News from Vermont #248 -- Gettin' They'ah from He'ah
Hello again Maple People,
Between all the shoveling of snow and cutting of hay, real Vermonters don't necessarily get away very often but when we do, it's usually a memorable affair. Take for instance the time six of us headed for Russia one Tuesday morning a few years back. It was a "trip of a lifetime" sort of thing that we had saved and saved for...Betsy, me, our two boys, and their significant others all crammed into our Morse Farm van and headed for Boston's Logan airport five hours before flight time. I, trip planner in-extraordinaire, had figured three hours would get us to the airport and allow two hours to get on the plane. As luck (and total ignorance) would have it, the slow roads we encountered all the way culminated in absolute limbo somewhere in Boston's infamous "Big Dig". We finally rolled into Logan that morning with just ten minutes to flight time. Somehow thanks to cell phones and our airline's superior customer service, we were met by a large golf cart at the parking garage and whisked through the process. The whirlwind we had been in soon fell away as we lifted off and headed up the Atlantic coast, frazzled but in store for an extremely memorable trip to Russia.
My friends Steve and Martha, like me, are real Vermonters but are somehow much more refined travelers. They recently returned from a well-planned trip to England but you know what they say about "the best laid plans...". They were due to fly out on September 8 and it so happened that Hurricane Irene made her angry visit just days before that. Steve and Martha are from the town of Chittenden which is in Rutland County, down in the very hardest hit region of Vermont. Although their home was untouched by the storm, roads and bridges all around them were wiped out. Their planning originally included traveling to the White River Junction area to board the Dartmouth bus which makes a regular run to Logan Airport. There was, however, no way to get from Chittenden to White River. Suddenly the tiny Rutland airport seemed to be their only hope. They called and found a flight that would work and on September 8, went to the airport.
Once there, they found out that yet another storm had changed priorities at Logan and their small plane would be denied permission to land there. The airline at Rutland, though, said "not to worry...we'll taxi you to Boston!". A taxi immediately showed up for them, another passenger, and all their luggage. The Vermont driver said "Yup...we can git you they'ah but if yer willin' t'do a little walkin', it'll save ya some time." Since they were down to about five hours till flight time, they were all for it. Their anticipation over the "walkin'" part only grew as they headed out through the city of Rutland and proceeded north right back toward the wilds of Chittenden...Chittenden, mind you, is at best the antithesis of Logan Airport and and now thanks to Irene was totally shut off from the rest of the world by washed out roads and crumpled bridges! They held tight, though, as the driver somehow kept exuding an air of confidence. The taxi made several turns and finally ended up on a rough gravel road designated by the locals as the Hillbilly Highway. At last, almost at the top of the mountain, their driver pulled off the road and sitting there idling was the conveyance for the next leg of their trip to Boston, a four-wheel ATV pulling a tiny trailer!
"Mike'll shuttle ya to the other side th'valley" their driver hollered as he rushed to transfer the luggage onto the ATV's trailer. Steve and the other passenger crowded on the ATV behind Mike and Martha, smallest of the group, piled into the trailer with the luggage! Once aboard, Mike put the machine in gear and they slowly headed out cross hill and dale, forest and riverbed to meet a Boston-bound cab where finally the roads were okay.
Just like us during our adventure to Russia, they made their flight but with not a minute to spare. They're back now and it sounds like they had a wonderful time. We're lucky in this day and age that our airlines are expedient and honorable. It's rare that folks miss out on the wonders of world travel but it's so nice to know that on the rare occasions when Mother Nature shows her ugly side, even from a place like Vermont, one way or another, you can usually get "they'ah from he'ah.".
Since the last time I wrote, most of our leaves have made a mass exodus and our next season, the Holidays, is coming right up. Soon Morse Farm will be decked out in great fashion and our loading dock will be piled high with outgoing Christmas packages. Right now, though, we still have some "finishing up" to do from foliage season. So, we've decided to extend that 15% sale on all gallons, half gallons and quarts of all grades of Morse Farm Maple Syrup until November 1. That should give you time to get some for yourself or place an early gift order. Just go to http://www.morsefarm.com/
Thanks and remember...ya can git "he'ah from they'ah" so easy at www.morsefarm.com.
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