Tag Archives: leaf peeping

White Mountain trip… Day 2. Screw it.

 

Though our condo unit wasn’t the greatest, I have to admit the mountain sunrises were rather nice.

 

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But before I jump into the day’s activities…. I have to tell you about our first night. We spent it in a spacious king size bed with 6 snuggly goose down pillows and comforter. At 2:00am I rolled over, stretched out my leg and felt… something hard. ( No, not that. I’ve been waking up to that for years…. I recognize it.)

This was down at my feet. Hard, light weight and bumpy. But I was half asleep and wrote it off to part of a twisted sheet.

It wasn’t.

When I got up the next morning and made the bed?

I found these.

 

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Yup.

Four rubber duckies hiding at the very bottom of the bed where the comforter is tucked under the mattress.

I don’t know about you, but that was a first for me.

Free ducks!

Give this resort 5 stars…

Mints on pillows? Pffft. That’s for amateurs.

Plastic waterfowl is where it’s at.

 

 

Anyway  –

Leaving the resort everyday looked like this…

 

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So free ducks aside, I’m not complaining.

We passed this ski season bar everyday as well.

 

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Poor lonely mug.

Our first excursion took us to Grafton Notch.

 

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And yes, that’s really the name.

 

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(Here’s where we begin the rocks and trees, trees and rocks part of our story.)

 

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Clambering around the granite boulders, you find the falls.

 

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And you have to admit, for rocks…. they’re pretty awesome.

 

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Walk the charming leaf strewn path…

 

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Across the cute little bridge…

 

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And there are more rocks.

 

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The mini falls and pools are a favorite swimming spot in summer, and rage with fury during the spring snow melt.

 

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Falls seen, experienced and photographed, the husband begins what would become his epic  “I will leave my mark on every state and national park portapotty I can find”  challenge.

 

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Who says we don’t know how to have fun on vacation?

 

 

 

White Mountains trip…. Day 1. The resort.

 

As you know, we use our timeshare when we travel. Some of the resorts we choose have been fabulous… some less so.

The Grand Summit Resort at Sunday River?

 

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From the outside? Not bad.

Good location, up a long driveway, past a babbling brook… nestled in the mountains.

 

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Technically it’s a ski resort, so yes…. there are ski slopes.

 

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Inside?

 

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Rustic decor, heavily ski-centric.

 

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With questionable carpet choices.

 

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Which did not improve when we made our way upstairs to our condo.

 

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Yeah.

This literally made my head swim every time I had to walk on it.

 

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See? It even made the camera dizzy.

The only good thing I can say about it is they are in the process of ripping it up. Though sadly, not soon enough for us.

While I usually book the larger 2 bedroom unit for extra space, an extra bathroom and a larger kitchen…. this was a last minute deal and I had to take a 1 bedroom. Never having been here before, I have to say I was not impressed.

 

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It was really small.

 

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And as basic as I’ve ever seen.

The “full”  kitchen? Not so full.

 

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It also went a little heavy on the moose theme.

While it was clean and the bed was comfortable…. the smoke alarm went off everytime we made toast, which must have endeared us to our neighbors since we’re up with the sun most days.  The shower head was so low the 5’8” husband hit his head every time he attempted to wash his hair, and the kitchen cabinet doors stuck to the frames like glue. If you managed to pull them open? The shelves wobbled.

 

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Thankfully we only slept and showered there because the noise from the heating unit would probably have caused me to drink a Drano cocktail had we stayed any longer.

Of course they did provide some stellar reading material on the coffee table….

 

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And a nice big tree in front of our balcony…

 

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With a stunning view of the 6 slot parking lot.  The slots everyone jockeys for because otherwise you’re hoofing it down the hill to the auxiliary lot.

 

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Yes… 6 spots up front. For a resort that has hundreds of condo units as well as a hotel and restaurant. Smart planning, that.

Oh well.

The restaurant was fun.

 

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Appropriately named Camp, it was modern rustic.

 

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And we enjoyed it.

Who doesn’t want to be lit by an upside down canoe?

 

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Tasty seasonal cocktails…

 

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And a light dinner later….

 

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We called an end to our first day.

 

 

 

 

 

White Mountains trip… Day 1.

 

It was a little dreary the day we left, with rain threatening in the distance… but we made good time and actually arrived too early to check into our resort.

What to do. What to do…

Who am I kidding?

 

 

It was margarita time.

 

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So we found a chicken themed bar…

 

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And settled in for lunch. Liquid and otherwise…

 

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It was a funky place…

 

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Basically a converted farmhouse with lots of quirky little rooms.

 

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And though they don’t look wonderful….

 

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The homemade chicken croquettes were to die for.

Bellies full, we headed out.

 

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Fall color was intermittent during this trip. Some places gorgeous, others past peak.

 

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We got to Newry, still too early to check in… so we explored.

 

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Found a covered bridge….

 

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Built in 1872…

 

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And enjoyed the views.

 

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It was peaceful…

 

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And smelled like autumn.

 

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For those not familiar…

That means fresh air, apples, a hint of wood smoke, and dry crackling leaves.

