New Hampshire

Wednesday 28 September – Adams-Ossipee

We had a slow start to the day and were eventually packed and ready to leave for Lake Ossipee by about 10am. We stopped at Adams for bank, PO and supermarket. Because of heavy rains earlier in the year we had to take a very long detour around a washed out bridge on Route 2.

At Brattleboro we stopped at the Chelsea Royal Diner for lunch. We had stopped there last time Surrey and I were here. It is a real American diner! I had butternut squash shepherd's pie (i.e. shepherd's pie with mashed pumpkin on top rather than potato).

Then we continued on to Hillsboro where we had yummy ice cream (Barre is a bit of an ice cream freak) at the High Tide Take Out (www.hightidetakeout.com). The ice cream was excellent.

At Centre Harbour, quite close to Ossipee we stopped at the Keepsake Quilting Shop (www.keepsakequilting.com ). Marion usually brings me a catalogue from this shop when she visits Sydney but I had no idea it was on the direct route to Lake Ossipee. It is huge and has all sorts of things we don't seem to see at home as well as a wonderful array of fabrics. They even tied my plastic bag of goodies with a fabric offcut.

Then we stopped at the Moultonboro Country Store. This store has been in operation from the 1700s and is full of barrels of foods and all sorts of goods. Another place I have not visited before. We were going to try to visit the Weston Country Store in Vermont but flooding has closed many of the roads so Barre did not want to risk wasting time on too many detours for closed roads.

We arrived at Barre and Marion's summer house at Lake Ossipee by around 5 pm, settled in and had a busy time showing Elaine around, taking photos of the magnificent sunset over the lake and catching up on diary. Dinner was Boston baked beans and ham, a real New England meal.

Thursday 29 September – Conway Scenic Railway

This morning we woke to rain and the temperature was only 15 C at breakfast time. After breakfast we did a load of washing to keep it up to date for Elaine's return home.

We drove up to North Conway to join our Conway Scenic Railway tour to Fabyan and return that Barre had booked for us months ago. This included a sit down cooked lunch as well.

We had a little time to wander around all the trains in the yard including a steam engine about to leave on a down line journey and an engine with a huge snow plough on the front. Our train eventually drew into the station and we were loaded on one by one.

Soon after we started our climb up the valley we went into lunch in the dining car. I had New England chowder and an open burger with blue cheese and bacon over the meat patty. Too big again so I left some, but the ice cream sundae for dessert was yum.

It was a fantastic ride up into the fog with the woodland in autumn colours. We saw some of the areas that had been washed out by hurricane Irene earlier in the year. There really must have been a huge amount of water rushing off the mountains in a very short time.

Our first stop was Crawford Notch then on to Fabyan. Surrey and I had driven the route with Barre and Marion and had lunch in the Fabyan Station so it was fun to retrace our steps by train this time. He would have loved it. Elaine and I certainly did.

On our return trip we were back in the carriage but Elaine, Marion and I walked down to the open air carriage at the front end of the train. I stayed there for most of the trip but the other two got cold very quickly. I revelled in the cold and wet and felt comfortably cool for the first time since we'd left home. I even got some photos of the train going over the Frankenstein Trestle bridge which was over 30 m from the valley floor.

Photography back in the cabin was difficult with so much rain on the window but in the open air carriage I just got completely wet.

Back at North Conway around 5 pm we stopped at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard ice cream. Not bad! Then home via the Madison Boulder. Although I'd seen it before it was still impressive. It was dumped by the last glacier about 10000 years ago that started up in Canada and went as far south as New Jersey.

Back home for crackers, cheese and apples for dinner while we had a brief thunderstorm. Then we had a game of a most appropriate board game that Barre and Marion own called 'Ticket to Ride'. Then diary writing before bed at last.

Friday 30 September – Moose hunt!

Today we set out on an extremely fine day to find a moose so we were on the road again for yet another day.

This time we drove north in New Hampshire stopping at a few lookouts between North Conway and the Mt Washington lookout which is as far as I had been before. We then continued north on Route 16. At Errol we tried to find lunch without luck. There was a Subway but nowhere to sit so we turned onto Route 26 towards Colebrook. The fall colours were magnificent! No photo will really do it justice but we did stop to take a few more anyway. Dixville Notch (the actual summit of the road) was a surprise in its sudden peak. At any higher speed the car could have almost become airborne at the top as the road fell away on the other side quite suddenly.

