Summer Trip Plans

So, even though it's not yet Christmas, I've decided to start planning next summer's vacation. That way, I know how much to save and also I have something to look forward to. My mom & I are planning a shorter trip in mid-June to Florida, but then I will be embarking on another cross-country extravaganza. My mission is to visit all 50 states, and by following this route, I will be one state away from my goal.

Here's the plan:


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Comments, suggestions, requests to come with?

Vermont

My grammie and I had an awesome time in Vermont! I have never seen so many beautiful trees all at once. I don't have that many great tree shots, but here are some of the fun things we saw:

A countryside scene, taken in West Cornwall, CT.

Classic covered bridge.

Grandma at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA

Norman Rockwell's studio.

View from the top of Mt. Greylock, near Williamstown, MA

More views from the top of Mt. Greylock.

The watchtower on Mt. Greylock. You can climb to the top, but I was too scared.

 Colorful hillside near Adams, MA

 The Vermont Country Store in Weston, VT-so much cool stuff!!!

 The old-fashioned candy counter in the Vermont Country Store-too bad it's not penny candy any more.

Gorgeous hillside in the Green Mountain National Forest.

 Moss Glen Falls along Route 100 on the edge of Green Mountain National Forest. We didn't know this place was here, but it was so gorgeous and peaceful-well, minus the hordes of camera-toting tourists.

 Another beautiful, colorful hillside, this one in Waitsfield, VT. Some of the views along Route 100 were amazing, but unfortunately, there was no safe place to stop and take pics.

 Sweet little country church in Waitsfield, VT.

The flavor graveyard at the Ben & Jerry's Factory, which you can see in the background. We didn't tour the factory because there was a long wait and they weren't in production that day anyway, but it was still a cool place to stop and see.

 These next few shots are all of Lake Champlain, taken from Burlington, VT. We got there just around sunset, and it was so pretty.

 We also took a tour of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company factory in Shelburne, VT, which was pretty neat.

My favorite part was the teddy bear hospital, where they repair any "injured" bears that were made by the VTBC. You can see this little guy is on a honey drip!

We had such beautiful weather all weekend, and it was so awesome to just look at the pretty New England scenery. The fall foliage is as nice as they say! I'll end with a few of my favorite "tree" shots.

There's just something about trees I love. My two favorite tree quotes about trees are:

 "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree."

~Joyce Kilmer

"I couldn't live where there were no trees-something vital in me would starve."

~L.M. Montgomery, from Anne of Green Gables

Up next, I'll be returning to my summer road trip-I think we left off along the Oregon coast.

Flower-Filled Collage

So I just learned how to use the incredibly cool collage feature on Picasa, as well as how to upload the collages to my blog. So here are the best flower shots from trip, arranged in a mosaic. It took forever, but I think it looks totally awesome! (Tip: If you click on the image, you will be taken to a window with a zoomed in view, and then you can have a better look. I'm thinking of getting a poster printed of this!).

I will have a few full-length posts about Vermont (can you say "amazing fall foliage shots!!??") coming up, as well as continuing with my road trip from last summer as I review my trip down the west coast.

The Best of Vermont

Beautiful foliage, covered bridges, cascading waterfalls, country stores, Lake Champlain, and THE. Best. Ice. Cream. Ever. One perfect Vermont day.

In The Green Mountains

The View From The Top

Taken today at the summit of Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts. Can't wait to experience a beautiful autumn day in Vermont tomorrow.

Seattle (Again)

We had originally planned to stay in the Vancouver area overnight, but we decide we really wanted to be back in the States, so we ended up crossing the border. It was super-crowded, but very pretty.

There is a giant arch at this border crossing that memorializes the years of peace between the US and Canada.

Our next stop was Seattle. We went right to Pike's Place Market, which is just an amazingly busy, colorfully, noisy, fragrant place.

Here are some of the wares you can acquire there. My favorite were some amazingly juicy plums & pluots I bought, along with some really fresh grape tomatoes. They totally made my mouth happy.

We also spent a little time driving around the city. Mt. Rainier was out because it was such a sunny, clear day. I didn't get the best shots, but here are a few:



Stanley Park

Vancouver is a very beautiful city, but somewhat frustrating to navigate. It is very, very sprawling, but very nice. We spent most of our time there enjoying the sights in Stanley Park.

There are great panoramic views of the city from the park.

You can also see great views of the Pacific from Prospect Point, which is the highest point in the park.

Stanley Park has an amazing collection of Native totems. Here's an overview shot, followed by some close-ups.

Stanley Park has two famous statues: The Dragon & The Diver

And of course, the famous olympic mascot: