Do you like road trips?
Do you prefer them to flying?
Or do you just like to get there and be done with it?

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Barns in Holyoke, MA

I am on the fence. In some ways a road trip is so relaxing: you are in your own car, there is plenty of room for (almost) all that you want to take, the road side stops can be fun especially with your own picnic fare, and there is often the opportunity to make an unexpected stop (flea market anyone?) But on the other hand….. it can be long, so…….long. We tend to split the driving although my husband likes to drive more than I do, and I don’t mind being a passenger and/or navigator. Husband, not so much. Nevertheless, we put in some long days on the highway: several 8-10 hour days.

Early in our trip we were in Hudson, New York. Many, many years ago we lived close to Hudson and each time we return we are SO amazed at the changes and gentrification taking place. It has become a premier go-to place for antiques, art and new restaurants. Believe me, when we lived nearby there was n-o-t-h-i-n-g in that town.

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Vignettes from Hudson. Cafe Le Perche is a must.

From there we wound our way up to Lake Champlain and North Hero Island. One of our favorite inns anywhere, the North Hero House, sits right on the lake front. This was our third visit there and, yes, we will return!

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That was our room, upper right photo, at top.

 

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Screen porch, with hammock, overlooking the lake.

You can read more about the Inn and my previous visits there in this post:
Destination: North Hero, Vermont

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The Inn is just 25 miles south of the Canadian border. Having remembered to bring our passports, we spent one morning driving and exploring in Canada and fell in love with this house:

Preset Style = Vibrant Format = 6" (Medium) Format Margin = None Format Border = Straight Drawing = #2 Pencil Drawing Weight = Medium Drawing Detail = Medium Paint = Natural Paint Lightness = Normal Paint Intensity = More Water = Tap Water Water Edges = Medium Water Bleed = Average Brush = Natural Detail Brush Focus = Everything Brush Spacing = Narrow Paper = Watercolor Paper Texture = Medium Paper Shading = Light Options Faces = Enhance Faces

Painted with the Waterlogue app.

This is a portion of my brother’s wood pile. He has always loved chopping wood (!!) and now, living in northern Vermont, it is a necessity.

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Finally, the quintessential New England image: a covered bridge!

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And that concludes this summer’s road trip: hope you enjoyed!

In just a little over three weeks I leave for the always-fun, adventure-filled mother-daughter trip to Rome. Daughter and I are busily gathering tons of information and making day trip reservations…and yes, listening to Italian language on iPhone apps and certainly looking warily at the Rome weather which has averaged between 95-100° for the last month. It’s going to be a hot one!

I will certainly be posting here this month, but not on such a regular schedule. Thank you for following along and for your loyalty: I really appreciate each and every one of you!

 

 

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