The interstate highway system in SW Vermont doesn't connect with any other interstate. So we again took the back roads to Bennington.
In the town of Killington several businesses along the highway made critters using the big round bales of hay: teddy bears, a pig, a cat, a John Deere tractor and other huge creations. By the time I grasp what was happening and opened my camera we were halfway through town. At that point all the "critters" faced the incoming traffic.
Wallingford's Victorian houses along the highway created a lovely sight. Many homes had aluminum siding or new paint jobs that gave a crisp new look to the old homes. After Wallingford (a district in Seattle name), we passed Maryville, Arlington and Manchester (more Washington names). As we travel around we see the same names repeated in each state: Salem, N.H. lies about 25 miles NW of Salem, MA.
Our Pine Hollow RV Park south of Bennington, VT accepted only cash...no credit cards. The peaceful park sat way back in the Green Mountains. Some grassy sites radiated out from a large pond. Water shot high into the air and arched back into the pond from a fountain rising slightly off center of the pond. Our sites were backed up against a hedge just beyond the pond. But we still had a nice view of the pond..
The Apple Barn located a short distance from the RV Park started off our day. The shop sold bakery products, fresh and canned produce, candy, cheese, syrups and much more. We purchased some fresh fruit and a couple of bakery treats for dessert later.
The Bennington Battle Monument commemorates the success of the Green Mountain boys led by John Stark to drive back the British. The monument stands 306 feet 4 1/2 inches tall. The construction of the tallest structure in Vermont began in 1887 and was completed in 1891. 
An elevator takes visitors to the observation deck for a 360 degree view of Vermont, Green Mountains, New York and Massachusetts.
The scenery actually looks a lot alike in which ever direction you look.
We also found this cool old truck in Bennington. Derrille thought the lunch bunch may enjoy seeing this old truck.
Decorated moose stand on street corners and in front of businesses all over town. We captured several of the 25 with our cameras. 
Most of the moose have a scene of something depicting Vermont painted on them. 
While visiting Bennington downtown we found a great chocolate shop. Inside Molly and Benny stood proudly in their wedding attire atop a display table. Information on each moose plus their marriage certificates is framed and available for viewing. The chocolate moose oversee the many delightful confections in the store. The store owner created the moose. What fun!
During our loop of Southern Vermont we noticed that several stores were already closed for the season. Between the cities of Arlington and Manchester, we found one extraordinary "Christmas Days" shop with its wonderful inventory. The owner said she was a month behind in getting everything out. We suspect she sells to the fall hunters, and to the skiers who frequent the many ski resorts here during the winter.
Manchester surprised us. Like Freeport, Maine Manchester is a town of outlet stores....big block size stores. Of interest to some of you may be that in Manchester we spotted a fly fishing school and a fly fishing museum.
The road climbed upwards into the Green Mountains, past more ski resorts. Restaurants and inns filled the valleys between ski resorts. Downtown Weston, VT may be 1 and 1/2 blocks long. Its village store held everything one would expect in a country general store. Then we crossed the street to enter the Vermont Country Store. The old screen door snaps closed behind you and you turn the black round door knob on the wooden door to close it. Then you stop and look at the interior. Hopefully your chin doesn't drop to the floor when you mouth falls open and your eyes widen. What a sight! The store appears to go on forever. A zillion pieces of merchandise fill the store. Inventory hangs, sets, and stacks on each other from the floor to the ceiling. Boxes, bins, tubs, bottles, and cans full of "stuff" leave only enough room for customers to get through the aisles.
