Pictures of the Week 2009-7
Hello All,
Late September found us heading north for Vermont. Our route took us through Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Wouldn’t you know it, all the rain the south had been having during the summer decided to move east right along with us! We would drive all day and get ahead of the storm system, spend the night in a motel, and wake up the next morning to rain.
We have driven up and down I-81 many times before. But, we always seemed to be in a hurry to get from point A to B and didn’t take a lot of time to do much sightseeing. In Virginia, I-81 parallels Shenandoah National Park--a national park that we hadn’t visited. The park’s scenic roadway, Skyline Drive, follows the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains for 105 miles. Even though it was pouring rain we decided to drive the entire length. Well, the good news was that once we climbed the mountains up to the ridge the rain stopped. The bad news was that we climbed right up into the clouds! We laughed and chalked it up to “making a memory.” It took us all day to make the drive since the speed limit is 35 MPH. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and stopped to check things out along the route. However, due to the weather there wasn’t much in the way of photo opportunities! Our plan was to check it out again on the trip home.
Upon arriving in Vermont, we set up camp in a motel about 5 miles from Barb’s daughter’s home. She and her husband and two kids live in the country near the little town of Perkinsville. The children are home schooled and the family works hard at growing and raising the majority of their food. They set the example of a very healthy lifestyle that we could all learn from. The children would complete their lesson plans during the morning hours, which allowed us the afternoons for visiting and sightseeing with them.
One of our first ventures took us across the Connecticut River into New Hampshire. It was a beautiful day with no rain--finally! Our target destination was Alyson’s Orchard--a 500-acre working orchard in the heart of historic New England. They offer over 50 varieties of apples, along with peaches, plums, pears, grapes and berries--in season. And, they have an amazing collection of Heirloom apples--most of which we had never heard of. For example Heirloom’s being offered that were ripening in September were: St. Lawrence, Dolgo Crab, Wolf River, Karmijn de Sonneville, Maiden’s Blush, Rhode Island Greening, Hubbardston Nonesuch, Lamb Abbey Pearmain, Newtown Pippin, Winter Banana, Rienne de Riennettte, Cox’s Orange Pippen, Zabergau Riennette, Belle de Boskoop, Black Gilliflower, Blue Pearmain, Ashmead’s Kernel, Black Oxford, Calville Blanc de Hiver, and Hudson’s Golden Gem.
There were bins and bags of different types of apples for sale.
Late September found us heading north for Vermont. Our route took us through Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Wouldn’t you know it, all the rain the south had been having during the summer decided to move east right along with us! We would drive all day and get ahead of the storm system, spend the night in a motel, and wake up the next morning to rain.
We have driven up and down I-81 many times before. But, we always seemed to be in a hurry to get from point A to B and didn’t take a lot of time to do much sightseeing. In Virginia, I-81 parallels Shenandoah National Park--a national park that we hadn’t visited. The park’s scenic roadway, Skyline Drive, follows the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains for 105 miles. Even though it was pouring rain we decided to drive the entire length. Well, the good news was that once we climbed the mountains up to the ridge the rain stopped. The bad news was that we climbed right up into the clouds! We laughed and chalked it up to “making a memory.” It took us all day to make the drive since the speed limit is 35 MPH. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and stopped to check things out along the route. However, due to the weather there wasn’t much in the way of photo opportunities! Our plan was to check it out again on the trip home.
Upon arriving in Vermont, we set up camp in a motel about 5 miles from Barb’s daughter’s home. She and her husband and two kids live in the country near the little town of Perkinsville. The children are home schooled and the family works hard at growing and raising the majority of their food. They set the example of a very healthy lifestyle that we could all learn from. The children would complete their lesson plans during the morning hours, which allowed us the afternoons for visiting and sightseeing with them.
One of our first ventures took us across the Connecticut River into New Hampshire. It was a beautiful day with no rain--finally! Our target destination was Alyson’s Orchard--a 500-acre working orchard in the heart of historic New England. They offer over 50 varieties of apples, along with peaches, plums, pears, grapes and berries--in season. And, they have an amazing collection of Heirloom apples--most of which we had never heard of. For example Heirloom’s being offered that were ripening in September were: St. Lawrence, Dolgo Crab, Wolf River, Karmijn de Sonneville, Maiden’s Blush, Rhode Island Greening, Hubbardston Nonesuch, Lamb Abbey Pearmain, Newtown Pippin, Winter Banana, Rienne de Riennettte, Cox’s Orange Pippen, Zabergau Riennette, Belle de Boskoop, Black Gilliflower, Blue Pearmain, Ashmead’s Kernel, Black Oxford, Calville Blanc de Hiver, and Hudson’s Golden Gem.
There were bins and bags of different types of apples for sale.
Check this apple out. What a
dandy! The clerk advised the variety was not good for eating, but was great for
cooking. We were just blown away with
the size of it!! And, by the way, it was not for sale.
In addition to apples, there
were pumpkins, gourds, and mums.
The orchard was in such a
lovely setting in the New England countryside. You could walk around the
grounds and ponds taking in the vistas.
What a great way to get a little exercise and still relax while doing
it. This beautiful farm was across the road from the orchard.
While walking around we came upon a patch of
gourds. Their bright yellow and green coloring was quite interesting.
There were many ducks around the ponds. The one
on the left was having a bad hair day--guess that is why he was hiding his
head!