We thought we had seen a lot of bikes yesterday but today as we travelled west in South Dakota we found there were more motorcyclists on the road than there were cars and there we were in the middle of it all. They were all headed for Sturgis and the towns and cities in a 50 mile radius around Sturgis—some of the towns close their main streets to traffic so that it can become a parking lot for the bikers. We also found out that it was difficult to find a place to put your head. We were fortunate to find a very helpful woman at the welcome centre and together we found us a room. It is a delightful place in Hill city in the Black Hills. The black hills remind us of the green mountains in Vermont but they are indeed darker green and black looking. We are staying in a resort for campers—tents, RV’s, cabins and a small motel. They had a room and it was very reasonable so here we are in the Black Hills of South Dakota just below Mount Rushmore.
We left Minnesota early this morning (Monday Augurst 6)and had our first stop in Mitchell South Dakota. Our friend Heather suggested that we would enjoy the stop at the corn palace and she was right. The corn palace was first created in 1892 by the local farmers to show that more than buffalo were important to the area. Portions of the exterior and the interior are covered with murals made from corn husks, local grasses and grains. The exterior motif is changed every year and we were fortunate to arrive when we did as they were beginning to remove the old grasses in preparation for the new mural—once the corn is harvested they remove the old cobs and about 20 locals work with an artist to make a new mural. The outdoor mural becomes a huge bird feeder as well as a work of art. As well as being a tourist attraction this “palace”is the local community hall and is used for graduation, local basketball games, trade shows—even the Shrine Circus. We opted for an early lunch and found a great stop at Chamberlain-Oacoma on the Missouri called Al’s Oasis. It advertised homemade pies and coffee for 5 cents so Ron was sold. The meal was great—a buffalo burger for Ron and liver for me. Ron said the lemon pie was almost as good as Tedde’s so we left full and ready for our trek to the Badlands. The badlands are amazing—right plunk in the middle of the Prairie. The National park allows one to drive or hike in the badlands—we opted to drive and spent a lot of time stopping to take yet another photo. You cannot capture the beauty of this area on paper or in a photo—it has to be seen. There are irregular ravines, fantastic ridges, low hills and cliffs in variegated colour alternating with grayish-white sediment. We were in awe of it all and enjoyed our time in the park. We came out of the park at Wall which is famous for it’s drug store that is now a block long. We did not spend long here as we were now concerned about a room. We phoned some 800 numbers from Wall and most places were full and any who had rooms wanted $300.00 so we decided to get in the car and head for the Black Hills hoping that they were far enough away from all the activities in Sturgis. NOT. We found a welcome centre and got excellent help and a room so we then carried on to Mount Rushmore Memorial Park to view the magnificent sculptures of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. The park itself is beautiful and the information available on the creation of the sculpture is very interesting. It was a lovely evening to be out walking and we did enjoy after suffering in 96 degree heat all afternoon. We had fog and cooler weather for our morning drive but not so lucky in the afternoon. Most of the campers here are bikers so we certainly do look out of place in our zip off shorts and tee shirts. I have never seen so many motorcycles. I think someone told us there were about 500,000 here for the rally.Who knows where tomorrow will take us. Stay tuned.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
quad cities to luverne minnesota
We discovered that travelling on a Sunday in Iowa meant a lot of driving. We found a Welcome Centre when we crossed the border from Illinois into Iowa so had our maps and lots of info on the sights available but the woman who helped us said that we would not find many of the tourist points of interest open. She was right and certainly there was nothing available until after 12 noon. It was disappointing but we decided that we would carry on with our plan to go west in Iowa and then North to Minnesota before going west again.
