October 29, 30 and 31, 2011 - Saturday, Sunday and Monday

On Saturday morning, Steve, Jim, Pat and I headed back over to Northfield Falls.  Steve had not captured the covered bridges and Jim had to stop in the office for a few minutes.  Steve has an incredible "eye" so I took a few more shots that I'd not seen earlier.  I do fear the Rock Snot!

After Jim finished his chore, we headed over to Stowe for lunch at the Rusty Nail.  We all had burgers of one type or another [Steve's and mine had no buns].  Accompanying said burgers, was a lovely order of Duck Fries.  Duck Fries are NOT like Calf Fries, but are french fries fried in duck fat and are they ever tasty.  None of that "healthy" canola oil - if you see how it's made and from what, you might just give canola oil a pass.

After our late lunch we headed over the mountain past Madonna and Sterling Mountains and through Smuggler's Notch.  Great views but the skies were HEAVY with snow, which had been predicted for later Saturday.

Back at the hotel, it was decided to head back up the mountain to Jim and Sue's for another feast.  Chris made a lovely pizza to go along with all the leftovers.  Vicki, as always, pitched in . . .

 and Carol and Sue mugged for the camera.

I did what I do best - took photos of The Little People.

Laura has a MAJOR crush on Chris

Matt and Josh tossed back a few . . .

. . . and so did Chris, Steve and Jim.

Vicki brought Scattergories and we decided to play for a while.  Matt opted out . . .

and Chris left to go back to school - UVM in Burlington.

Josh climbed up on my lap to help me.  I couldn't see his face until after the fact, but soon my helper just conked out.

 Laura decided she'd help me for the last game, while . . .

 . . . Josh slept on the floor.

 It's time to go and Vicki was dressed for the falling snow.

Sunday morning, the covered bridge and surrounding area looked like this:

Thankfully, the roads were absolutely clear as it hadn't been cold enough in Vermont to cause road problems.  Our last "gathering" is typically at McCarthy's in Stowe for breakfast, and the roads were just fine.  The down side was that it's Sunday morning and it's crowded so we couldn't all sit together, though we were close enough to sort of chat back and forth.

And now the goodbyes!

Three of Mom's Five Grandsons.

Boys will be boys!

Mom's Four Kids.

Amazingly, Kathy didn't wear a coat even though she's been living in Tampa for four years, but I think she's grateful for the hot flashes!!  It was SO good to see Kathy and Jimmy, even though the time was way too short.

After drying our tears, we all split:  Steve was driving to Portland, Maine, returning to Dallas on Tuesday; Kathy, Jimmy and Dan were driving back to NJ; and the rest of us were going to Seekonk.  The drive [while four hours] was easy with clear roads and beautiful scenery.  Seekonk dodged the bullet as far as the snow is concerned but we'd seen remarks on Facebook that NJ had been hit hard.  Vicki was fretting a bit as her one neighbor has two really tall trees which could potentially land on her house.

On Monday morning, Laura's kindergarten class was hosting a Halloween parade at her school.  Of course, I had to snap a few photos before she left for school.  Vicki did an absolutely spectacular job on Laura's costume, didn't she!!  You can tell by her smile that Laura LOVED her costume.

Laura is such a good Big Sister to her Knight in Shining Armor, Josh!

Very proud Grandma with the Best Granddaughter a Grandma could have!

Since her school is just a few blocks away, we walked her to school.  She's so freaking poised and grown up!  We walked back home as the parade wasn't until 9:30.  The parade was adorable but one particular Kindergarten teacher deserves combat pay due to one obnoxious boy!

Back to the house to load up for home.  We stopped in to see Dina before we left.  She'd left the hospital on Friday and looked and sounded like the old Dina.  Her son, Mike, bought her a wonderful remote controlled recliner, and his wife, Maria, was there taking care of her.  Mary, Dina's youngest daughter, arrived just as we were leaving.  Carol will take over in the afternoon.  Dina is very lucky to have such loving, attentive children.

On our way home, we could see where the snow had fallen heavier and the trees that were affected by the heavy snow.  We'd planned on having Rocky and Lorraine for dinner on Tuesday so we stopped to get the ingredients.  As we got into Maywood, we could see all the trees that suffered major damage.  It didn't look like a single street was spared major tree damage.

When we got to Vicki's, we found NO heat or electricity and it was pretty cold.  She has a gas stove and we were able to light it with matches so we had a nice hot meal.  She gathered flashlights and lots of candles and I was able to work on Laura's afghan until it got too dark.  We went to bed around 7:30 with several layers of clothes, knitted hats and multiple quilts and afghans.  I read my Kindle until my hands got too cold.  Thankfully, at 7:45 on Tuesday morning, the power returned and the house is heating up, the roast is in the oven and dinner is ON for this afternoon.

I'll be leaving on Wednesday morning so I may or may not do another post.  If not, I'll do it from Dallas.

Ciao!

October 28, 2011

Friday morning broke with a bright blue sky and a bit of a chill in the air.  After breakfast at the hotel, it was imperative that I venture to the covered bridge on the property.  THIS is what it's all about.  My brother-in-law, Jim, told me that the bridge was made from old ferries that ran between New York and New Jersey.  It's a wonderful bridge.

Steve and I decided to head over to Burlington to take a photo tour as every time I've been there, it was either rainy or overcast.  Before we went on our photo tour, we headed to The Farmhouse Tap & Grill for lunch.  Steve had a charcuterie and I had a pulled pork sandwich [sans bread].  We also sampled a beer or two.

After our repast, we walked down the hill to Lake Champlain.  I'd never seen the lake looking so beautiful.  So, naturally, I/we had to walk all over the place shooting photographs. Here are several of my shots:

Dan, my nephew, spent the night in Burlington with a friend and tracked us down.  Of course, since Burlington is a college town and a brewing town, we headed to . . .

and had another sampling of beer.

Steve and I then headed back to Waterbury to gather the rest of the family to head up to Jim and Sue's for dinner.  Sue prepared a fantastic meal - enough for the Third Army.  She also made a scrumptous pumpkin pie[s].

I wanted to gather photos to send to our cousin Edwin so I took these.  He lives in Pennsylvania and doesn't travel and doesn't really accept visitors as he's sensitive about his hearing loss.  I try to send family photos and news from time to time.

Kathy and her son, Dan

Matt and Carol

Sash

Steve

Kathy, her husband, Jimmy, and son Dan.

Vicki with Matt, Carol, Laura and Josh

Steve and me

Kathy and Jimmy

And these are the Markleys of Waterbury Center, who again, were fabulous hosts/hostess.

Jim, Sue, Chris and Pat

The one fly in the ointment - and it certainly was a MAJOR one - was the fact that the Texas Rangers lost.  They gave us a wonderful season and a sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat World Series.  Thank you Texas Rangers!

So now,  it's off to bed to rest up for another day of family whatever on Saturday.