Last of the Fall photos and visits

Debbie, myself and Judy

Here's a batch of photos from our Fall visits. After our trip down to Washington DC and Maryland, we met my first cousin Judy and her daughter Debbie for lunch at Calcutta's in Ludlow. Judy is the last of our generation on my father's side other than myself and my sister Paula. My father was the youngest of 6 children and he was almost 40 when he had me! So all of my first cousins, and there were tons of them, were much older. She is ten years older than I and baby sat me regularly. But Judy is doing really well and it was a fun visit. Debbie was our first Nanny when we had our son James!

Dick, Debbie, Heather, Ted and Karen in Woodstock, VT

Our next visitors came up for a long weekend. Marty from Concord, MA, Dick and Debbie from Plymouth, MA and Ted and Karen from Winchester, MA. We have all been friends for 50 or so years! Leslie & Dave were supposed to join us, but Leslie was sick and they had to postpone the trip. and Russ wasn't able to come. Our first full day we visited Woodstock, VT about an hour from us. Fall colors were still blazing as we walked around the town, stopping in to many of the shops to look around. The next day Marty joined us and we went for a beautiful hike at White Rocks nearby. The views from the ridge were amazing and a few of our group even continued on to the "ice caves", no ice this late in the season though. 

The view from the bridge over the White River in Woodstock, VT

Ted, Debbie, Karen, Dick and Scott pose on the 
bridge.

Looking down at the bright yellow foliage.

Debbie, Heather, Marty, Scott and Ted pose at the viewpoint on the 
White Rocks trail. Dick took a pass on this trip.

And this time Heather takes the photo and Karen joins in.

Moving Into Fall

 

Here's the view of the back side of our former townhouse condominium at Marina Bay in Quincy. We bought it over 30 years ago as a rental property. Unlike our sale of the boat, this was a difficult experience. We had a great realtor who helped us manage 4 months of renovations while we were bringing the Scott Free up from Guatemala. Once that was done, the condo sold quickly.

Our big news recently is the sale of our townhouse condo on Boston Harbor in Marina Bay, Quincy.  Our realtor, Colleen Russo, was amazing. It was a huge relief to finally close on the property. So now we are down to The Hundred Acre Wood here in Vermont and our 24 foot trailer, Baby. We hitched her up to our truck, Junior, and enjoyed a 3 day mini shakedown trip to the southwest corner of Vermont. The Pine Hollow Campground was a lovely spot. We brought our new E-bikes and returned to the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, starting in Adams, MA. The next day, which was rainy, the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown was our refuge for the day.  The Allegro Bistro in Bennington and the Cozy Corner Restaurant in Williamstown were excellent choices for dinner and the Chef's Hat for our last breakfast was perfect. The chef was mostly on vacation as well!

Here's the view from our site at Pine Hollow Campground. Our first day we enjoyed some lovely weather!

This fall we've continued to enjoy theater and music. Shrewsbury had weekend concerts up at our Meeting House and the day long Shrewsbury Day with a parade, lunch and music. Heather got to march in the parade this year with the Pierce's Store group! A fantastic Memorial to Robert De Cormier at the Grace Church featured 6 different choruses. This coming weekend we'll be at the Brandon Music to see the Swing Noir, a Gypsy Jazz Band from the UK. 

It looked like every resident of Shrewbury was there for Shrewsbury Day. After the parade, there was a free lunch and live music. Luckily we had perfect weather!

We took two trips to visit friends and family. First, to Gloucester to see Gail, Colin and Leslie Smith. Carol and Bill Fonvielle also came over for lunch on the porch one day. Again, we lucked out on the weather and took lots of walks on the beaches between wonderful meals over looking the ocean. Then we drove down to Maryland to visit my sister Paula and spend the weekend with our son James, daughter-in-law Morgen and grandson Kolya. They came for a brunch at Paula's as well. On the way back to Washington James' family and ourselves enjoyed the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Then Scott and I took Kolya off for a visit to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. We spent a week with Paula and took her to several medical appointments - between some wonderful meals and conversation. This weekend we will be hosting the Silversteins, Martins, Bond-D'Arpas and Wolfs!

Scott, Leslie and Gail enjoy lots of oysters out on the porch. Colin and I aren't fans, but loved the stuffed clams. 

The foliage is glorious now. Just walking our driveway is a treat. The farmer's market is awash in colorful peppers, squashes and pumpkins. But it has turned cold with a high in the 50's and evening lows close to freezing. Yesterday Heather worked (volunteered) at Pierce's Store, opening it up in the morning at 7:30 AM (the safe is a bear to unlock, an old fashioned one with a dial) till Noon while Scott attended his Quaker meeting. Then the two of us manned the gate at the Art in the Park event in Rutland for a few hours. 

Here's a few of the peppers for sale and the Rutland Farmer's Market!

Heather has spent a lot of time planning our trip south and west starting December 20th. We wanted to get camping spots in the National Parks so needed to have the trip pretty much organized. But we failed to get spots right in the four big parks we will visit despite being ready 6 months in advance at the opening time with both computers. So we'll stay outside the parks but nearby.  Our itinerary takes us down the east coast to Florida with visits on the way to Walt & Honoree Cooper and Steve & Kate Kelley. We have a lot of friends and family to visit in Florida before heading west to Arizona. We won't be going as far as California this year.

Take a walk up our driveway with Scott up ahead. It's late foliage time here October 9th with the leaves gone from most of our trees. 

Now looking back towards Spring Lake Rd.

A little further up the driveway, still not in sight of the house.

Still further up, the house is around the bend.

Sean & Will at Beziers in France during their 3 
week vacation. They visited London, Paris, the south
of France, and Portugal. 

Heather with her new folding E-bike!

The view from the Smith's porch in Gloucester.

The living room of our former condo in Quincy.