For my birthday this year I asked that my family spend a long-weekend with Adam, myself and our dogs in Vermont and do all of the fun outdoor winter activities! It was the absolute best weekend, and one that I would like to recreate time and time again if I can. Not only did I get uninterrupted quality time with my Mom, Dad, Brother AND Sister (which is insanely hard to come by, they are busy people) but we got to take the dogs with us, and had an absolute blast snowmobiling, cross country skiing, tubing, and enjoying the sauna at our gorgeous Airbnb.
The Green Mountain Modern House by Wildwood Collective
Nested in a small town in Southern Vermont, only 10 minutes away from Stratton Mountain, is the Green Mountain Modern House. This pet-friendly, unique, contemporary home was the perfect fit for our family – with enough sleeping arrangements, a big beautiful kitchen to cook all of our meals in, an outdoor fire pit for Adam to sit alone by the fire and drink beer (lol, seriously, it was too cold for everyone else), a sauna, and a large open living space for us to do yoga and pilates together in the mornings!
We came prepared with loads of groceries, and cooked up quite the breakfast each morning and dinner each night. We typically spent our days away from the cabin adventuring in the FREEZING cold temps. For reference, it was negative 2-5 degrees during our trip on some days! I’m so glad the property was dog-friendly, because we take our pups just about everywhere with us, but the weather was simply too cold to do much with them outside while we were there, so they were pretty confined to the Airbnb. I have to note that we made a few trips to West River Provisions, a perfect little grocery shop near our Airbnb and I highly recommend popping in if you are staying nearby and need anything.
Wildwood Collective has 10 properties across New England, and each are worth checking out! You can also visit them on Instagram or the specific Green Mountain Modern House Instagram Page
While we stayed during the winter – this property looks stunning in the summer / warmer months. It is located right next to Ball Mountain Brook, and local swimming hole ‘Pikes Falls’! Stratton Mountain also has a ton of summer activities available only 10 minutes away.
Stratton Mountain
Nearby Stratton Mountain is home to a handful of great winter activities – you can downhill ski, cross-country ski, fat tire bike, snowshoe, go tubing, among other activities! We spent one day there, and started by tubing for about an hour – something I highly encourage you do as an adult, especially with your parents. After tubing we walked over to the Nordic Center across the street and rented skis to utilize their cross-country ski trails.
It was super easy and convenient to make on the spot gear reservations and book our trail passes. We all took off together and eventually went our separate ways to explore different parts of the trails. All in all we had a great day tubing and cross-country skiing. If we had another day we likely would have done some downhill skiing and possibly snow-shoeing. The snow-shoeing trails were dog friendly, but it was simply too cold to have the dogs out there with us, otherwise we would have taken advantage of that!
Snowmobiling with Vermont Mountain Adventures
Our first day in Vermont we actually went snowmobiling with Vermont Mountain Adventures. While many of us had done it before (Adam and I went in Whitefish and Jackson Hole, and my Dad has been in Maine) my mom, sister and brother had not! It was the perfect way to start our trip out there … except for the weather. It was the coldest day so far that winter in Vermont, and the company cancelled nearly all tours, except ours because we were the first of the day. IT. WAS. EFFING. FREEZING.
There wasn’t enough cold weather gear to keep us warm, and while most of us persevered and did the full 2 hour tour, my mom (who was riding passenger and therefore didn’t have hand-warmers) bowed out 30 minutes in and road back to hang in the car and wait for us to return.
The terrain was beautiful – you really get out there and are ‘away from it all’ which I loved. It was mountainous, and very snowy. Given we were a family with varying levels of comfortability on the snowmobiles it was great having a guide – but honestly, if it were just Adam and I we would have preferred to go off on our own, as our guide kept us riding really slow and stopped so many times.
The guides were great though – and if you are looking for a guided snowmobiling tour around the Stratton Mountain area I do recommend Vermont Mountain Adventures!
In All
The trip was everything I could have asked for, much like the entire year Adam and I spent back in my hometown and close to my family. We had such a good time and I hope this only encourages all of us to take time away from work more often to vacation together!
A Blonde Escapes 