Redstone Goes Trips and Tours has been happy to return to some travel adventures this fall. Redstone’s trips and tours provide wonderful opportunities for residents, prospective residents, employees, and friends from the community to share fun experiences, with proceeds benefitting benevolent care at Redstone.
In October, a group of 40 adventurers headed to Vermont to enjoy Autumn delights. One of our afternoon excursions took us to the Crowley Cheese Factory, the oldest cheesemaking operation in production in the United States. The rustic building, remote location, and delicious cheese tastings were fun. As always, our excellent driver Jerry from Elite Coach attempted to park the bus in a location that was comfortable for our travelers. Unfortunately, in order to park in the small parking lot, Jerry backed the rear tires of the bus off of the gravel, and on to an area of grass. You probably see where this story is going.
When the time came for us to leave, the rear tires of the bus just spun. Jerry, and some of the men on the bus, did their best to put boards, sticks, grass, leaves, and sand under the tires to try to get some traction going so that the bus could move forward. A neighbor to the cheese shop saw our struggles, and came across the road with his wife, offering shovels and other materials to try to help. They even felt badly because they didn’t have enough dinner to offer to all of us! Alas, the efforts to get the bus moving were in vain. As our travelers waited patiently (even though they were cold) in the parking lot, Jerry finally said that it was time to call a tow truck to provide assistance.
In just a few minutes, while we were waiting for the tow truck, a pickup truck made its way down the remote road. Our new Vermont neighbor friend from across the road waved his arms and yelled for the farmer driving the truck. The farmer and his son turned the truck around, pulled into the parking lot, hooked a chain to the front of the bus, and in about two minutes our bus was freed from the mud and a shout of joy went up from all of our spectators.
We tried to offer the neighbor and the farmer some money for coming to our assistance, but they all graciously declined. We asked the manager of the cheese factory if we should be concerned about the damage our spinning tires had done to their grass, and with a smile on her face she responded, “Of course, not. This is Vermont.”
And with that we were on our way. Sometimes, the best travel adventures are the most simple moments when we encounter unexpected heroes, experience the generosity of strangers, and see kindness exemplified. Of all of our Redstone Goes Vermont 2021 moments, the adventure of the cheese factory and the bus stuck in the mud will be a most cherished memory.
If you would like to share in a future adventure, call Amber at 724-832-8401 X 3370 to get put on our mailing list for future trips.
Full Vermont Redstone Goes Group taken at Von Trapp Family Lodge
The heroes left to right: Vermont Neighbor, Driver Jerry, Truck Driving Farmer Dad, Traveler Tom, Farmer’s Son
Waiting for the bus to be set free
Chains in place and ready to pull the bus