At Colebrook we had lunch at Howard's Diner (restaurant). Again the food was excellent but this time I was able to have just a sandwich (BLT) and orange juice. Our placemat at the diner had lots of ads for local businesses. One was for a quilt shop further north out of Pittsburg on the main road. When Barre asked if we wanted to stop I said yes for a bit of a break but in fact it was a fabulous shop. Smaller than others we'd seen, under a lady's house, but lots of fabrics and all on special. The shop (Moose Country Quilting) was surprisingly busy for somewhere so remote. Marion found another waterlily fabric and Elaine and I both found other fabrics but had to be strong or we would have bought far too much. Fat quarters were only $1.99 each, even the ones she cut for us.

We then drove on as far as the Canadian border and even took some dirt roads to try to find a moose but no luck so we turned and came home a lot more quickly.

We followed Route 3 south to Twin Mountains, followed the train line from Fabyan to Bartlett then skirted the towns on a back road.

Home by 7:30pm and quickly got a toasted cheese sandwich before we went next door to visit Gordon (Barre's cousin) and his wife Merilee. I had stayed with them in 2000 when they lived at White River Junction and Barre was in Dartmouth hospital.

Merilee had made extra corn chowder for us to share so I had a small taste and it was fabulous. Potatoes and onions fried in butter, sweet corn off a cob, salt, cumin and all in milk after they are cooked.

What a long day in the car! It was great to eventually collapse into bed.

Saturday 1 October – Ice Hockey

Before leaving Lake Ossipee Elaine and I were able to take a walk along the shore of the lake then back via the road. We were on the road again by 10 ish, this time to the south eastern Maine coast and then west to Durham, New Hampshire.

It took us a while to get away this morning but eventually we left in very foggy drizzle conditions. We drove to the coast at Wells where we had lunch at Mike's Clam Shack. I had a shrimp ceasar salad that was delicious but I still had to leave half the lettuce. Just too much.

On then to Nubble Light at Cape Neddick. It is out on a rock and so isolated and exposed even though we could have yelled to anyone out there. It was even sounding the fog horn as it was such a heavy fog. However, we did have the Atlantic Ocean lapping at our feet which was quite cool.

Our sightseeing over, we headed to Dick and Katy's house in Durham. We arrived at about 2:15 pm and sat chatting until it was time to go to the UNH ice hockey game about 2 km away. Katy, Marion and Elaine walked while Dick, Barre and I got a lift with friends Linda and Tom up the hill.

The game was quite an experience. So fast! University of New Hampshire (UNH) playing University of New Brunswick (UBC) from Canada. It was unfortunate that the microphones the two singers used for the two national anthems were not working but it was quite ethereal to hear the fans singing very softly to support the singers rather than drown them out. It was in fact very moving.

UNH had a band (it was their home arena) that played every now and then or just made noises or chanted their chants. But the PA noise and 'music' was unbearably loud and echoed so much you could not actually understand what was being said. UNH won 3:0. There are 3 sections of the game and at each interval many of the audience get up and walk around the back of the arena for a bit of exercise.

After the game we returned to Dick and Katy's for dinner with Linda and Tom as well. It was a great time sitting and chatting around the table but eventually both Elaine and I did a quick email check now that we are back online then collapsed into bed quite late.

Katy had left both Elaine and I a little jar of maple syrup on our beds. It was so welcoming.

Sunday 2 October – Durham-Ossipee

Up at 7 am to another drizzly day after a bit of a sleep-in. Katy and Dick made us a fantastic breakfast of sausages, onions, capsicum and scrambled eggs with English muffins.

After a little chatting we left and travelled west towards Adams again. Our first stop was at Piece Time Puzzles, a shop where Barre had his waterlily photos made into jig-saw puzzles, a shop full of puzzles of all sorts.

Then on to Brattleboro for lunch at Friendly's. We all had seniors meals. Mine was a hamburger followed by a hot chocolate sundae over coffee ice cream. Elaine and I also shared a coffee Fribble (a sort of iced coffee).