We did find another State Park in Waterloo in the Cedar Valley along the Cedar River—again lots of well groomed trails this time in a wooded area along the river. The interesting thing about this park was the shrill noise in the woods. It was the cicadas making all the racket. In some areas it was almost deafening. We did find one of the tourist areas open—the Little Brown church in the vale. It happens that the first Sunday in August is wedding reunion weekend and certainly from what we saw there have been a lot of people married at the little brown church—one of the couples said that they had celebrated their 72nd anniversary. William Pitts, a music teacher wrote the words and music to “The Church in the Wildwood” and it was sung for the first time at the dedication of the church in 1864. We found a wonderful place for lunch (another full parking lot). It was Sunday buffet at the Backdoor in Charles City. There was plenty of food and all of it made on site or at home and brought in—the waitress told us she was up at 6:30 in the morning icing her chocolate cake with butterscotch and coconut icing—it was yummy. We needed another walk after all that food and Ron discovered a beautiful little garden with sculptures of children playing—baseball, skipping, climbing and playing on a see saw. It was so sweet. We did find a museum open in a small town in Mitchell county, in the town of Osage. They had a large collection of vintage clothing, American Indian artifacts, covered wagon, newspaper collection, civil war artifacts, medical equipment and instruments. It reminded us of the museum we had visited in Morse Saskatchewan where the community was very involved and had donated their time and treasures.
We were in Minnesota early in the afternoon so decided to continue further west—it was a good driving day weather-wise so we added a few more miles and hopefully will have a slower drive tomorrow. We are in the southwest corner of Minnesota at a small town called Luverne—it too is very quiet on a Sunday.At this point we are now the Canadian equivalent of being out of Ontario and into Manitoba.
We did find another State Park in Waterloo in the Cedar Valley along the Cedar River—again lots of well groomed trails this time in a wooded area along the river. The interesting thing about this park was the shrill noise in the woods. It was the cicadas making all the racket. In some areas it was almost deafening. We did find one of the tourist areas open—the Little Brown church in the vale. It happens that the first Sunday in August is wedding reunion weekend and certainly from what we saw there have been a lot of people married at the little brown church—one of the couples said that they had celebrated their 72nd anniversary. William Pitts, a music teacher wrote the words and music to “The Church in the Wildwood” and it was sung for the first time at the dedication of the church in 1864. We found a wonderful place for lunch (another full parking lot). It was Sunday buffet at the Backdoor in Charles City. There was plenty of food and all of it made on site or at home and brought in—the waitress told us she was up at 6:30 in the morning icing her chocolate cake with butterscotch and coconut icing—it was yummy. We needed another walk after all that food and Ron discovered a beautiful little garden with sculptures of children playing—baseball, skipping, climbing and playing on a see saw. It was so sweet. We did find a museum open in a small town in Mitchell county, in the town of Osage. They had a large collection of vintage clothing, American Indian artifacts, covered wagon, newspaper collection, civil war artifacts, medical equipment and instruments. It reminded us of the museum we had visited in Morse Saskatchewan where the community was very involved and had donated their time and treasures.
We were in Minnesota early in the afternoon so decided to continue further west—it was a good driving day weather-wise so we added a few more miles and hopefully will have a slower drive tomorrow. We are in the southwest corner of Minnesota at a small town called Luverne—it too is very quiet on a Sunday.At this point we are now the Canadian equivalent of being out of Ontario and into Manitoba.
We found there were a lot of motorcycles on the highway today and noted that the state laws must all be different as many were not wearing helmets here in Minnesota. Ron spoke to some of them this evening as they are staying at the same motel and it turns out that they are all heading for Sturgis South Dakota for a huge rally that attracts motorcyclists from all over North America. It begins tomorrow and lasts for a week, so we will get a chance to visit Sturgis before we leave South Dakota.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
hobart to quad cities Iowa
Today we left Indiana and travelled across Illinois to the Mississippi River at the Quad Cities. We bypassed Chicago and travelled west along I-80. Our first stop was in Ottawa—we chose Ottawa because of the name and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Ottawa was established in the 1800’s and has a beautiful town square called Washington Square. It is not only beautiful with all the green space and flowers but it is also a historical area. On August 21 in 1858 the first of the great debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas was held in Washington Square. These great debates revolved around a single sentence in the Declaration of Independence—“all men are created equal”. The park is well used today and we were fortunate enough to be there for their farmer’s market . We enjoyed our short visit and even found a canal running thru the centre of town—the Illinois Michigan canal once served as a vital link in the transportation system—it is not used as such today but they do skate on the canal in winter when it freezes over! We drove a short distance from Ottawa along the Illinois River to Utica where the state park Starved Rock is situated. Exploring the bluffs and canyons is the park’s primary attraction, and there are 13 miles of well marked trails . We did take time to have our walk in the park and we were rewarded with beautiful views of the Illinois River, the dam and the lock system as well as the beauty of the canyon . We did not begin to explore all the trails but were very happy that we had the time to stop and enjoy. The park was once occupied by the French and it was Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette who established Fort Louis here in 1682. The fort was abandoned by the French but the fort continued to be used by fu traders and trappers. The fort is no longer there. In 1769 a band of Illinois Indians took refuge on the summit of the rock, where surrounded by their foes, they died from lack of food and water and hence the name Starved Rock. After our time in the park we went back into the village of Utica and had lunch at the local tavern where we had been told the burgers and chips were delicious—we were not disappointed.
