Day4-To the Land of the Unknown

Day 4 and we are off to northern Vermont, to see the Chairvolotti’s. The reason why this is the Land of the unknown is because we have only a small clue as to where they live. You see they left, but I did not get their address. Me, the all-knowing electronic guru just assumed that I would be able to call his cell and make contact. We tried that a couple of days ago. But, it appears that Tom’s cell phone belonged to his employer and he no longer had it. Fortunately, someone there was able to call me back to let me know at least that.
Ok, what is the small clue. We knew that Tom was going to work for the Vermont Department of Natural Resources at the Fish Hatchery on Grand Isle on Lake Champlain. That is it. That is all we knew. So, we googled. I don’t think that DNR gave me any useful results. But under google maps I was able to find Fish Hatchery Road on Grand Isle. So, I got the satellite view and found the hatchery, but no Tom. We decided to just put in that address, and perhaps someone will know the new hire.
When we got up on Day4, we left early, sort of. Both Neen and Gordon had to go to work. So we decided to leave at the same time. The drive up Lake George was beautiful. Full of curvy roads that followed the western shore. Lots of beautiful homes and camps. But as we approached the northern end of Lake George and the southern end of Lake Champlain, we had to cross the Hudson.
The Bridge Was Out. THE BRIDGE WAS OUT. But, they had a ferry. A ferry? I have a few experiences on a ferry. What I remembered was wavy, and rolly, and a decking made of grating. No place for a motorcycle. So, when I got up to the guardhouse, I got off and asked. “Is this safe?” She reassured me that lots of bikes go across. And the deck was solid.
So, with stomach in check, I rolled onto the ferry. Of course, where we were parked, the bike naturally leaned to the left. In addition to that, if you put the kickstand down, it leans farther to the left. I could just see the bike tipping over on its side. So, I balanced it straight up all the way across. While we were on the bike, a guy came over and asked us if we wanted our picture taken. Well, yeahhhh.
So, we made it to Grand Isle, but the weather looked bad. We found the only place to get something to eat and went inside. 30 seconds later, God sent a reminder what Noah had experienced on that first day. It came down soooo hard. We took about 1.5 hours to eat a hamburger. We are only 1 mile away from Fish hatchery Road.
A couple of other bikers, walkers and others made it into the place to wait out the storm. We had a good time watching it pour. After it sort of stopped, we paid our bill and asked where we could stay for the night. No choices, unless we went back to Burlington, an hour backwards. The weather did not look good.
So we drove to Fish Hatchery Rd. There is a museum or historical building there called the Gordon House. We went in and looked for a live person. Introduced myself and said I was looking for Tom Chairvolotti. That person had no idea who he was. But another lady came out from behind a closed door and said she thought there was a new hire at the Fish Hatchery and suggested we ask up there. Well, that was good news, at least a possibility.
Up at the fish hatchery, things started looking up. We met a gentleman by the name of Sean. He was very helpful. He knew Tom and indicated that he would find him and tell him of our arrival. Yippee. Then he suggested we go to his house and he gave us directions.
Tom and Sheila are super people. They love the Lord and they love their children. When Tom got home we reacquainted ourselves and he called Sheila. OK, you have to realize that I am looking at the sky and wondering what I am going to do tonight. So, I begged. “Tom, please can we sleep on your floor tonight?” Of course, Tom was gracious, overly so and gave us his bedroom and made our stay most comfortable.
Sheila made it home in just a few minutes and we got to see the kids. Maddeline, Jack and Audry were super. They are some of the best kids we have ever known. (Except our grandkids, of course.) Sheila had been shopping and brought home a slew of peaches. The Chairvolotti’s are still in the moving stage, but I was amazed that they had a garden planted already. It was put in within 3 days after they arrived. Simply amazing. I was about to see how this was possible.
Later we had pizza. Then Tom took us to the fish hatchery for a personal tour. But Sheila remained behind. By the time we got back, she had cleaned, peeled, and baked two pies. Wow…
For me, the fish hatchery was phenomenal. This system is industrial strength. Huge numbers of fish are hatched and stocked all over Lake Champlain. The process requires monitoring and strict adherence to rules to maintain proper hygiene for the fish. Just to see hundreds of thousands of fish in these tanks was a sight to behold.
I can’t thank them enough for putting us up at a time that I was truly worried what we would do. They are super people. Day5 we travel to Manchester NH.