Stopped in Hartland, Vermont this morning for breakfast.
They truly ARE on a path to WORLD BREAKFAST DOMINATION.
Algonquin Provincial Park
I spent an absolutely lovely week camping at Algonquin Park in southeastern Ontario. Canada is so incredibly beautiful and Algonquin is one of Ontario’s many highlights.
While I barely scratched the surface of all that there is to see and do, I did manage to take in a few scenic hikes including: Bat Lake, Lookout Trail, Big Pines Trail, Track & Tower Trail, and I enjoyed a refreshing bike ride from the Lake of Two Rivers down to Whitefish Lake.
Thousand Islands
I enjoyed a brief visit to Wellesley Island, one of the largest of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River. Wellesley Island State Park has a fantastic visitor center complete with 8 miles of easy, well-marked trails and a butterfly house!
Madame Sherri Forest
The Madame Sherri Forest is named after Madame Antoinette Sherri, a Paris-born theatrical costume designer who worked in New York City during the early 1900s. She and her husband built an elaborate French-inspired chateau summer house just outside Keene, NH where they lavishly entertained their New York City friends at parties during the Roaring 1920s.
All that’s left are the stone ruins, but it’s a pilgrimage every good Keener (or Keenite?) must make.
Hiking at Grafton Notch
I would never call myself a hiker, but for some reason, I decided to push myself a little bit on the trails recently.
Specifically, I headed over to Grafton Notch and hit a couple of the “moderate” loop trails around Old Spec Mountain. Both trails I took joined forces with the Appalachian Trail at certain points.
Table Rock Trail
Table Rock Trail is a 7.2 mile round trip that climbs 1,964 feet to the 3,124 foot summit of Table Rock Mountain. The trail ends 700 feet past the summit with spectacular views of Raven Cliff Falls, the Table Rock Reservoir, and the Caesars Head escarpment.
Eyebrow Loop Trail
The Eyebrow Loop Trail is considered more difficult than Table Rock and rises steeply to a 2,900-foot shelf-overlook on Old Speck Mountain.
These were quite challenging trails for me, so I was glad to have a nice fire and good food at the end of each day.
Green Mountains at Greenwood
Woodford State Park
Keene Walldogs
This morning the last of the construction and painting equipment left our basement. (Woo!) To celebrate, we cleaned up our bikes and rode the Cheshire Rail Trail 3 miles into town where the Walldogs Mural Festival was underway.
In short, the Walldogs is a group of mural artists who travel the country creating public art murals related to local history.
One of the murals was dedicated to Miss Catherine Fiske’s Female Seminary which you can hear more about here. Most importantly, we got to enjoy a decadent food truck lunch.
When Suddenly Mary Jane Smith Appears
For the second year in a row, we were asked to speak at the regional SBDC New England Conference which took place in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. We had a lovely stay at the historic Red Lion Inn and were surprised to find this familiar face in our room.
It’s an American folk portrait of Mary Jane Smith by nearby Springfield MA resident, Joseph Whiting Stock, and we have our very own copy of it in our living room!
Happily we learned that Mary Jane Smith has a companion painting by John Brewster of Buxton, Maine. It’s appropriately titled, “Boy with Finch”. (I secretly think they’re siblings.)
That evening we enjoyed a wonderful meal at the The Lion’s Den…
…and the two portraits watched over us while we slept.
4th Spring Coal Mountain Jeep Jamboree
So this is our FIFTH Jamboree?!?!?
Well, what better way to test Ruby Jean’s new upgrades than a series of intense rock gardens and the famous “Roller Coaster” (which was more like a slip-n-slide after a night of rain?
As always, we learned lots of new things, but it is the people that make these events so freakin’ wonderful!