We carried on to the Quad Cities on the Mississippi River. The Quad Cities is made up of the riverfront cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, and Moline and Rock Island in Illinois. We do like being near water it seems. We visited the John Deere Pavilion in Moline (from the French word Moulin meaning Mill)—the building contains vintage and modern-day Deere equipment, along with interactive agricultural exhibits. John Deere was a blacksmith in Vermont and moved to the Midwest where he heard there were great opportunities. He fashioned a self cleaning steel plow in 1837 using steel from a broken saw blade to replace the cast iron plows. Soil clung to the bottom of the cast iron plow and had to be removed by hand. This was the beginning of the largest agricultural manufacturer in the world. We saw some of the old vintage machines in the collector’s club too. We also tried to visit the Mississippi visitor centre but were refused entry as it was located on an active US Army facility on Rock Island Arsenal. Americans are allowed entry but not Foreign visitors.
We are now getting ready to go north and west so it ought to be Iowa and Minnesota tomorrow.
We carried on to the Quad Cities on the Mississippi River. The Quad Cities is made up of the riverfront cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, and Moline and Rock Island in Illinois. We do like being near water it seems. We visited the John Deere Pavilion in Moline (from the French word Moulin meaning Mill)—the building contains vintage and modern-day Deere equipment, along with interactive agricultural exhibits. John Deere was a blacksmith in Vermont and moved to the Midwest where he heard there were great opportunities. He fashioned a self cleaning steel plow in 1837 using steel from a broken saw blade to replace the cast iron plows. Soil clung to the bottom of the cast iron plow and had to be removed by hand. This was the beginning of the largest agricultural manufacturer in the world. We saw some of the old vintage machines in the collector’s club too. We also tried to visit the Mississippi visitor centre but were refused entry as it was located on an active US Army facility on Rock Island Arsenal. Americans are allowed entry but not Foreign visitors.
We are now getting ready to go north and west so it ought to be Iowa and Minnesota tomorrow.
Friday, August 3, 2007
huron to hobart Indiana
This was a triple H day—hot, humid and we’re staying in Hobart. With all this heat Ron is happy that he took the time to get a hair cut in Williamsville (check out today’s picture). We did not have a nice place to walk near our motel so we got on the road early and headed back to Lake Erie and stopped at Port Clinton where we had a wonderful walk along the breakwater and the channel to the harbour. Port Clinton is a busy little fishing village and calls itself the Walleye Capital of the world. It is said that their New Year’s Eve celebration finds them dropping a 20 foot, 600 pound fibreglass walleye from a crane at midnight. We stopped in Napoleon and Bryan before leaving Ohio. Both have old and well preserved court houses and are the focal piece of the town. We have discovered that the washrooms in the court houses are well equipped and clean. We did find a diner in Bryan that had a full parking lot so we stopped for a late breakfast-early lunch. It was good but not as good as our New England stops.
