Four beautiful autumn days, four bright moonlit nights, and four October days in Vermont for the first time in three years added up to a very special time. Credit goes to daughter Wendy and my friends Ed and Marcia Coffey who arranged this very unexpected journey, which included the little red house in Vermont, which we all enjoyed so much for 30 years. I hadn’t been back since Ed and Marcia bought it in 1994. It was a bit difficult going back, but it still felt comfortable and the good times prevailed.

Going north on Monday morning, Wendy and I made lists of the patriotic, heartwarming, and different expressions of Americans all the way. We will speak of these next week.

After depositing suitcases and a small amount of food in the camp, we first drove over to Andover where David and Joy were spending their final week at the Horseshoe Acres campground. They were cooking their evening meal out on the grill and were a bit startled to have two hungry members arrive. After a little teasing we admitted we were heading to Chester to have dinner at “Raspberries and Thyme.” Their camper is very nice – larger than we had expected, with all modest conveniences and a peaceful place to visit.

Dinner in Chester was as good as it had been several years ago, in the old Victorian house; we had to pass on dessert, so generous were the servings. The atmosphere there is typical Vermont – easy, comfortable, and no need to dress to the nines.

Tuesday we shopped all day long in the stores we knew best in Manchester. It is a hub of name brand outlets these days, but we enjoyed the woodworking store and a very nice store devoted to a selection of clothing for men – working men or those just seeking comfort. Carhartt is a name we were to hear more about in several places.

Back in Chester after we had each gotten several things for Christmas giving, we visited the bank where Joy is manager. She was on her fall vacation at the camp, but we had a quiet visit with Erron Carey and the other girls before heading back to camp and a couple of quiet hours of reading.

Wednesday we headed north to see my daughter Laurie, who had taken a day of her vacation time to go “roaming” with us. First stop was a top of the list wish for me – an apple orchard. Birch Hill Orchards was very warm and trees were still offering several varieties of “pick your own.” We did! Laurie drove up to a couple of trees only a step off the orchard roadway, and I managed to pick half a bushel of special apples. Back in the main barn of the orchard we also got two other kinds already bagged, plus some “just dug” potatoes, red onions, and jars of maple spread.

Back down to Brandon Village, where we went to visit the Warren Kimble studio, gallery, and gift shops. This Vermont artist has become very famous, and his work tells the viewer many things about the Green Mountain State, which he loves. We bought more Christmas things and did a lot of wishful purchasing of some of the lovely paintings on display. The family home in the adjoining yard had the very nicest gardens and landscaping we had seen. It was at its best – not yet frosted and most things in full bloom.

Laurie took over the afternoon with an ambling kind of ride – mostly on back roads where we saw a big flock of wild turkeys and waited in vain at a spot where moose are often viewed below a roadside down in a valley. We saw no moose but talked to a couple from North Carolina who had seen some in another place.

When we got to Randolph, Laurie went outside the village and we were soon at Three Stallion Inn, a Green Mountain stock farm. The attached restaurant was tastefully furnished in a country setting, featuring beautifully framed pictures on the walls of the dining room. Dinner was again delicious and more than we could finish. Back to Laurie’s schoolhouse, which is so pleasant and cozy; we collected our things and headed for the little red house for another night’s sleep.

We had also driven out Route 30 from Manchester to the Adams Factory Store in Dorset. I finally found a small chopping bowl to my liking and another Christmas gift. I won’t dread shopping as much this coming December - Vermont always made it easy!

Going home Thursday we stopped to buy cheese and a couple of other items in Manchester and in Bennington turned in the center and drove three miles west to the old cider mill where a longtime acquaintance, Kay Montendo, has a lovely shop full of apples and Vermont syrups and many other items. The lunchroom at one end of the shop provided yet one more special meal – squash soup and quiche for me and a roast beef sandwich for Wendy. We were having trouble deciding about dessert, which we knew were homemade. I gave in to a piece of rhubarb-strawberry pie and Wendy had no trouble deciding on apple pie and ice cream. Knowing there would be no more “meals out” made it easy to splurge on calories.

Going home we weren’t alone on the southbound lanes, but already the northbound lanes were very busy with leaf-peeping tourists and we were glad to be home before the holiday weekend. The foliage was a little spotty – some places just at the prime for viewing – in others, not yet quite as colorful.

The closing words of last week’s column were by Justice Hugo L. Black.

We go back to 1775 for today’s quotation: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it. Almighty God, I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”