Last two days

We have had some lovely experiences here and beautiful weather. It has been cold at night but warm with bright blue skies in the day, enabling us to enjoy the great outdoors and wonderful scenery.

We visited Weston, a lovely little town with old stores, one being the Vermont Country Store, which sold everything from modern kitchen gadgets to old fashioned nightdresses.

Everywhere is decorated for autumn and Halloween with pumpkins, chrysanthemums and various characters. It looks lovely with all the autumn colours.

In Weston we did a little shopping, which has not really featured in our itinerary so far. I bought some socks which are supposed to be indestructible and made by a local family! We both bought some little maple leaf earrings. Then we sat in the sunshine for a refreshment stop. 

Later we visited Chester which was a similar old town with clapboard houses. As we took a photo of one, the owner told us it was for sale at a good price. About £200,000 for a huge house, if you don't mind long winters and lots of snow!

We explored a quilt shop we found along the road and chatted to ladies working there. They had so much tempting stuff but we were very restrained, most things can be sourced from home if we really need them.

The most magnificent feature of the day was our walk around Lowell Lake. I had found this on the internet when doing my research and thought it looked like a good walk. It was spectacular, with colours and reflections better than ever.

We walked for three and a half miles, before having our picnic in the sunshine. We completed the day driving around the lanes through a few more villages.

We saw another amusing sign. Some of them are really priceless!

This was in a cemetery. Floating plants I guess!

 On our final day we did another long walk; this was along part of the Apalachian trail. We did about 7 mile return trip up to 1300ft, but met a young couple who started in March and have done over 2000 miles! It reminded me of Bill Bryson's 'A Walk in the Woods'!

The views from the top were amazing and we were on the ski slopes. Here we met a couple of chaps with a little dog. The dog was practising for the long hikes by wearing a little jacket with stones in its pockets; on proper hikes it carries its own food and water. And I am continuing to avoid meeting the local fashion police!

We also saw our first snake, which we think was a garter snake.

As a complete contrast we spent the afternoon visiting Hildene in Manchester, which was the home of Robert Lincoln,  the only surviving son of Abraham Lincoln. It was a lovely home and had an exhibition about Abraham Lincoln too. It was set in around 500 acres of land between two mountain ranges. We were able to see the restored Pullman coach he had used.

What is interesting, is talking to other visitors who are amazed when they hear of the age of Hilary's house!

There were some very thought provoking statements in the exhibition  which make you feel that certain people shouldn't stand in the presidential shoes!

On our final morning we walked up Magic Mountain on a misty autumn morning before driving back to Boston, both of us having had a share of rural driving and city traffic!

On our journey we stopped at MacDonalds for coffee and an egg macmuffin, which Hilary had been telling me about from her previous travels, then at SS Lobster Ltd, a typical roadside diner for seafood soup.

We are now back at Logan airport awaiting check in. We have just been offered an upgrade at 900$ each for a six hour flight. Hourly rate is a bit high for us!  And so another holiday ends......

Travelling to Vermont

Yesterday we left Lake Winnepesauke, bathed in sunshine, a great view. However temperatures were in 40s, so very cold!

Before leaving we had to question the costs in our bill, as we had charged nothing to our room. Having scoured the hotel information, we found that, apparently, for our convenience they had charged a tip for housekeeping and a cost for a contribution to the upkeep of the local environment. Trailfinders knew nothing of this and it wasn't mentioned on arrival, so it was removed! Also before leaving I noticed the danger sign on the hairdryer located just a few inches from the basin!

Travel can be dangerous and it's not the snakes and bears!

We left Meredith to travel around 100 miles to the White Mountains, Vermont. It is pretty relaxed driving as speeds are slow and there is plenty of time to admire the views. There are very few places where overtaking is permitted too. There were spectacular colours, possibly even better than we had seen previously. The more mountainous landscape was beautiful too.

Although we knew our route, we just planned to stop where things looked good. Our first stop was at an information centre at the Quechee Gorge. Here we had a coffee then walked up the Gorge for around an hour. 

I keep trying to imagine where Aunt Doreen's Vermont farm was. It would certainly have been a beautiful spot, I am sure.

We had picked up a leaflet about maple syrup production,so then headed down the lanes and over an old covered bridge ( there are apparently a lot of them in a Vermont), and found Sugarbush Farm, where we tasted Maple syrup and local cheeses. We had our picnic in rather invigorating temperatures and one strong gust scattered our picnic!

We then drove on to Plymouth ( yes another one), to visit the settlement where Calvin Coolidge was born and brought up. He was president in the early 20th century. It was a fascinating visit with film, houses and exhibitions. It made you realise how quite ordinary people had risen to high office through sound principles.

From here we drove on to Londonderry, to find Upper Pass Lodge, Magic Mountain. Here we are staying in a ski resort at the start of the ski slopes, and judging by the night temperatures, I guess it won't be long before the season starts. The only problem here is finding somewhere to eat in a rural location where the summer season finished last weekend and the winter season is yet to start!

