Post by Ella. Maple sugar, maple filled chocolate, maple syrup, maple creemee, maple covered pepitas, maple infused olive oil, maple gin, maple chipotle hot sauce. Vermont’s state motto should be “No such thing as too much maple”. Late in the afternoon today we ducked down to the Church Street Marketplace in downtown Burlington to browse…
Author: Ella
Life in Randolph
Post by Ella. Sometimes I am lucky enough to meet an AirBnB host who is not a property management company, who has not asked us to strip the sheets or take out the garbage, and who genuinely seems to care if we enjoyed our stay. Whether owned by a person or a company, most AirBnB…
Slow in Stowe
Post by Ella. “There is a 10 minute slowdown in three miles. You are still on the fastest route.”, Google Maps chirped happily as we neared Stowe, Vermont yesterday. Just 1/2 mile from the town, we joined the stop-and-go line up on the one lane Route 100 heading into Stowe. No road construction, no accident….
Westward to maple creamees, maple sugar, maple syrup
Post by Ella. From Randolph, New Hampshire to Burlington, Vermont. We stopped in Lancaster to admire another covered bridge, St. Johnsbury for the Dog Chapel on Dog Mountain, and some coffee, then on to Stowe for a walk around this busy town, then finally came to what is to be our home for the next…
Bog slopping, rock hopping, gnarled root tripping, dodgy brook crossing
Post by Ella. No one told me that hiking in the White Mountains could be so much…fun? And this time of year, all those rocks and roots the White Mountains are famous for, are concealed by layers of leaves. Nature’s finest art, those colorful leaves fallen from tall birches and maples, hide the treachery beneath….
And then the rains came
Post by Ella. I’m sitting on the covered, screened-in porch of our rustic cabin, appreciating the sound of gentle rain on birch and maple leaves with the mountains barely visible through the clouds. We got a swell but boggy hike in this morning before, as the weather app predicted, the rains started at 11:00 a.m….
This morning’s sunrise brought to you by the White Mountains of New Hampshire
Post by Ella. Our rustic cottage (or maybe it’s a cabin, dunno, what’s the difference? Marc, does the Cape have any wisdom on that?) comes with a view. Just after sunrise this morning, all was bathed in a purple, red, yellow glow.
Covered bridge on the byway
Post by Ella. In the 1800s, bridges were often built with roof structures to prevent the trusses from being pelted with snow and ice which would eventually cause irreparable damage. When we saw the sign “Covered Bridge 3 miles” with an arrow pointing to the right while en route to Randolph yesterday, we took a…
Exit Maine, enter New Hampshire: today’s route
Post by Ella. From Greenville, Maine to Randolph, New Hampshire. We stopped outside of Skowhegan, Maine for a nice hike, in Skowhegan for coffee, A little detour to see one of the remaining covered bridges (not in use) in Maine, and then on to our rustic cottage in Randolph, New Hampshire, right in the White…
Another small town because that’s all there is in Maine
Post by Ella. Greenville, another small Maine town, population 1500, but nudging the largest lake in Maine, Moosehead Lake, it attracts water-loving visitors from afar. For the non-claustrophobics, you can take a scenic tour by sea-plane or if you need more open space, by boat, the heritage-designated Katahdin, which offers one cruise a day, rain…
Another tequila sunrise
Post by Ella. Although no tequila was involved, I awoke this morning to a goldenrod glow seeping through the blinds. I rolled gracefully out of bed and stepped onto our balcony to soak in the early morning caw-croaking of ravens while goldenrod and purple turned to orange. We are in Greenville (we arrived yesterday late…
In the ‘shroom universe
Post by Ella. With colorful names like mouse-ear and flying saucer, these mostly deadly (when consumed by humans) fungi populate the damp forests of Devil’s Head and Moosehorn. Seen on Tuesday during our hikes. Mushrooms, while they might kill us, are a key ingredient in most ecosystems. They send mycelial threads down to help nourish…
So long to Downeast: today’s route
Post by Ella. We see the term “Downeast” a lot here. I have found a couple of different explanations about why this area got the name. Here is one from Down East magazine: “When ships sailed from Boston to ports in Maine (which were to the east of Boston), the wind was at their backs,…
Up at sunrise
Post by Ella. I woke this morning to see a little tinge of orange peeking through the opening in the draperies. Yikes, I could capture sunrise for the first time on this trip. I leapt out of bed (yeah, 73 year olds shouldn’t leap), grabbed my phone and yanked open the sliding door to the…
Reversing Falls
Post by Ella. Between Dennys Bay and Cobscook (the Maliseet-Passamaquoddy word for “boiling tides”j Bay there is Reversing Falls Park. Intriguing. The Old County road off Route 1 led to a charming one lane road where we had to stop for a gaggle of geese and a photo of a seafaring church. Then google maps…