When I was 18 years old, I started my freshman year at Harpur College, now known as SUNY Binghamton. So did the other three old ladies in this picture. We get together from time to time, when Wendy comes to the United States for a house exchange. And here we are together in the summer of 2016, 43 years later.
Daniel, Wendy, Iona (a friend of Wendy’s and me)
I have learned that vacationing with Daniel, Wendy’s husband requires conditioning, and this year was no exception. Here we are at some summit, on the trail behind the Warren Elementary School.
Knoll Farm, Fayston Vermont
Sunday morning we went to Knoll Farm for blueberry picking. I read the literature, the barn pictured above is reported to be from the 1830’s. Later that day we went to the Waitsfield Vermont Art Show, and the barn was featured prominently in more than one watercolor painting on exhibit.
Waterhole
Vermont is filled with images of summer, I best remember, as those that are featured in lemonade commercials that promote an idyllic vision of summer not necessarily the one I experienced personally. (In all fairness I would like to say I spent my childhood playing in opened fire hydrants- on hot busy streets but the truth is I experienced the joys of summer through organized summer camp activities)
Not the kind of activity summer camps encourage.
Monday July 31, 2016
Eric and I remained after the others departed on Sunday night. Monday we awoke to a rainy day. We walked along country roads to the Von Trapp nursery. I have my doubts there is a human alive on the planet, who has access to regular electricity, who hasn’t seen the Sound of Music. When the movie ends, the Von Trapp family valiantly sing their way over the Alps and escape from the Nazis. In reality their, escape was far less dramatic, but nonetheless- where they ended up was Vermont. And anyone who has seen the movie knows there were lots of them- and some descendant or another run the nursery.
The rain continued, so what else was there to do but take the factory tour at Ben and Jerry’s ice cream plant. We had to wait a couple of hours since, everyone else vacationing in that area of Vermont also were looking for rainy day activities so we strolled through Waterbury before watching an informative film about two industrious young men from Long Island and then touring the factory and of course, sampling the wares.
Outside the factory
We ate dinner in Montpelier in a Vietnamese Restaurant.-Pho Capital. We did get to see some of the State Capital buildings while searching out the restaurant.
Tuesday- August 2
Rain over. Back to hiking. Ambitious. The rocks were wet, the trails were slippery and Eric and I fell enough times for me to think about canceling my bone density scan next month. If I didn’t break anything on Tuesday, my bones can’t be that brittle. We made it to one of the three summits Daniel planned, on the long trail, before abandoning the hike for a more level country road stroll.
Another one of those bucolic summer images.
We stopped in Bristol Vermont on the way back and had unbelievably good ice cream at Lulu’s.
We went to another waterhole between Bristol and Lincoln before making our way back to the house. Daniel was able to point out the quintessential Vermont image, on the way home.
teacherfishtravels 