Just got home last night from vacation. We took a road trip up through the Adirondacks, over to Lake Champlain and Lake George, across thru Vermont, then down to Massachusetts and home - over 1700 miles!!!
This is Stillwell Reservoir in Lowesville, NY. The hotel, restaurant and boat launch are at the end of an 8 mile dirt road. We would really like to go back next year. We found out you can bring your boat and camping gear and camp on one of the 45 islands. That would be so awesome!
We stopped at the Maple Museum in Croghan, NY where a good friend of ours was inducted into the Maple Producers Hall of Fame and also found a cute little railroad station with a museum too!
This is Lake Champlain from the top of Mount Defiance in Ticonderoga, NY and our visit to Fort Ticonderoga.
Here we are at the ruins of the British and French forts at Crown Point, NY. If you look really close beneath the tree, you'll see our little groundhog friend that kept us company for a while. We took a climb to the top of the Crown Point lighthouse.
The new bridge from Crown Point to Chimney Point, VT is beautiful, too!
Next stop - Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT. It was over 90 degrees that day, so we spaced out the outdoor exhibits between trips to the air conditioned buildings! I love the round barn, and enjoyed the beautiful woodwork and décor on the Ticonderoga steamship. Someone else, whose name I won't mention, was more interested in the inner workings of the engine room, though!
The next day we were off to Barre, VT where we visited the Rock of Ages granite quarry. Then we took a drive up around Stowe and got to see the von Trapp Family Lodge. Brings back a lot of memories of Maria and the Sound of Music, even though the story is only loosely based on their real journey to Vermont.
We stayed in Barre in the old firehouse - now converted to a hotel and restaurant with a fireman's museum. It was perfect for Sam since he was a volunteer fireman for many years. The place was gorgeous, and they kept as much of the original décor of the fire station as possible - even the wooden lockers!
Off to Mom's in Springfield, VT on Thursday. Had a good visit with the Dutton's on Friday (Marshall, Betty, Mark, Cindy and Diana with her grandchildren from Texas), and then went to South Sudbury, MA on Saturday to the Wayside Inn and Grist Mill. Sam's dad built the waterwheel on the mill, so it's always good to go back and see it again. Mom had never been there, so she really enjoyed the trip too.
Wow - no wonder I'm tired today - I need to take a vacation to rest up from vacation!!
