MarknRobin Making Memories: Sunday in Manchester

During the night it POURED, but we were dry and cozy as the rain was drumming on the roof of the camper. In the morning we drove back into Manchester to scope out a place for Sunday worship and found the First Baptist Church downtown. Since their service didn't start until 10:30, we had breakfast at McDonald's and then, still having two hours to kill, we stopped at a nearby laundromat and did our laundry. We met a nice young man named Malcolm who was pointing out the best machines and being very helpful. We thought he worked there, but in actuality he and his family are "regulars" and were just doing their wash. It's expensive doing laundry at a laundromat, especially when you lose $4.50 in a washer that fails to work! We had to transfer the load to another machine and there was no attendant on duty to reimburse us. I'm thankful we have a working washer and dryer at home:)

The First Baptist Church in Manchester, Vermont

We were welcomed very warmly by everyone in the small congregation of the Baptist church and had a wonderful time of worshipping our God together.

After church we spent the afternoon at the Lincoln Family summer home at Hildene. Robert Todd Lincoln, the only child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to survive to adulthood, built the 24-room mansion in 1905. The last direct descendant of Abraham Lincoln died in 1978 and the estate has since been restored and preserved for public viewing including some personal artifacts of President Lincoln.

We were also able to tour a 1903 Pullman Palace railcar which was built while Robert was president of the Pullman Company.

Although photography was allowed on the grounds, picture taking was prohibited inside the mansion.

When we left Hildene, we headed towards Bennington and drove up the Skyline Drive (a private toll road) to the summit of Mount Equinox for a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. There are many restrictions on vehicle size and type (including truck campers) due to the steep grades and sharp turns, but they allowed us access. Mount Equinox is owned by a Carthusian monastery.

It was freezing cold up there!

We spent the night at the Bennington Walmart. Since we had laundered the sheets in the morning, the bed over the cab needed to be made and Mark discovered that the underside of the mattress was wet from condensation forming between the mattress and the shell of the camper during these cold nights we've been having. We spent the evening hours with the mattress pulled out and jammed at an odd angle across our living space with the heater and our 12 volt fan going to dry it out. It worked . . . but it was a bit challenging to find a spot to sit during the process! :)