On and on we drove, arriving in Adams by about 4 pm. We had time for Elaine to sort and pack ready for leaving tomorrow, for me to sort all the photos so she could take a copy of everything home with her, and for Marion to sort quilting things and do a load of washing. Of course there was also the usual diary homework.

Dinner was New England hot dogs.

Spring Garden at home

Isn't it pretty! Ellen took some pics of it.

Our Amish Experience

Friday 23 September – Ottawa-Adams

We woke before 5 am this morning and quickly finished packing for Lynn to drop us at the station by about 5:45am. There was very little traffic so we made good time and after ensuring we had the answers to all our questions Lynn bade us farewell and went off to work very early.

As the train pulled in dawn was absolutely magnificent and pink. It was magic to watch the sunrise over fields covered in low fog and all dewy. I saw one flock of wild turkeys in one field we passed.

A two hour trip to Montreal, a reasonably short wait in another queue and difficulty handling our bags off and on trains saw us on the Amtrak train headed south to Albany (our stop) then New York City.

Customs officers boarded at Rouses Point and we had a long wait while they processed all our documentation, had all the foreigners fill out another form, pay $6 then stamp our passports.

It was interesting travelling south along Lake Champlain in New York state because Surrey and I had driven up that way last time we were here and seen it in spring from the road.

We arrived into Albany a little late and a lot exhausted. Barre and Marion were there to greet us. We then drove east over the mountains to North Adams and had dinner at the Boston Seafood restaurant. It was a huge meal even though Elaine and I shared one meal between us.

After dinner we drove home and collapsed after a long and tiring day.

Saturday 24 September – Adams

Both Elaine and I woke at 6:30 am quite independently after a good night's sleep. We had a slow start to the day with coffee with Barre then breakfast when Marion got up.

Today we both opted for a slow day but had a nice walk in the beautiful fall colours along the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail with Marion in the morning. http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/asrt.htm

 

There was lots of research about where to go for our Amish trip for the next few days and lots of talk about where we'd been so far.

After lunch Marion took Elaine on a quick tour of Adams but then we downloaded pics, updated the blog and caught up on emails. Of course there was also lots of quilting talk and some show and tell opportunities.

It was just great to feel so at home and relaxed before we begin more adventures.

Sunday 25 September – Our Amish Experience #1

One place Surrey had always wanted to take me since he visited in 1983 was the Amish country in Pennsylvania. To fulfil that dream I asked Barre when arranging this visit if he could take us down there. Hence our Amish Experience.

Up for a quick breakfast, leaving the house for our tour earlier than planned. Barre drove us via some scenic roads skirting Pittsfield till we joined Route 9 then the Taconic Throughway. The leaves are all still green this far south.

We had a quick stop at West Taghkanic where police and others were out in full managing traffic for the bike leg of a triathlon. We continued south to join Route 84. At Fishkill we stopped for lunch at a Cracker Barrel. http://www.crackerbarrel.com/ What an experience! We had to walk through a gift shop full of junk while we waited for a table in a very noisy cafe. Some people actually waited in rocking chairs on the porch. However, the food was excellent but of course far too much as usual.

Then on to join the 87 and 287 passing within sight of New York city (except for the big stone walls along the road). We then headed west on 78 and southwest on 222, eventually finding our motel, the Days Inn, with the help of our very useful GPS lady and 6 hours of driving.

After dumping our things we drove around the area a bit just for a look. There were lots of Amish in covered and uncovered buggies drawn by beautiful horses. I guess they were all heading to or from church. Others were walking and one girl even pushing an Amish 'scooter'. They were all dressed in traditional outfits and looked amazing.

Even more amazing were the farms and animals we saw as we drove along some more minor roads – horses, mules (Surrey was very impressed with the mules when he visited the area), cows, chooks (free ranging even near the roads). It's the sort of place that driving at 40 kph would seem too fast.

We then headed for Miller's http://www.millerssmorgasbord.com/ for dinner but found a quilt shop first. Barre was very patient while we three browsed through hundreds of beautiful quilts and smaller things. http://www.millerssmorgasbord.com/shopping.php Of course I bought a few of the smaller things.

For dinner I had chicken on waffles – Miller's original German dish (called Dutch from Deutsch). Far too much again!

Back to the motel to write up our diaries and prepare our tour of the area for tomorrow. The temperature was max 83 F (about 26 C?).