 

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Nectar of the Gods.

Down the road a ways, we had a laugh.

 

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We followed the sign, but found neither hole nor Frenchman.

 

 

But we did pass a camp….

 

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With the perfect name.

 

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That says it all.

 

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I love the country!

 

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Colors and critters.

 

Looking across the street to our neighbor’s organic vegetable farm is always interesting.

 

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But this time of year, it’s downright beautiful.

 

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Who knew artichokes could be so pretty?

And when our neighbor has wood chips delivered….

 

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HE HAS WOODCHIPS DELIVERED.

 

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When you’re a farmer’s child?

You don’t need no stinkin’ sandbox.

 

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On the critter front,

 

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We’re down to one lone woodchuck.

 

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He’s still fat…

 

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And still clumsy…

 

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And still hangs out on our deck once in a while. But it’s autumn, and all his brothers and sisters are finding dens and getting ready for winter. I doubt even this one will be here much longer.

Sigh…

 

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Autumn also means the deer are changing into their darker winter coats. One summer coated hold out is on the right for comparison.

 

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A murder of crows have now discovered our bird bath.

Why are they called a murder?

The Oxford English Dictionary suggests this is an allusion to the crow’s traditional association with violent death or its harsh and raucous cry.  If you’ve ever heard dozens of agitated crows in full cry, it really does sound as if they’re yelling bloody murder.

As long as they don’t murder me in my sleep, I don’t care what you call them.

 

 

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Uh oh.

 

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And finally, we have a new skunk in town.

 

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I admit I never really paid attention to skunk tails before, but we’ve had so many different families this year I’ve gotten to recognize them by their individual patterns.

This is Tippy.

 

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Brilliantly named for the white tip on her tail.

Is she really a she?

I neither know, nor care to get close enough to find out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s starting to look pretty in my neck of the woods.

 

It’s Fall y’all!

 

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Autumn is my favorite time of year.

Crisp air, apples, pumpkins and fiery trees….

 

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And though I live in New England…

 

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And see Mother Nature’s glorious show every October….

 

 

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I never tire of it.

 

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I’m a certified leaf peeper…

 

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So when I crash my car into one of those pretty colored trees because I’m driving home one handed snapping pictures for my blog?

 

 

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I’m telling the police it’s your fault.

 

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And will expect you lot to start a GoFundMe page for my car repairs and hospital bills.

Things I like today…. part 8.

 

I like….

These!

Have you tried them yet?

 

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Well, what are you waiting for?

Go!

 

I like….

Taking a break on our deck after mowing the lawn a few weeks ago, and having a friend show up.

 

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I thought for sure he’d run when he saw me. But he took a good look, deemed me no immediate threat and happily settled in for a nap.

Until the husband opened the door and scared him off.

 

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I like….

Reading that a lobsterman in Falmouth caught a rare 1 in 100 million cotton candy blue lobster….

 

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Took a picture… and donated him to an aquarium where he never has to worry about being captured or eaten again.

 

I like…

Amazing sunrises in our backyard.

 

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I like….

Driving home along country roads this time of year and seeing the trees bursting with color.

 

Autumn in New England is hard to beat.

 

 

Life is good!

 

Do you peep?

 

We peep.

Our friends peep.

Our family peeps.

Hell, in New England there’s an entire industry devoted to people who peep.

 

 

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In Maine, we have so many people peeping the road signs actually warn of the dangers.

 

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But that’s hard to do when the leaves are so damned pretty.

 

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Driving this time of year is a joy.

 

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Even on the highways.

 

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Not that I always agree with the signs.

 

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Well, I don’t.

 

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But the husband and I are taking a week off and going on a peeping vacation.

We’re leaving tomorrow and heading for the Berkshires in northwestern Massachusetts. The husband spent part of his childhood in Northern Connecticut so we’ll be visiting there, as well as crossing the state line into New York. We’re equal opportunity peepers.

We’ll be staying at one of our timeshare resorts…

 

 

Halt!

Don’t run screaming from the room at the word timeshare. It’s not in Boca and I don’t want to sell it to you. We bought in 2 years ago on a points based system and have been loving it. ever since. We can go anywhere we want, whenever we want, as often as we want and their Last Call program can’t be beat. This particular resort condo goes for over $1,300 a week and we paid $274. You can’t argue with that.

So we’ll be having a quintessentially New England fall vacation. The Norman Rockwell kind, because Stockbridge was a favorite subject. You know the painting…

 

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We’ll be walking that street, visiting quaint villages, strolling museums and art galleries, touring historic homes, driving scenic mountain roads and yes, drinking our way through multiple states. It’s a beautiful area, we were there 2 years ago for Christmas. But everything was, well… white.

Now it will be in full color.

 

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I doubt I’ll be posting while we’re gone, unless the husband drags me into 197 antique stores in a row and I have to kill some time while he examines every last rusted piece of crap in the Berkshires.

Try not to miss me too much.

I’ll have hundreds of photos to post when I come back.

 

 

P.S.  We’re driving.

And you know what that means?

I can bring an entire bag of….

SHOES!

 

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