New England

The We have spent a couple of days really exploring the area. We have loved the colours, great inspiration for embroidery and painting. Hilary has found some birds too. We drove to Lincoln and the circuit from there along the Kancamagus highway. It took all day but we stopped for a number of viewpoints and a couple of hikes, one fairly tough uphill climbing to a waterfall.

We are still amused by the signs.

Some are more amusing or even bit shocking such as a large vehicle covered in republican stickers re Trump etc.

Today was a wet day but we drove around Squam Lake and Lake Winnepesauke and we still managed another uphill hike to a view point on the Rattlesnake trail. Unfortunately we didn't see the black bear that some other hikers had seen but there was a great sense of solitude walking through the forest and great views at the top.

 

We met this trail, which I found most amusing ( our maiden name).

As you can see we continue to wear our high fashion attire!! We are trying really hard with our healthy eating but it is very challenging given the cultural differences. Yesterday we ordered chicken salad which sounded pretty straightforward but the difference between what our imagination conjured up and what we received was extraordinary!

The salad was good, but what followed was overwhelming. There were two pieces of well battered(in all senses) chicken, four pieces of garlic bread, cheese, tomatoes sauce and a pile of spaghetti! And we refused a box to take away what was left! We saw others eating piles of creamy puddings too.

Tomorrow we drive to Upper Pass Lodge, our final destination, in the Green Mountains. We are not sure about catering there as the restaurant isn't open every day. A surprise awaits!

On to Meredith

It was interesting driving going up to Meredith, although we struggled with the road system leaving Cape Cod. We had had the same problem on the way down! But we eventually made it using maps, our sense of direction and Madam, as we have named the satnav. She is becoming more cooperative as time goes by!

We had good driving with not too much traffic and took a circular route around Boston , keeping in the more rural zones. We passed through many familiar places, Chelmsford, Essex County, Portsmouth, Manchester and many more. The tree colours along the route were lovely.

We had a coffee stop just off the interstate and after asking for the toilets, the server realised I was not from USA so started up a conversation. The female server apparently bought her clothes from UK websites, a customer likes visiting Liverpool because of the Beatles but the chap who made my coffee asked, 'now where is the UK? Is it near Russia?!'

Our major en route stop was Canterbury Shaker village which was really interesting. We spent nearly three hours there and it was a glorious day. There are very few villages preserved and only a handful of surviving Shakers. Their philosophy is most interesting, but of course their style of furniture and buildings is their legacy.

We arrived in Meredith late afternoon and understand it is a long weekend for the bank holiday, Columbus weekend. It is quite busy. The hotel is on the lake with great views but there are no breakfast facilities here. There are various restaurants linked to the hotel. We found a little cafe this morning for our sunrise breakfast, scrambled egg that was more like omelette and have been to the supermarket for our next breakfasts which we can enjoy on our balcony with a view!

Last night we went out straightaway as we discovered there was a welcome wine reception for hotel guests which was a bonus. We very nearly joined a wedding party by mistake but it was our attire that would have rather made us stand out; we had on our walking shoes and travel gear! We decided to sidestep all the recommended restaurants that belong to the hotel group and found a very lively little bar where food was far more reasonable. Then Hilary invited a couple of chaps who were queuing, to share our larger table. If we hadn't made a polite exit and said our goodbyes, who knows where that would have led!

Hilary with her rib eye steak!

Cape Cod

We have loved our three days at Country Acres motel on the edge of Sandwich. It is a historic town with lots of old buildings and a glass factory and museum. The motel provides a simple breakfast of muffins, fresh coffee and juice, but as we have fridge and microwaves we have been able to supplement our meals by self catering for lunch and breakfast and on one occasion our dinner, making things more economical. It is very friendly and homely and in a convenient location.

We are both adjusted to the driving although our car has an upside down marque sign on the boot, or should I say trunk. We are apparently driving a car called a Nassin. Today I got half a tank of fuel for 17$!

We have had lots of fresh air and exercises, and on two days have returned to our cabins for lunch, sitting outside. We can walk to the beach and had a wonderful circular walk through countryside reminiscent of Norfolk.

We have explored the little town too, and acqainted ourselves with the local shops and found some lovely friendly restaurants selling great seafood.

We bypassed the museums as they are expensive and we had done a lot of that in the city. But today found a lovely old house called the Nye homestead and had a full hours guided tour for 3$ each!

The guide was very informative and told us about the preservation society which comprises thousands of 7th generation members of the original settlers.

We had a day driving to the tip of Cape Cod to Provincetown, another old town with interesting buildings. 

We were going to walk to the spit and get a boat back but again as it is winter season were unable to , so instead had a lovely long walk around the marsh area and along the breakwater. This enabled Hilary to do some birdwatching.

Today we drove to Sandy Neck beach at Barnstaple, about 5 miles away and walked about three hours along the beach and across the Marsh trail, in glorious sunshine.

We will be sorry to leave here but we are heading north to the Autumn colours in Meredith and this weekend is columbus weekend which is apparently the weekend for the leaves. I think all public buildings will then be shut for the winter!