The weather was bad again so I didn’t go hiking. Instead, I made blueberry pancakes and Mollie ate some when she woke up (0830). I carefully broached the subject of whether she might like me to take her to the VINS Raptor Center and to get some passport stamps. I was surprised (and glad) when she said she wanted to go - she'd wanted those stamps since she first arrived! We packed up lunches and got on the road just after 0930. We drove through Hanover, crossed the Connecticut River and then drove along US-5. Google Maps took us on some back roads and US-4 to reach Quechee. We arrived at the VINS soon after they opened (1030) and went inside to attend a reptile and, later, a hawk/owl presentation. We then explored the animal cages and walked on the trails, including some high forest platforms (Mollie surprised me with her daredevilry!). Some exhibits were still closed but we saw a lot of things in just over two hours. We ate lunch in the car (1230) and then drove west towards Woodstock. The drive on US-4 wasn't too painful and we arrived at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP just after 1300. The place was REALLY crowded (special festival) so I waited in the car while Mollie went to get a NPS passport stamp - successful! She’d wanted to visit the animals but we decided against it when I told her that parking was too difficult. Instead, we followed US-4 back to the east and then took VT-12 (and, later, US-5) to Windsor. We then crossed the Connecticut River on the Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge and stopped for a visit to Saint Gaudens NHP. Much more of the park was open to the public than had been on my previous visits - we were able to access buildings and see art we’ve never encountered during previous visits to Saint Gaudens. The weather was nice and the flowers we in peak bloom - it was very pleasant to stroll the grounds. Mollie’s spirits were quite high (she got another Passport stamp) by the time we left (1430). We continued north on NH-12A into Plainfield, where we tried to get ice cream at Mac’s Maple - unfortunately, they were closed. I recommended that we drive over to Lebanon to visit another ice cream place we’d seen before (Mollie agreed). Our stop at the Dairy Twirl in Lebanon turned out to be a rousing success and Mollie declared it the “best ice cream” she’d ever had! After we completed our travels (at my condo by 1530), Mollie told me she’d had a great day!