We left Ohio and entered Indiana travelling along highway 6 through Kendallville and Nappanee before going south to highway 30 to continue West. This area is beautiful farmland with miles of corn fields. We did stop and get some fresh fruit and veggies from a farm stand. Many of the areas farmers are Amish. We did stop at the Borkholder Dutch Village so Ron could have an ice cream and I could look at all the wonderful crafts. Many were homemade but there were also vendors selling made in China crafts. I did more looking than buying. Nappanee looked like an interesting town but was very busy with a huge gathering at Amish Acres so we decided to drive a little further west and ended up in Hobart—we thought it would be interesting as it was a town with a man-made lake in the centre of town—we never did find it on our first drive about but did take time to go for a drive after our dinner and there it was—we were just in time to see the sun set again. It is so much nicer over water. We have noticed a lot more train traffic in this part of the country—even truck trailers that have the capacity to convert to train hook-ups. So far we haven’t seen any passenger trains but plenty of freights.
We left Ohio and entered Indiana travelling along highway 6 through Kendallville and Nappanee before going south to highway 30 to continue West. This area is beautiful farmland with miles of corn fields. We did stop and get some fresh fruit and veggies from a farm stand. Many of the areas farmers are Amish. We did stop at the Borkholder Dutch Village so Ron could have an ice cream and I could look at all the wonderful crafts. Many were homemade but there were also vendors selling made in China crafts. I did more looking than buying. Nappanee looked like an interesting town but was very busy with a huge gathering at Amish Acres so we decided to drive a little further west and ended up in Hobart—we thought it would be interesting as it was a town with a man-made lake in the centre of town—we never did find it on our first drive about but did take time to go for a drive after our dinner and there it was—we were just in time to see the sun set again. It is so much nicer over water. We have noticed a lot more train traffic in this part of the country—even truck trailers that have the capacity to convert to train hook-ups. So far we haven’t seen any passenger trains but plenty of freights.
buffalo to huron ohio
After spending 5 days with Ruth in Buffalo we repacked the car and said our goodbyes and turned the car to the west on August 2.
We decided to follow Lake Erie thru New York, Pennsylvania and into Ohio. WE did the better part of our travelling on the Interstate until we got to Ashtabula Ohio. We wanted to visit this town as it was the site of the American Finn Fest this year. We did not find the Finnish connection save for one small Finnish wind sock and the Finnish American Cultural Center that was only open on weekends. Ron was hoping there would be a Finnish store or some indication that there had been a festival. Ashtabula is a major coal and iron port and is spread over a large area along Lake Erie. It did not seem like a typical Finnish town so we are wondering if perhaps we missed some part of the town. We did find Lake Erie and had a walk on Walnut beach before eating the yummy sandwiches that Ruth suggested we take with us. We found a group of men playing bocce in the park so we were entertained by their antics while we enjoyed our dinner.
We decided to carry on and travel thru Cleveland since rush hour was over and it was a little cooler by the Lake. We did not see much of Cleveland save for the baseball stadium (no game being played tonight). Once we were out of the city we drove along the shore and enjoyed seeing all the beautiful homes and cottages while the sun was setting. It was a lovely site and most restful—we were too late to get a great picture to share but we did stop at the Marina in Lorain and watched the sun disappear. We continued on to Huron where we will spend the night. This area is a wonderful summer escape with many boats on the Lake (Erie).
We decided to follow Lake Erie thru New York, Pennsylvania and into Ohio. WE did the better part of our travelling on the Interstate until we got to Ashtabula Ohio. We wanted to visit this town as it was the site of the American Finn Fest this year. We did not find the Finnish connection save for one small Finnish wind sock and the Finnish American Cultural Center that was only open on weekends. Ron was hoping there would be a Finnish store or some indication that there had been a festival. Ashtabula is a major coal and iron port and is spread over a large area along Lake Erie. It did not seem like a typical Finnish town so we are wondering if perhaps we missed some part of the town. We did find Lake Erie and had a walk on Walnut beach before eating the yummy sandwiches that Ruth suggested we take with us. We found a group of men playing bocce in the park so we were entertained by their antics while we enjoyed our dinner.
