7/13/07 (Friday): Happy Friday the 13th! It was a good day here in the campground. Very busy--all sites are full up.We have had lots of little adventures since the last time I blogged, so I'll get right to it.
We hiked part of a rail trail in Whitehall/Montague, about 10 miles north of here. The wildflowers are glorious--these are sweet peas in white, pale pink, bright pink and purple. That's the White River in the background.
Wiley did a little fishing in the White River from the rail trail bridge. He didn't catch anything, but he sure had fun trying! I sat on a bench in the shade and read for a while.
Next we drove northeast to the little town of Fremont. It's small, but very picturesque. We walked around and explored a little.
The buildings downtown were very Victorian.
The bank has been continuously in business since 1902!
We found this little restaurant around lunchtime. Imagine our surprise when the Dutch Bakery had an Indonesian menu! My good friend, John, is from Indonesia, and his wife Julie (who comments on this blog often) lived and worked in Indonesia for many years. So, of course, I had to try Sate, which was chicken on skewers in a spicy peanut sauce. Delicious! Wiley had chicken croquettes.
He then proceeded to sop up all my leftover sauce with the French bread that came with our meal.
From Fremont, we continued in a big southeast loop, and stopped at this cute little orchard to pick some cherries. We only picked a pound. I've been snacking on them all week.
On our next day off, we went to Hoffmaster Beach State park (I don't think that's spelled correctly). I walked a long way up the beach and Wiley did some metal detecting. It was a gorgeous day!
There were stairs up to the top of a dune that was about 775 feet high! The view was spectacular, but my poor legs felt like spaghetti when we got back down!
Our final stop in the park was the visitor center, which was one of the nicest I've ever been to. There were all kinds of exhibits explaining how dunes are formed, what kind of wildlife is adapted to live in the dune environment, and some history of the area. There was also this big window overlooking a pond. The birds and squirrels were enjoying their baths. (The dark looking flying bird is a decal on the window to prevent birds from flying into the window.)
Finally, to end this blog, here are some random shots taken around the campground in the past week or so. This cute little "cabin" is actually an RV with a porch that folded up flat against the side. It was tiny, but very unique.
The sunrise this morning was lovely. It was quite cool overnight (50's), and the mist rising from our lake looked like it was on fire. I couldn't get back early enough for my camera to catch that, but this shot of the mist is still pretty peaceful, don't you think?
I almost forgot to show you these pics. Rather than try to re-format the entire blog, I'll just add them here at the end. This is billed as the world's biggest weathervane. It's in Montague.
We saw this deer one afternoon after work when we'd gone to the breakwater so Wiley could fish. She walked right up to us! She was eating the day lilies near the White River Lighthouse.
Okay--that's it for another day. Stay tuned (and send me those comments, please--they keep me going!)
10 comments:
God's handiwork is every where. The pictures are GREAT!!!!! You have an eye for His work.
Some one needs to comment or I will write a sermon.
Mag
I saved the wild flower photo, as you well know of my love for nature, animals and great photography. I couldn't agree with Mag more -- the photos are beautiful and capture so much beauty that many persons miss.
Wiley, that's a nice shot of you fishing from the bridge. Sorry you didn't catch anything that time but the photo gave the feeling of quiet, calm, relaxation and peace.
Joyce, do you have any idea what the word "Hilton" on the top of the victorian building photo means? John and I especially love Fremont. I wonder if the owners were Dutch -- having lived in Indonesia or perhaps the husband or wife married an Indonesian. Here in Florida they have a large Indo group, as they are known here. The sate was "Americanized" because the skewers of meat were large -- in Indonesia the meat is very small with the sauce served on the side. Nevertheless, it made us hungry and I've noted the town so if we ever get up that way we'll be sure to stop.
What kind of cherries were you picking? Black bing? When I was a teenager, we picked black cherries and sour cherries every year. Have you ever eaten sour cherry pie or crisp? Or black bing cherry pancakes? Oh my goodness, how delicious they were. I loved the building with the flowers (hollyhocks??) growing up the side of the building.
At the visitor center, it looks like a cardinal bathing, doesn't it? There's something red in your picture.
Finally, the photo of the mist rising from the lake with the empty swing and the canoes along the lake -- I feel as though any moment an Indian might walk out of the mist area. Wiley, I think Joyce should have had you sitting on the swing. It also reminded me of the mineral springs we saw in Indonesia with the steam rising up into the air. I have saved this photo, too. It's breathtakingly beautiful!
See, Mag, since you didn't write your sermon, it seems that I just did!!
Wow - I'm in danger of getting a swelled head! Thanks for the kind words. One of the things I love about doing this blog is that I pay more attention to the beauty around me. Of course, the feedback is great, too.
My favorite photo from this blog was the deer in the tall grass. I also really liked the empty swing. I debated sitting Wiley down in it, but I liked the sort of lonely feeling of the empty swing and boats in the mist.
I presume the word "Hilton" refers to the family that built the building.
The cherries were just called "sweet cherries." They're dark red, almost purple. I think I'll try putting what's left in some pancakes. I've never had sour cherry pie or pancakes.
That is a cardinal bathing in the pond by the visitor center.
We're finishing up a very busy week here. I'm looking forward to our days off this week--we're going to visist Tom's family.
I did the same thing in the beach photo on Diane's blog -- took the photo with two empty chairs. It came out quite well, I thought. So I understand your wanting the photo without someone in it. I also liked the deer photos. Keep going. We're here enjoying your trip with you.
The picture of the beach looks like your at the ocean. There looks like alot of sopping stuff with the sate.
Uncle Ed & T
Welcome back, Uncle Ed! We've missed you. Hope you're feeling better.
I've had a couple of inquiries about the occasional deleted message. I'm not getting any ugly comments! For some reason, blogger.com occasionally posts the same comment twice, and I just delete the duplicate one. This time, it happened to be my own comment that got posted twice. So keep those comments coming! They keep me going.
I was just looking at the pictures again -- your deer looks like he has two black eyes!!! I love the orange flowers (or bushes) in the background on that photo. You'd better hurry up and do another blog because you can see what happens when we go back to look at the photos again. I was also trying to figure out what the figures were on the Dutch Bakery roof area. Bakers, maybe?
The orange flowers are day lilies--they're in bloom all over the place, along with lots of wildflowers. I'll have to go back and look at the Dutch Restaurant sign again.
I'll blog again soon. We're just back from a visit with the grandkids.
I don't think I would eat that indonesian food. The weather looks absolutely perfect now...so jealous as we can hardly stand to go outside here.
My friend is from Michigan and she is Dutch...I didn't really know there were all these dutch people there but I guess there really is.
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