October 21 - 27, 2013 - Part Two

Friday morning, after breakfast at the hotel, we all gathered to take a hike Jim and Sue had scoped out.  Nephew Dan and his girlfriend, Kelly, had arrived late Thursday.  The hike was over two miles through the woods, up and down hills, and we were snowed upon at times and sleeted upon at other times.  It was cold when we started out but most of us started shedding our outerwear at the halfway mark.  Here are a few of the photos I took along the way:

And:

Of course, we had to make the requisite stop at Cold Hollow Cider Mill and yes, I ate an apple cider donut and drank the BEST apple cider EVER!!!

Snow at elevation

Vicki, Kelly and me

Then we all went back to freshen up for our dinner at Jim and Sue's:

Vicki, Carol and Sydney

Pat, on bass, and Chris, guitarist and vocalist, entertained us.  They are SO talented.

Saturday morning we awoke to snow which turned to rain so outdoor activities were not in the picture. Steve, Dan and Kelly went to Burlington for the afternoon; Vicki went back to Montpelier for more shopping; I stayed at the hotel and watched Carol, Laura and Josh in the pool.  Then we all went back to Sue and Jim's for games and more food.  Vicki stopped at a farmer's market and brought back the MOST beautiful veggies - rainbow carrots, rainbow beets, Brussels sprouts and romanesque [the spiky green things - like cauliflower].  DELISH!

Family:

Matt

Steve

Carol

Sue

 Above, is Vicki, VERY proudly wearing an ice cream cone pin that Josh won for her at Ben & Jerry's.  They went there for the Halloween festivities and Josh said he wanted to give his winnings to Grandma Vicki because she lost her dragonfly pin.  He's such a sweetheart - always knows the right thing to say.  But there's no doubt, he's ALL BOY!

Jim

Chris

Kelly

Laura

Pat played a few tunes for us.  I'm going to try to add videos later.

Sydney found instructions on her iPhone for Laura to do her first Starburst bracelet.  Mighty fine job for her first time.

Back to the Great Room at the hotel to watch baseball.

Sunday morning, we all gathered in the lobby.  Vicki and I were going to leave without having breakfast as we'd spotted Rosie's in Middlebury and wanted to stop there - and at other places on the way back.  The rest of the group went to a little place in Waterbury Center for breakfast.  Dan and Kelly were going to drop Steve at BIA for his trip back.  Here are Vicki, Chris, Sydney and me.  I sure hate not living closer to my family!

So, off we went - stopping at Shelburne Farms, at Rosie's for a late breakfast and a few other places.  Vicki discovered that the car problem has not been completely remedied so she's going to see her mechanic in Ridgewood.

We stopped at the Chit Chat Diner for Schnitzel and Noodles!  YUM!

So, that's it.  It's Monday morning now and Vicki's doing laundry and I'm blogging.  This takes more time than I thought it would but I enjoy it - and I hope you do as well.  We have a few plans for this week, including shipping Heady Topper back to Dallas, and of course, a few items I purchased here which will definitely put me over the 50 pound limit for my suitcase.