We decided to carry on and travel thru Cleveland since rush hour was over and it was a little cooler by the Lake. We did not see much of Cleveland save for the baseball stadium (no game being played tonight). Once we were out of the city we drove along the shore and enjoyed seeing all the beautiful homes and cottages while the sun was setting. It was a lovely site and most restful—we were too late to get a great picture to share but we did stop at the Marina in Lorain and watched the sun disappear. We continued on to Huron where we will spend the night. This area is a wonderful summer escape with many boats on the Lake (Erie).
Thursday, August 2, 2007
ottawa to connecticut
It is August 2 and the car is now headed for the west. We did make a return visit to Ruth in Buffalo (Williamsville actually) when we left Ottawa as she had suffered accidental second degree burns to her right hand and was happy to have us stay with her from July 28 until today. Both Ron and I enjoyed our return visit with Ruth even though it was very hot and humid. Ruth has air conditioning and part of her treatment was rest so we all rested in front of the TV watching movies.
Before I begin our travels west I will send along the notes from our side trip from Ottawa to Connecticut.
Jean, Ron and I got off and running right after breakfast on Sunday July 15 and decided that we would cross to the States at Cornwall. It was an easy crossing with only 4 cars ahead of us. We travelled thru Northern New York to Lake Champlain and the Islands in Vermont. Lake Champlain is a huge lake being 120 miles long and 12 miles wide in some places. It is connected to Montreal and the Great Lakes by the Hudson River and the Champlain Canal. It was interesting to read in our tour book that in 1998 Lake Champlain briefly became the 6th Great Lake when Bill Clinton signed a Senate Bill reauthorizing the Sea Grant Programme but 2 months later the designation was rescinded. WE had our lunch on the Islands at North Hero—a delightful stop with a bakery, cafe, and craft shops right on the lake. It was interesting that the only washroom was a portapotty outside so Jean and I opted to wait for the next gas stop.
Once we left the Islands we travelled south on highway 7 with the Green Mountains to the East and the Adirondack Mountains to the west. Our next stop was Middlebury which is a typical New England college town with wonderful old homes and a beautiful campus that was established as early as 1800. We did take time to stretch our legs and wander on the campus—so many trees and beautiful buildings—even the new buildings are built to fit in with the old stone ones.
We carried on to Rutland which is the closest city to the ski area of Killington in the Green Mountains. We did find an excellent restaurant—Jean noticed the full parking lot and sure enough it was a fantastic seafood place—the Weathervane Seafood Restaurant. WE all enjoyed our seafood and left room for a Ben and Jerry’s for dessert. On our way back to the motel we discovered a concert in the Park—the oldest Municipal Band in America—the Rutland City Band was setting up for their Sunday concert. They have been in existence for 131 years. It was a beautiful evening to sit in the park and enjoy all the people as well as the music.
We opted to stay on Hwy. 7 as we proceeded south towards Connecticut. Our first morning stop was in Bennington which is a delightful village in southern Vermont. It is the site of the Battle of Bennington on August 16 1777—the Americans defeated the British. There was a monument built and completed in 1891 to commemorate this battle—it stands 306 feet high and is the tallest structure in Vermont. We did not go to the top but it is said that you can view 3 states from the observation level. The grounds were beautiful and we met a very informative woman who told us some of the history about the monument and also information on the area. The national Christmas Tree will come from Bennington this year. We did have to carry on, so missed the Michigan Fife and Drum Corp concert at noon. WE did however, take time to visit Bennington Potters which has created handmade pottery for more than 50 years. The store and potter’s yard are located on 41/2 acres of gardens and historic buildings. The gardens and the floral tubs were magnificent—we spent as much time admiring the gardens as we did inside the store.
Two hours later we were on the road again but stopped at a busy diner for our lunch. Again it was a good stop with homemade soups and delicious BLT’s. We had our tea and coffee break in Stockbridge which is in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. This was a beautiful town with many luxury summer homes that are still very well maintained. There were also many interesting shops that Jean and I explored briefly while Ron enjoyed his coffee and cookies (found at a little bakery on Main street). We drove pretty much non- stop from this break along hwy 7 until we got to Danbury Connecticut. We then followed the directions our friend Nancy had given us and we found her home in New Canaan without much difficulty.