Monday 26 September – Amish Experience #2

We arranged to meet and go down to motel breakfast at 7:30 am. It was a very basic breakfast included in our price.

We then headed for Bird in Hand Bake Shop http://www.bihbakeshop.com/ which had all sorts of home made baked goods and preserves as well as other treasures and gifts.

We then took minor roads south to the Strasburg Country Store and Creamery. http://www.strasburg.com/The-Strasburg-Creamery/

It was then time for total immersion into Amish life style by first visiting the Amish Village http://theamishvillage.net/ where we had a guided tour of the house. It was really very interesting to have a few of the myths debunked and other facts clarified. Some of their alternate energy options are really interesting – they do not use grid power in the house as 'the wires would tie them to the outside world'. This was a reconstructed village but an original house and barns.

Then we decided it would be best to put some of the food back into the motel room as the temperature was already into the high 80s. Our next stop was the Amish Farm and House http://www.amishfarmandhouse.com/ . This was actually Quaker built but the last occupants were Amish. The guided tour was much the same as before but we did learn a little more.

It was then well and truly lunch time so we stopped at the Good 'n' Plenty Restaurant http://www.goodnplenty.com/ not far from the motel. Here I had baked ham, corn and beets followed by strawberry and rhubarb pie (actually crumble). It was all yummy, the only thing missing was the custard.

The afternoon was spent visiting quilt shops and fabric shops with a pretzel shop for Barre and Elaine.

First there was Riehl's Quilts and Crafts http://www.padutchcountry.com/members/riehl_s_quilts_and_crafts.asp which was actually a working farm with a quilt barn. It was great to watch the family at all their normal activities.

 

Then there was Smucker's Quilts http://www.amishnews.com/Shopping/smuckersquilts.htm and http://www.800padutch.com/y/smuckersquilts.html which was also a farm. What a pity the Amish don't like their photos taken because there were so many fabulous scenes of everyday life.

After nearly having an accident on the way out of Smucker's we headed south on minor roads to Intercourse where we split up to do our own things. Barre and Elaine towards the pretzels and Marion and I towards the fabrics. I bought four more fabrics for my project then sat exhausted in the car with Barre, Marion & Elaine not far behind.

Back to the motel to escape the busy crowds on the main roads and recuperate in time for dinner.

Tuesday 27 September – Amish Experience #3

Breakfast at about 7:30 again after a good night's sleep.

We were on our way home soon after 8 am via a slightly different route till we got to the Taconic Throughway again. It was nice to get of the main highways and away from huge fast trucks.

We had lunch at the Apple Village at Milford where Elaine and I shared a chicken toasted sandwich.

When we arrived back in Massachusetts Barre took us on a quick tour of Stockbridge and Lennox to see how the rich people live.

At last we arrived home, ordered pizza for dinner then caught up with emails and diary before watching the new NCIS on TV. It was great to have very short video chats with Ellen, Luke and Alex and also with Geoff.

A Few Days with Lynn

Tuesday 20 September – Ottawa

My cold is still around today so I have decided to stay at home or I might not recover as quickly as I should. My voice has returned a little today but is very husky.

Again a slow start as Lynn did not leave for work till 11am. It was so lovely to have fires on and washing done and just sit around on a misty damp morning in the woods. The leaves are just beginning to turn here.

Lynn and Elaine left and I decided it was best for my cold if I stayed at home and rested for the day. Of course I did not stay in bed but spent time on diary, blog, photos and email and recharged all batteries including my own. I was also able to take some pics of Lynn's trees and garden plants and of course Nutmeg and I had some long chats.

Elaine had a great walk through some of the interesting parts of Ottawa. She went to the Parliament buildings, the By Market, the Notre Dame Cathedral, across the bridge and ended up at the Museum of Civilisation where she had arranged to meet Lynn at 6 pm.

I had dinner ready for us when they arrived home. While Lynn worked on a lecture after dinner Elaine and I downloaded her photos of her day and she took me on a virtual tour of the experiences she had had.

Some of our washing is actually dry but the jeans will probably need another day. The temperatures are still quite reasonable (max about 20 C) and I am still happy dressed in a singlet and blouse until the evening when I put on a cotton jumper.

We've seen a grey/black squirrel and a chipmunk in Lynn's yard so far.

