.
May Pond
It is more the size of a lake since it has a surface area of 116 acres. Maybe it isn’t very deep and sunlight reaches the bottom. It supplies drinking water. May Pond is an uncrowded, beautiful, relaxing, and pristine setting just up the road from Sandy’s parents in Barton.
Newport
Prouty Beach Campground
We changed campgrounds from White Caps to Prouty Beach because we needed good Verizon coverage and 50 amp service but still be near Barton. We were right next to Lake Memphremagog. The campground would not let us face the lake, so our view was of the parking lot. The constant dilemma between Class A with a view out the front and 5th wheel with a view out the back. 5th wheel won this time. There was no cable or wifi. The antenna only picked up one French speaking station. Our pad was huge, but no trees or bushes for privacy between sites. The lake is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport and Quebec, Canada. Lake Memphremagog is beautiful and huge.
The rain stopped, the black flies were not out, so we enjoyed a glass of wine and a fire at sunset. Burn baby Burn!!
Northeast Kingdom Tasting Center
We had lunch at the Newport Cider House Bar & Grill. Its in the same building as the winery, bake shop, and maple shop. The atmosphere and beers were very good. But I needed a Crestor after eating their BLT.
During the last couple of months it rained more days than not, Sandy found some color in the local art on a stormy day.
