Chute a l’Ours

About as far north in the Saguenay region the discoverers of the early 1600's found it really hard work going up the Ashuapmushuan river encountering rapid after rapid and making portage necessary. The missionaries were really exhausted according to their journal! Chute a l'Ours translates to Falls with Bears so that would be just one more obstacle!

Storrs Pond

More water and pine trees, plus a hiking trail around the pond and lots of kids camps in this peaceful county recreation area on the edge of Hanover, NH. We enjoyed 3 very quiet nights and easy access back to King Arthur, covered bridges, and necessary supplies. David's looking out over the pond.

Vermont style convenience store

Open all day and no one in sight! Pick out your goodies (ice cream, eggs, milk, steak, cakes, sodas, bread, soups, snacks) and just drop the cash in the slot! High level of community trust!

Vermont garden

Yes you are allowed to grow your own! You can smoke it, give it away but not sell it!

King Arthur Flour bakery school

On our way north to Quebec through Vermont we stopped at King Arthur's Flour store and baking school and signed up for Middle Eastern flatbreads. Had a lot of fun and gained lots of new skills making Syrian pita breads, Lebanese Talame bi Za'atar using lots of olive oil to make it crispy at the edges. Next time I'll leave it a tad longer on the oven! And an Armenian Tahini roll - a bit too sweet - I'm much more a savory kind of baker!

Vermont

A sunny hilltop, sweeping views, birdsong in the morning, and good friends, just the way to enjoy Vermont!  Rick and Lois were boarding school people, and now we're all enjoying retirement, with travels to our grown children and stories of the lives we used to lead.

Rick guided us around his alma mater, Dartmouth, in Hanover, NH, then detoured to cross one of the areas many covered bridges on our way home.  We cooked more crab cakes!

Friends!

Quimby and I have been friends since high school in Hinsdale, Illinois.  We were maids of honor for each other's weddings- hers to Mark in 1970 and mine to David in Brighton, England in 1971.  They settled on Cape Cod, while we moved from England to Virginia.  We've all spent plenty of time on sailboats!  Mark built theirs- a real beauty!

Now, in retirement, we're enjoying all we've shared and catching up on all we missed.  What a special visit- meeting the neighbors, walking their land, unending stories!  They sent us off with unexpected treats- their own honey, a neighbor's maple syrup, and elk steak from another neighbor's annual hunting trip to Wyoming!  We brought Chesapeake Bay crab, Virginia peanuts, and almond cookies.  We'll be back next year!

Three hops north

A new route for us, up I81! We decided on three short rather than two long days to get to upper NY state. Two commercial sites and one state park- a full range of camping possibilities from a crowded family weekend scene complete with river for float tubes and waterfall to a manicured site in the PA mountains and finally a spot near the Hudson River with playful neighbors hopping in the open spaces. Easy days, peaceful nights. It's good to be 'home' again!

Starting in style

Only a very special occasion could have convinced us to pack these clothes at the beginning of a two month camping trip! It helped that the location was on our way.

Mark Eastham was Margaret's assistant head who won an award for St. Margaret's School for his fundraising success. He was a much loved, much missed assistant head. He went on to head two schools, and, on our first night away, we joined the celebration for Mark and Kathy Eastham's retirement from Stuart Hall School after 15 spectacularly successful years.

Such a gorgeous evening with many school connections and tributes from Mark's daughters and colleagues!