We spent our time in New Canaan and Bridgeport visiting with our travelling friends and just had a wonderful time. We also got to meet the husbands of Troy, Nancy and Dorie. Lois drove all the way from New Jersey to join us for lunch on Dorie’s porch—it was like we were on the road just off the back of the bus. We did miss our 8th partner, Ken, and to be sure he was very much in all our minds as we remembered the special memories we had from those trips. Dorie’s husband Jack, summed it up nicely—he said it was a miracle that we met when we did and formed such a wonderful friendship. Jean and I spent an extra afternoon with Dorie playing in her sewing room—what a delightful haven it is—we do wish that we could live closer to Bridgeport and could join Dorie for an afternoon to just sit and sew or knit. Jean came home with some exciting new fabrics and I have some new sock wool to experiment with. We hated to say goodbye.
On our trip North we travelled in Connecticut along hwy 169 as far as Sturbridge Mass. We travelled thru beautiful agricultural areas and many very old towns established in the 1700’s. Our morning drive was delightful and we lunched again at a diner that had a pretty full parking lot. We were not so lucky with the weather in the afternoon as we found the rain. We decided to take the Interstate (91) and hopefully find a dry place to stop for the evening. We did a little detour and travelled over hwy. 302 to Littleton where we spent the night at Thayers Hotel. It is a 19th Century Hotel right on Main Street. It was a perfect place for us to spend the evening—no elevator so we did lug out bags up two flights of stairs but it had everything we needed and more—even breakfast in the morning. Almost next door there was a wonderful book shop that occupied our time for over an hour. We had dinner at the Littleton Diner and much to my disappointment the menu has changed and they no longer have grape nut pudding on the menu. I did ask and the chef who made it died 4 or 5 years ago and no one was able to duplicate the taste of the pudding so.......
The next morning found us on the road to St Johnsbury Vermont and then we took hwy 2 and 15 over to St. Albans. Ron needed coffee in Johnson and lo and behold, they had a woollen mill in town. What a wonderful place to shop—again an hour of our time looking and even some buying, especially by Jean. They had a wonderful selection of sweaters and shirts so we treated ourselves. As an extra special treat this woollen mill was celebrating it’s 165th anniversary so everything in the store was 20% off. In St. Albans we fed Ron and then found the JoAnn’s fabric store where both Jean and I did buy some fabric—we did restrain ourselves but could not leave behind the special pieces that we found. From there it was on to the border thru the rain again. Our morning part of the trip was in good weather but again in the afternoon we drove thru rain until we got to the outskirts of Ottawa. The border crossing was not busy (at Cornwall) going into Canada but they were lined up over the bridge going into the States. We found some fresh corn en route home so had a veggie feast for our dinner and then early to bed.
Ottawa survived without us and Jean’s black current berries were ripe for the picking.
Once we left the Islands we travelled south on highway 7 with the Green Mountains to the East and the Adirondack Mountains to the west. Our next stop was Middlebury which is a typical New England college town with wonderful old homes and a beautiful campus that was established as early as 1800. We did take time to stretch our legs and wander on the campus—so many trees and beautiful buildings—even the new buildings are built to fit in with the old stone ones.
We carried on to Rutland which is the closest city to the ski area of Killington in the Green Mountains. We did find an excellent restaurant—Jean noticed the full parking lot and sure enough it was a fantastic seafood place—the Weathervane Seafood Restaurant. WE all enjoyed our seafood and left room for a Ben and Jerry’s for dessert. On our way back to the motel we discovered a concert in the Park—the oldest Municipal Band in America—the Rutland City Band was setting up for their Sunday concert. They have been in existence for 131 years. It was a beautiful evening to sit in the park and enjoy all the people as well as the music.