Wednesday 21 September – Ottawa

This morning I have my voice back! I have a bit of a cough but it all seems to be loosening up and progressing well.

Lynn went to work at 7:30 am to give a morning lecture. We stayed home to do the dishwasher and pick all the remaining basil ready for freezing.

When Lynn returned home at about 1 pm she had a quick lunch (we had already had ours) then she drove us further north along the Gatineau River to a small town called Wakefield. There is a steam train that runs up and down the line for tourists but it has not run for most of this summer because rain has washed out the track in places. We stopped at a beautifully restored covered bridge almost 100 m long. We did grocery shopping for dinner and bought bread at the bakery then stopped at a spring to refill Lynn's water bottles. Apparently Lynn's well water has a bit of uranium in it so it is not suitable for drinking.

Back home via the scenic route and came to another covered bridge, again recently restored. This one was about 30 m long.

At home we sorted things for a picnic dinner. Sylvia (who stayed at our place when Lynn stayed some years ago) came over so we headed into Gatineau Park. Sylvia and Elaine parked near our dinner cabin then went for a walk through the woods to Huron lookout while Lynn and I drove to Champlain lookout, back to Huron lookout and then to the dinner cabin, Shilly Shally. The views from the lookouts were misty but beautiful and the colours in the autumnal leaves are beginning to look magnificent.

We enjoyed our gourmet picnic dinner by candlelight in the cabin then walked back out of the woods to the car in the dark. What an incredible experience it all was!

Thursday 22 September – Ottawa

We woke to misty drizzle this morning but as Lynn had organised to take the day off we were not deterred from our intended jaunt though we did have a slow getaway. Home-made blueberry waffles with maple syrup was a gastronomic experience.

We drove along the north side of the Ontario River to the Quyon Ferry (http://quyonferry.com/ ) where we crossed to the south side. It was only a tiny 5-car ferry and pulled into the wharf sideways. There were lots of Canada Geese feeding in the shallows.

Lynn prefers to take the minor roads so I navigated to our next destination by zig-zagging along minor roads. We stopped at Fitzroy Provincial Park (http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trails-a-z/fitzroy-provincial-park/ ) to find a 'rest room' then had a quick tour of Fitzroy Harbour before continuing on south to Almonte. There we found the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum (www.mvtm.ca ) Lynn had found for us to visit.

It is a great little museum. There was an historical display upstairs, active weavers on looms downstairs, an exhibition by two quilt artists and a gift shop where I bought some scraps of fabric and a beautiful star heat mat.

We drove back into the old village and had lunch (quiche and soup) at a little cafe called Foodies (http://foodiesfinefoods.ca/ ). We then strolled through the village and actually found two quilting shops where I bought some fabric for my Fall project – Textile Traditions (http://www.textiletraditionsofalmonte.com/ ) and Quilting Quarters (www.quiltingquarters.ca ).

 

We then took minor roads through farmland again towards Richmond where we headed for The Country Quilters (http://thecountryquilter.ca/Welcome.html ). I had found this shop on the internet. It was really very nice and had some beautiful quilts on display. We photographed one in particular that reminded us of our picnic dinner in the woods.

W then found a coffee shop called Never Too Latte (http://www.nevertoolatte.ca/AboutUs.html ) where the coffee was weak but the white chocolate and raspberry scones were fantastic. We also had their chocolate banana bread which was also good.

This was followed by more minor roads until we met the Rideau River and Canal (http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/ ). We stopped at one of the many locks along the canal, the Black Rapids Lock 13 and enjoyed a little wander.

 

It was then time to head home via Route 73 alongside the canal, through town for me to see some of the sights I missed on Tuesday then home by about 6 pm. The max. temperature during the day was 27 C but it was down to 21 C by the time we arrived home. It had been a very hot drive so it was great to get home to some cool air. On the way home I saw two ground-hogs feeding in the green pick on the side of the road.

Lynn and Elaine then went for a walk with Nutmeg while I caught up with diary and dbegan preparing our gourmet left overs for dinner.

The leaves are beginning to turn colour beautifully and Lynn's house is bliss to live in surrounded by woods.