The right front corner holds candy. A counter displays trays of fine chocolates. Behind the counter, shelves hold prepackaged bags, tins, and jars of candy. Tall display cases hold open bins of modern and old fashion candies. To the left meats and cheese wait in a cold case. Nuts of all kinds fill the shelves. A circular shelf around a support post provides a wide array of cheese for tasting. A similar support post shelf offers samples of button cookies. The sealed cookie boxes fill the bins above and below the tasting shelf. A section further on has toys and souvenirs. Small appliances set out on table next to the wine section. Up two stairs to the next level house wares and kitchen wares fill display tables. Around the corner to the left, in its own little room, Hispanic products for tasting and selling reside. Back in the main room, greeting cards, paper, and party things celebrate every occasion. Beyond the second level, an equally large room contains racks and racks of clothing for everyone in the family and for every possible need. Beyond this room is yet another with hardware items: tools, paint, plumbing, garden items, house decor, etc. A hallway near the back connects to the building next door where mattresses and bedding items can be found. Things you didn't even know were still manufactured exist in this store. You can check The Vermont Country Store out on line at: http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/
We had hoped to dine in Saxton River as suggested to me by a hair stylist in Arizona who had just moved out from Vermont. We couldn't find the place. In Grafton a few miles further we did find the cheese store. However we didn't like the Grafton cheese as well as others we've tried. We did eat lunch there before continuing on to Brattleboro. The road from Brattleboro back to Bennington twisted and turned up and down the Green Mountains. Some parts descended at significant grades of steepness.From our base in Bennington, we also toured the western side of Massachusetts. This road took us to the Hancock Shaker Village Museum. The museum includes the original village, the farm, gardens and trails in the woods. Ann Lee founded the Shaker religion in England around 1736. The actual name of the religion is very long, and I can't remember it. The Shaker label came from the gyrations and movements that accompany their religious services. It was thought of as derogatory, but over time has come to identify this group. Ann Lee established the American communities in seven states during 1774. The Shakers live a celibate religious community life style. Some of their beliefs include a duality of the Deity: Father and Mother God; equality of the sexes, of labor and of property; temperance in all things; a duality spirit...duality of Christ as manifested in Jesus and Ann Lee. They governed with dual leadership. They felt the community would be perpetuated with the admission of serious minded persons and the adoption of children. They were wrong. 90% of all the orphan children under their care left the community when they came of age.
The community was equal but separate. One large building housed the brothers' machinery shop at one end and the sisters' laundry rooms at the other. The Shakers are credited with several labor saving inventions. Some dispute who did what because they didn't take out patents at the time. The washing machine is one of the few patents they did establish. In the laundry area, clothes washed in the machines were lifted by dumb waiter to the attic and hung up to dry. When dry, the clothes dropped in a chute to the ironing room.
The machinery ran with a series of belts and pulleys to create the Shaker furniture and covered wooden boxes. The machinery power came from a turbine, where the water was piped in from a creek across the way. An elder learned of the new turbine in France. A swinging oil catcher hangs under a pulley to keep the oil from dripping on the floor.
The large dormitory Brick Dwelling stands four stories high. The basement at one end contains a huge kitchen. The Shakers created oil drum size ovens with shelves so that multiple pies or loaves of breads could be baked at one time. They raised the stove to waist high, so the women didn't have to bend to the hearth to cook. 
Separate parlors for men and women and guests were near the main entry doors. The chapel contains seats for men at one end and women at the other. Rooms for sleeping occupy the upper levels. The rooms are sparsely furnished. Everything included chairs are hung from pegs on the wall when not in use. Rooms for spinning, weaving, knitting, sewing, etc. use some of the upper level space too.
Separate buildings provide work space for the men to make chairs and boxes and for the women to handle the wool: card, spindle, dye, and spin. As the number of men in the community declined, outside laborers wer hired to help with the work. A house for hired men kept outsiders needed to help work the farm away from the religious community.
The woven seat chairs were made in a variety of colors.
The circular barn construction allows the hay wagons to enter the barn and get the hay into the center of the circle. The cows stand around the outside of the circle to be milked. The manure is shoveled into opening on the barn floor that drops it to the basement where it can be hauled away. A stable extends from one side of the circular barn.
A large, beautiful Victorian home houses The Trustee's Office and Store. The Shakers build this ornate structure to impress the outside visitors with whom they wanted to trade goods. Interior walls kept the outsiders from mixing with community members more than necessary.
This one is currently being restored.
The village also had a school, a ministry shop and the meeting house. The four governing elders, two men, two women, lived above the meeting house.
I found it fascinating to get a peek into this world. We also ate lunch at the village restaurant in the visitor's center. Great food!
From here we dashed over to Stockbridge and the Norman Rockwell Museum. As a group, we pass on viewing art museums, but this one piqued all of our interests. To see the Rockwell paintings in this environment rates as a special event.
We went into the town of Stockbridge. Downtown looks like the kind you find on Christmas cards. 
The Red Lion probably looks like it did in Rockwell's time.
Guests and visitors sit on the wide veranda in big rocking chairs and watch the world go by. Again it was late in the day, and shops were closing. This could be an interesting town to explore if one had the time.
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