We opted to stay on Hwy. 7 as we proceeded south towards Connecticut. Our first morning stop was in Bennington which is a delightful village in southern Vermont. It is the site of the Battle of Bennington on August 16 1777—the Americans defeated the British. There was a monument built and completed in 1891 to commemorate this battle—it stands 306 feet high and is the tallest structure in Vermont. We did not go to the top but it is said that you can view 3 states from the observation level. The grounds were beautiful and we met a very informative woman who told us some of the history about the monument and also information on the area. The national Christmas Tree will come from Bennington this year. We did have to carry on, so missed the Michigan Fife and Drum Corp concert at noon. WE did however, take time to visit Bennington Potters which has created handmade pottery for more than 50 years. The store and potter’s yard are located on 41/2 acres of gardens and historic buildings. The gardens and the floral tubs were magnificent—we spent as much time admiring the gardens as we did inside the store.
Two hours later we were on the road again but stopped at a busy diner for our lunch. Again it was a good stop with homemade soups and delicious BLT’s. We had our tea and coffee break in Stockbridge which is in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. This was a beautiful town with many luxury summer homes that are still very well maintained. There were also many interesting shops that Jean and I explored briefly while Ron enjoyed his coffee and cookies (found at a little bakery on Main street). We drove pretty much non- stop from this break along hwy 7 until we got to Danbury Connecticut. We then followed the directions our friend Nancy had given us and we found her home in New Canaan without much difficulty.
We spent our time in New Canaan and Bridgeport visiting with our travelling friends and just had a wonderful time. We also got to meet the husbands of Troy, Nancy and Dorie. Lois drove all the way from New Jersey to join us for lunch on Dorie’s porch—it was like we were on the road just off the back of the bus. We did miss our 8th partner, Ken, and to be sure he was very much in all our minds as we remembered the special memories we had from those trips. Dorie’s husband Jack, summed it up nicely—he said it was a miracle that we met when we did and formed such a wonderful friendship. Jean and I spent an extra afternoon with Dorie playing in her sewing room—what a delightful haven it is—we do wish that we could live closer to Bridgeport and could join Dorie for an afternoon to just sit and sew or knit. Jean came home with some exciting new fabrics and I have some new sock wool to experiment with. We hated to say goodbye.
On our trip North we travelled in Connecticut along hwy 169 as far as Sturbridge Mass. We travelled thru beautiful agricultural areas and many very old towns established in the 1700’s. Our morning drive was delightful and we lunched again at a diner that had a pretty full parking lot. We were not so lucky with the weather in the afternoon as we found the rain. We decided to take the Interstate (91) and hopefully find a dry place to stop for the evening. We did a little detour and travelled over hwy. 302 to Littleton where we spent the night at Thayers Hotel. It is a 19th Century Hotel right on Main Street. It was a perfect place for us to spend the evening—no elevator so we did lug out bags up two flights of stairs but it had everything we needed and more—even breakfast in the morning. Almost next door there was a wonderful book shop that occupied our time for over an hour. We had dinner at the Littleton Diner and much to my disappointment the menu has changed and they no longer have grape nut pudding on the menu. I did ask and the chef who made it died 4 or 5 years ago and no one was able to duplicate the taste of the pudding so.......
The next morning found us on the road to St Johnsbury Vermont and then we took hwy 2 and 15 over to St. Albans. Ron needed coffee in Johnson and lo and behold, they had a woollen mill in town. What a wonderful place to shop—again an hour of our time looking and even some buying, especially by Jean. They had a wonderful selection of sweaters and shirts so we treated ourselves. As an extra special treat this woollen mill was celebrating it’s 165th anniversary so everything in the store was 20% off. In St. Albans we fed Ron and then found the JoAnn’s fabric store where both Jean and I did buy some fabric—we did restrain ourselves but could not leave behind the special pieces that we found. From there it was on to the border thru the rain again. Our morning part of the trip was in good weather but again in the afternoon we drove thru rain until we got to the outskirts of Ottawa. The border crossing was not busy (at Cornwall) going into Canada but they were lined up over the bridge going into the States. We found some fresh corn en route home so had a veggie feast for our dinner and then early to bed.
Ottawa survived without us and Jean’s black current berries were ripe for the picking.
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