Toronto and Niagara

Saturday 17 September – Toronto

We arrived into Toronto (pron. Tronno by most) soon after 10 am today then collected bags, collected tickets for our remaining train journeys and dragged our bags the “short” walk to our hotel – about 7 blocks. My cold is worse and I needed a few rests along the way. I'm feeling a bit useless at the moment.

Our rooms were not ready but the hotel stored them while we walked down towards the harbour. We passed hosts of people heading towards the Rogers Stadium - http://www.rogerscentre.com/ . It appears that the baseball finals are this weekend.

Down near Union Station - http://www.trha.ca/unionstation.html - we found a free outdoor train museum which was lots of fun - http://www.trha.ca/index.html . Jeanette even went for a ride on the model train.

We then walked towards home via one of the underground paths stopping to have a rest (and fresh carrot juice for me). We discovered a museum of media - http://cbc.radio-canada.ca/facilities/toronto/museum.shtml - under the CBC building, the equivalent of our ABC building.

We returned to check into our rooms and catch up with emails and photos. We had dinner at Pizza Rustica - http://pizzarustica.ca/ - which was quite close to our hotel then came home and collapsed into bed.

Sunday 18 September – Niagara Falls

We had an awful night with loud partying noises till almost 3am. As requested we met in the lobby at 9:30 after our Starbucks takeaway breakfast of yoghurt and muesli.

The bus came early to our tour to Niagara so we were on our way to collect others. Unfortunately we were delayed by almost an hour by some paperwork mismanagement on the company's part. Eventually we headed out and had a brief orientation around Niagara town (all hotels and casinos) then went to or buffet lunch. The lunch was delicious and, thank goodness, was included in the ticket (unclear in the itinerary description).

Our most exciting time followed with a 'Maid of the Mist' boat tour around the falls - http://www.maidofthemist.com/en/ . So much water! Apparently there is a webcam of the falls - http://www.niagaraparks.com/webcam/index.html

We were then able to walk along the cliff top to Table Rock and saw a beautiful rainbow forming as the sun dropped lower in the sky. This was at about 4:30 pm. We were to meet the bus here but one of the party was missing so we drove along the walkway to find him waiting at the wrong end. His wife and daughter were very concerned and upset.

The next lookout was at the Whirlpool Rapids - http://www.niagarafrontier.com/whirlpoolrapids.html - while others opted to take a helicopter ride over it. So much water!

A quick look at the Floral Clock - http://www.niagaraparks.com/garden-trail/floral-clock.html - then on to Pillitteri Wines – www.pillitteri.com – for a very quick wine tasting. Only one red and one white. The white was OK but the red was awful. They specialise in Ice Wine, a dessert wine made from grapes picked in winter when they are shrivelled and frozen. Very expensive and it costs to taste it. I don't like sweet wines anyway.

On the way back we drove slowly through Niagara-on-the-Lake which looks as though it would be lovely to browse through for a whole day. It reminded me of Berry on steroids.

Back to our hotel where the four of us went to buy a Subway roll for dinner. Elaine even had to order my subway because I had no voice to do so. We ate them in Jeanette and Graham's room because they had more chairs. But after dinner Jeanette and Graham came up to our room to admire out beautiful view of the CN Tower - http://www.cntower.ca - all lit up and to look at our patchwork. It turns out Jeanette does patchwork and spinning as well.

We thought we'd sleep better tonight because there were no party noises but it started late in the night and continued again for some hours.

Monday 19 September – Toronto-Ottawa

We had a lovely slow start to the day today. Plenty of time to pack and be ready to meet Jeanette and Graham at 10 am in the lobby. We shared a taxi to the station for all our luggage and the two 'sticks' (Graham and I), Jeanette and Elaine walked the 7 blocks unencumbered.

After a coffee together we said our farewells to Jeanette and Graham and they boarded their train for Montreal. We then bought wraps for lunch and boarded our train for Ottawa.

The journey started by Lake Ontario then through mostly farmland and small towns with a few stops along the way. There was a little colour in some of the leaves on the way.

Lynn met us at the station and we recognised one another easily. A quick drive home to Chelsea via a small supermarket brought us to Lynn's fabulous house in the woods. Her dog Nutmeg welcomed us and eventually allowed us in.

We enjoyed a slow dinner of tourtiere (Quebec meat pie) made with bison. There was also corn, squash and potatoes.

My voice has completely gone (for the last few days) so chatting is not a good option.