Vermont - Day 13

Lazy Lions Campground, Graniteville
Wednesday, 13 June 2018

today's route

I would have liked to stay at that last campground because it was very pleasant, but they charged me $53 for a night, which was a lot more than it was worth, in my opinion.

This one is just fine and $12 cheaper.  Vermont charges a steep tourist tax.

The raccoon saga
This morning I saw on the morning news (first time I've seen it in nearly 2 weeks) that story about the raccoon that climbed the office building in St. Paul, wasn't it?  I heard later on the radio that they'd live-trapped it with a cat food lure.  That reminded me of a raccoon in last night's campground that came right up to my RV while both dogs were tied up to the outside of the RV.  Dexter tried very hard to pull the RV around so he could get to the raccoon, which was only about 4' away from him. 

I managed to get the dogs inside and by then several of the KOA staff had come over.  One of the guys said another one had gone to get his rifle so he could shoot the 'coon.  I'm not a big fan of shooting anything, let alone a wild critter, but I had already been thinking rabies because it was just not normal for a raccoon to come so close to an alert dog and stay there, not moving away from him.  The KOA guy said he grew up on a farm and had seen critters with both rabies and distemper and had learned that when an animal doesn't act normal, it's probably sick and should be killed just in case.

It took so long for the other guy to bring back the gun that the raccoon had managed to get lost.  The guy said the woods around there were extensive and, with any luck, it had gone to hole up and would die there on its own.

I saw "Old Yeller" and read To Kill A Mockingbird and just couldn't help but worry about rabies (aka hydrophobia).  And distemper is a reasonable alternative.  But the raccoon didn't come back to my campsite so maybe he did what the guy said.

Today was yet another day of managing to stay off interstates.  Everything really is so close together here, I'm not even tempted.

Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial

Joseph Smith memorial

It's off state Rt 14 up Dairy Hill Rd., a very steep hill (12% grade) for 2 miles, then a left on
LDS Lane and you come to a dramatic entrance.

entrance at LDS Lane

The actual place of birth is long gone - it was never much of a building, apparently, because the dad had ongoing financial problems.  The site is to the left of the memorial in my photo.

The memorial was erected in 1905 on the 100th anniversary of Joseph Smith's birth.  It's made of granite quarried near where I am now, shipped down by train, then carted by a team of 22 horses pulling and I forget how many oxen pushing plus men using winches to get it up that 12% grade.  It's 38½' tall - to commemorate Smith's age at death.  It's one of the world's largest polished shafts.

a verse from James 1:5 runs around the base

The inscription says he was martyred and I guess he actually was.  He was being held in jail for some reason related to his religious beliefs and a mob came and got him and killed him.  Religious freedom has been an ongoing difficulty in this country.

The grounds are much more picturesque than my photos show - and there's the oddity of piped in music that I'm sure is from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  You can hear it all over the grounds.  Nice but weird.

This is a real lilac and the blooms smelled just wonderful.  Part of their landscaping.

Randolph, VT

United Church of Randolph

housing sample

Next I went down the road for what looks like quite a distance on the map but was really not much at all, aiming for Randolph.  Seems odd that such an unusual name would keep showing up in different states but there it is.  It's an attractive little town with lots of Victorian homes (what I think is Victorian, anyway, lots of gingerbread and turrets and so forth).

utilitarian post office