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Just a few things that made me chuckle.
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Dan…
I think you need to invest in one of these.
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Vegetarian Vampires?
If you don’t think that’s odd enough, check out their 4 legged rooster pets.
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I never doubted this.
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This is news?
Heck, I think we’ve all kissed a pig or two in our dating days.
And speaking of pigs…
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I’ve never really thought about a vacation in the Bahamas, but if you can swim with wild pigs…. Why not?
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Because you’re here, and it’s required.
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While I love palm tree clad tropical beach sunsets and the idea of cute cabana boys delivering endless margaritas, the reality of the heat which accompanies that fantasy makes me cranky just thinking about it.
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Great cities? They have a heartbeat and are filled with numerous ways to entertain, not to mention five star restaurants. The museums alone can keep me keep blissfully occupied for weeks. But the older I get? The more I appreciate a crowd free venue.
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My vacation choice is the mountains. Crisp, cool, pollution free air. Scenic vistas and breathtaking views. Unspoiled nature. That’s the vacation that lowers my blood pressure.
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These pictures were taken on our trip to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee 5 years ago.
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That’s my perfect vacation.
Where are you headed?
Beach, mountains or city…..
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Because nonsense is everywhere I look.
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I have no desire to cuddle fake bread, but if that was real? Pass the butter baby!
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Fox and chucks are still munching happily together. Guess this is what happens when you lay out an ample backyard buffet.
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I’ve been getting hundreds of junk emails lately. Somehow, someone got my address and has been flooding me with spam. ‘Stuck poop’ is an interesting enough subject line but the fact that the word ‘solder’ is in the sender’s address?
Priceless.
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This is what’s left of the pretty yellow deer proof flower I planted out back. The deer may not like it, but clearly the woodchucks did .
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Ditto that for coneflower leaves.
🥴
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I had to dig up the phlox, lupine and mallow due to voracious woodchuck appetites….
So now they’re all crowding my deck table in pots.
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The neighbor I was cat sitting for returned from vacation and brought me a thank you gift from the Wisconsin Dells.
A bag of local beer! She knows I like sours and brought me a variety to try. Some of them are wonderfully bizarre. The lime green can? A pastry sour with peach, basil, graham cracker and vanilla.
Cheers!
🍺
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When it’s a wet and rainy afternoon you’re apt to find us in the man cave/Barn Mahal.
Sometimes alcohol is present.
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I’m blaming the Jack Abbeys blood orange wheat for that Scrabble tile arrangement.
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Red Sox game? Check.
Pizza? Check.
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Sweet Thai chili wings and more beer?
Double check.
Life is good.
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Looking out the window back at the garage, we saw a baby chuck perched on the woodshed’s extra room doorstep.
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They’ve completely taken over this little storage area and have dug such a big tunnel the door neither opens nor shuts. Good thing there’s nothing in there we need to retrieve…
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We love visiting the National Parks and always appreciate the helpful Ranger Service that provides excellent directions and local history.
When we were taking in the natural splendor of the Great Smokey Mountains Park in Tennessee and viewing a herd of elk?
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A Park Service employee was right there to answer our questions….
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And make sure I didn’t get a close up photo.
We saw bear in the park as well…
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Though no one was around at the time to give us this helpful advice.
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I can’t say that would ever have crossed my mind, but then again I’ve never been chased by a bear after my girlfriend broke my favorite martini glass…
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Oh, alright.
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For a place we never knew existed and just happily stumbled upon, it was more than a pleasant surprise.
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Lake Willoughby, 5 miles long with a max depth of 325 feet. A glacial lake parked between two fjord like mountains in Westmore Vermont.
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The path around the south end was easy walking and well marked.
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With some seriously beautiful views.
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The little beach was tiny, but I imagine it’s packed with swimmers in the summer.
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The boardwalk was a nice addition as the ground was a bit soggy.
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Shame it was so cold and windy, I could easily have pulled up a stump and relaxed here for hours.
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Even the stairs were kind.
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If you’re ever in the area check it out.
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And don’t forget your camera.
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The undiscovered country is always the best.. and when we travel, we love nothing more than stumbling upon a place we never knew existed.
Enter Lake Willoughby in Vermont.
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Imagine randomly picking a road to travel home and finding this.
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Not being in any hurry, we stopped.
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And groaned at the bad grammar.
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But bad spelling aside…. wow.
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There was a path that ran alongside part of the lake and though I wasn’t dressed for hiking, I happily headed out.
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This is a glacial lake and every part of it was glorious.
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My pictures don’t really do it justice, but in spots the colors were positively surreal.
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The wind was ripping and I couldn’t feel my nose, but we pressed on.
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Being careful not to trample any seedlings.
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Mountains, rocks and a glacial lake.
Yes please.
To be continued…
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All good things must end and after a wonderful 5 days in Vermont our mini vacation did.
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Vermont. The state where even private driveways have covered bridges.
As we left the resort and headed for the Northern Kingdom, I found proof it does exist.
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If only I could have found the garden.
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A lonely cemetery.
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The Kingdom is another world. Rugged, mountainous and sparsely populated.
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With some rather odd inhabitants.
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And as we were heading home, we discovered a hidden, and heretofore unknown to us, gem.
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Lake Willoughby.
To be continued…
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Just down the road from the snowflake museum…
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We discovered a gem.
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Housed in an old inn, the restaurant/bar was warm and inviting.
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Most of the dining sections were full so we grabbed a high top near the empty bar.
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Seeing the empty bar made me wonder about the quality of libations….
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But a stellar blood orange cranberry gin fizz allayed my fears.
Of course this was Vermont, so some of the menu items put me off.
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A skillet full of kale? There wasn’t enough gin in the state to make me order that.
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Ditto the falafel, though the maple chicken didn’t sound bad.
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But the clam chowder was homemade, rich, creamy and full of fresh herbs so I started with that.. accompanied by the most amazing peach cornbread with orange whipped butter you’ve ever tasted. Ooh la la! I raved over them so much the waitress brought me extra of both to take home.
The beer? I thought you might notice that.
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I tried both of these.
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Because a girl gets thirsty when she eats salad.
😉
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We enjoyed this place so much we stayed long enough to order dessert. (Mainly because the husband found a fellow veteran to talk to… and you know how long that can take.)
Pumpkin cheesecake for him, Key lime pie for yours truly.
If you’re ever in the Jericho area of Vermont drop in. You won’t be sorry.
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The other half of the Old Red Mill building in Jericho, Vermont was what I’d really come to see.
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No, that’s not a commentary on ultra left liberals.
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Named after Wilson Bentley, the museum celebrates the life of the first man to ever photograph snowflakes.
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We take photographs of everything for granted now, but trust me this was a big deal at the turn of the century.
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They even had his original camera.
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Imagine dragging that around in the snow.
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The museum was understandably small, basically just one room.
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And judging by the fact his favorite quilt, sewn by his mother, took up a whole wall…
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Exhibits were hard to come by.
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I tried to take a selfie with Bentley, but the lighting was wrong and left me with nothing but a giant glare.
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River's world..... 