You’re gonna hurt Castleton’s feelings saying UVM is the only public university.

When we lived in Altus Oklahoma, we experienced a winter storm that dumped 4” of sleet on everything and dropped temps to -10F for a week. Power went out, people left for civilization as soon as they could, real “time to go camping in our front room” kind of stuff. You could stand on the front porch at night and hear ice sheets cracking as the wind blew. Every so often I’d hear a loud pop followed by a skittering, tinkling sound then silence. In the morning, we’d find trees branches that froze and shattered. The pop was them breaking and the rest of the noise was tree particles and icicles falling and sliding across the area.

Went outside this morning to see the comet (only clear night we’ve had in forever) and heard the same sounds I heard then. Trees… Creepy ass trees. But now I don’t have to cut down any trees for firewood wood, just need to cut up what fell last night.

We haven’t lost water, but we have discovered a few windows that need replaced.

North facing slop at the top of a 1300’ hill in Hartford, -16F.

Heat pump work regardless of the outside temp. When the temp gets below the rating, it doesn’t stop working, it just becomes more expensive than other electric heaters to operate. Would you need a backup heat source? No more than you’d need a backup water heater. Would it be cheaper to have a wood stove with heat pumps as a secondary system? It has been so far for us.

No. They dig through that stuff too. Sealing the holes, bait stations around the area, cats, etc.. Those things keep em out.

15” thick walls. Flying squirrels and other rodents really want you to build a house like that too!

We lived in Germany, close to the Alps. The houses they had were sturdy and extremely well insulated. To ground floor was always a cool 60F in the summer and the top floor was always a warm 70F in the winter. It was heated with a heat pump and had no active cooling. If I ever have to build a home, I’m definitely talking to folks who are familiar with those construction techniques.

On a side note, we replaced all the insulation in our attic the first year we were here. There were so many runs the generations of rodents had created between 1980 and 2017 that there may as well have not been any insulation at all. It dropped our power bill the next winter by 75%. Our wood burning rate went from 4 cords to about 1 too. Good times… Just something to think about if your current place has insulation that hasn’t been touched since the disco craze ended.

Not sure how it works in Boston, but a lot of of restaurants around here (White River Junction) are closed Monday and Tuesday so plan accordingly.

As mentioned, Tuckerbox is good if you’re digging Turkish fare, but parking can suck. There’s also Big Fatty’s if you like BBQ. IMO, it’s better than Wicked Awesome BBQ, but further off the 89, 91 interchange and they are both New England BBQ, so… yeah. Taj-E is good Indian, but it’s takeout only.

West Lebanon has the chain stores, (Applebees, Chilis, 99, etc) which are meh. Lui Lui’s has good wood fired calazone and some other Italian adjacent foods. Men At Wok is decent asian food, but you’ll find better 10 minutes N in Hanover. Guzano’s is good Mexica fare. Koto is hit or miss hibachi.

In Quechee… Just keep driving, everything there (except subway) is overpriced and mediocre (including subway). The closer to the gorge, the worse it gets.

Woodstock has quite a few places, but is a tourist town, with tourist prices and times.

If you go up to Hanover (91 N after passing into VT from West Leb on 89), you’ll find several good places of virtually all flavors as one would expect from a college town. Haven’t been to an unfriendly one yet. Parking is a certified challenge.

Barre has mostly fast food. But it also has a Pizza Hutt. Being the wife is from Kansas, we have to hit that place. Pretty sure it’s in the Kansas Constitution, a mandate on the birth certificate or some weird genetic memory that gives her that desire.

Montpelier has some decent places on and off Main. We usually hit up the Mad Taco. If the Mrs is feeling curry, we’ll hit the Pho Capital. Not the best I’ve had, but good enough. Really though, at this point, you’re less than an hour from Burlington which is loaded down with restaurants.

As soon as something becomes “X style” what ever it may have been turns to crap. Go have some wings in Buffalo if you don’t believe me.

Pizza that truly represents Vermont would include overpriced organic vegetables(whose names are pronounced by dropping letters) picked by hippies, maple syrup, apples, venison and goat cheese. Additionally, the pie would be shaped like Champ and served on a parka.

Walk the AT.

Talk who ever manages the rinks.

Deja vu.

The weather on the west side of the mountains (Rutland) can be quite different from the east side (Killington). Route 4 is the main artery between the two, and is usually well maintained, but it is a mountain pass so it can get… interesting. It’s not the Rockies or the Alps where its jungle on onside and tundra on the other separated by several 8000 foot tall hills, but it is something to be aware of. If you just look at the forecast for Rutland, you have an excellent chance of being surprised when you get up to Killington.

“Have it and not need it” isn’t a horrible plan, and there’s bound to be someone at your hotel who has cats and would buy a box of litter for 1/2 price. Do you need to buy blankets, collapsible shovels, road flares, cases of water, freeze dried food and flashlights? Not unless you plan on exploring fire and logging roads.

State highway are pretty clear, usually. So far, its forecasted snow on the 5th and 6th. It’s also supposed to be freaking cold vs just cold (below zero=freaking cold to me). You’ll also want to check the resort for the weather at their elevation. It can be very very different. For instance the weather channel puts the town at 30F and clear but the resort is saying 16F with 7” of snow expected.

If you get caught out driving when it snows, don’t be the fastest guy on the road and don’t be afraid to drive 20mph. Swing by a local grocery store and get a box of cheap kitty litter just in case you get stuck. Google how to use it to get unstuck before you need to cause cell service in the mountains not only sucks, it sucks based on who your service provider is.

Go for the touristy ski resorts like Killington, Sugerbush and/or Stowe. Even if there’s 12 feet of snow on the ground, they’ll be cleared enough for you to get there without snow tires. If it’s been 35F for three weeks, they’ll have the snow machines running so you get white stuff anyway.

You try going up a road that’s snow covered hard pack gravel, you’ll definitely remember your trip because of the actual winter, but not so much the arts, food or parks.

Edit: Bad spellers of the the world UNTIE!

😀 If what to say when it’s snowing has you curious, mud season is gonna really get ya. “Which rut leads home today?”

For us, when we talk to the Oklahoma relatives we just say “it’s snow”. Blizzard, 3 feet an hour, 1/2 inch total or dusting, doesn’t matter. They don’t have the frame of reference to understand. Now if I talk about how it iced over, they want more details cause that’s winter down there.

If dude crosses over any of the 4 VT borders he’s toast for reckless endangerment at a minimum. VT is, as far as I know, the only one that waits for damage before stepping in.

Didn’t miss the free reddit coins till this post.

The act itself is not illegal, but anything that flys off your vehicle and damages stuff is your responsibility, be it snow, fairings, screws. etc… 23 V.S.A. § 1128

Check out the sounds fischer cats and foxes make at night. Here in Hartford, we get them all the time. Definitely gets your attention the first time you hear it.

I get that these games are designed to be in person, but have you considered linking up with regional game shop hosts? There’s a couple of places near me (Windsor county) that run these type of games. If you’re short players, remote players that are proctored by the hosts might give you the folks you need. At the very least, it gives you some connections in a population sparse area.

I mean the song was called Jump…