Vermont

**A note on why this weeks post was later than usual.**
In true Vermont fashion, on Memorial Day, only a few days before June, we had a snow storm. The power went out, the lodge was running on the back up generator and (gasp!) the internet went down. So thanks to all who sent emails asking why the heck there was no Monday post. The sun has now come out, the snow is mostly melted, the peas seemed to survive, the internet is working again and here is this weeks post. 

Sitting around in bathing suits on the remote island of Taveuni in Fiji, we were casually conversing with other travellers about what we each do to earn money when working back in our home countries. We responded  “We’re Park Rangers with Vermont State Parks.” The onlookers mouth paused with an envious look and the eyes go wide as the typical response is, “Wow, that sounds like the coolest job ever,” often followed by a slight pause, a raise of the eye brows and a softly spoken, “So do you get to catch bears too?”

While we’ve been away in Australia and the South Pacific for the past two years, we always had a feeling we would come back to Vermont and indeed that has happened. As travellers with the goal of living on all seven continents and exploring as much of the world as possible, returning to the same state over and over again seems counter-intuitive. I know at some point when we live in America, we will eventually branch off to living in new states again, however, we have learned the lesson that when we find something we truly enjoy, keep it going. We share the same sentiment as many of the people we meet that working with Vermont State Parks is one of “the coolest” jobs you can find.

Adding a twist to the job this season, fate has brought us to be the Inn Keepers at Seyon Lodge. Nestled aside Noyes Pond at the end of a dirt road, Seyon Lodge is a unique gem in Vermont State Parks offering overnight accommodation with breakfast, lunch and dinner served. It is Vermont’s only public fly fishing pond and is a prime location for both individual and group getaways. Our days are filled with cooking meals, cleaning the lodge, planting a garden, advising fisherman on which wooly booger fly they ought to use on the pond and fending off the Groton Black Flies.

Here’s a look at life in this new role.