"Camping" in Ossipee

Michael, Elleigh, Lucas and I went "camping" on Sunday. Not real hard in-the-woods camping. We felt a little guilty about going for a whole day away from our house projects, but I think we are both very glad we did. We didn't have our annual family BBQ in August. And we didn't go to a 4th of July party this year. And we really couldn't think of anything we have done outside this summer or fall, not even using the pool since it didn't turn out to be a pool summer.

So, we drove up to Ossipee to a private family campground run by Paula's family to spend the day. The foliage was beautiful on the ride up which was a treat since neither Michael or I had a chance to see much foliage yet this year. We even had to drive by another swatch of tornado damage on the way there where a cluster of houses looked to still be in the repair process and all of their trees were blown down.

The whole family had fun for the day. I got to knit around a campfire with Paula, Tracy, Donna and Alison. I kept working on socks for Gabriel. Michael played Scrabble and another Banana word game with Sue, Paula, Alison and Anthony. Elleigh and Lucas got to go for a few walks in the crispy leaves and bark at the camp dog Daisy. Michael had wine. Gabriel and I did not.

And the food was wonderful! The camping day included a gourmet camp chef named Fred and his sous chef side kick, Anthony. I helped to de-silk some corn, but for the most part just waited on for food to be placed near me and the bump. There was tasty aged cheddar and Gruyere cheese. The corn was fire roasted. The pork tenderloin was stuffed and hand-tied at the campsite and then baked over the coals. And I had hot cocoa with homemade marshmallows.

Yes, HOMEMADE marshmallows. Fred made his very own marshmallows for the trip. And you may wonder why anyone would make their own marshmallows when you can buy a whole bag of Jet Puffs for a buck. If you ask that, you have never had a homemade marshmallow. Better taste, better texture, better melt spread when squished between two graham crackers, and better fire retardancy when being roasted over an open flame for S'Mores made with Ghiradelli chocolate. Mmmm!

It was such a fun day and evening. Thanks for inviting us, Paula! Even the trips to the out house proved enjoyable.

Brandon Gap

This is the view from the trail head at Brandon Gap in the Green Mountain National Forest, a point on the Long Trail. It's one of my favorite spots on the drive to Vermont to see my parents. Once here, the view is gorgeous in good weather. And even better, I am within 5 minutes from my parents' house and I probably won't need to hit the gas pedal again until I am pulling into their driveway. It is also this span of the drive that I have seen the Moose before and Michael and I have hit some of the scariest inclement weather driving. I looked forward to driving over yesterday because I knew the foliage change would have started through the mountains. I was actually surprised that the foliage wasn't further ahead than it was. Unfortunately, it was gloomy most of the drive over. And it poured most of my drive home. There were plenty of oranges and yellows, but they would have been better with the sun on them. It brightened slightly as I hit the gap, so I pulled over for a photo. The flat area is Champlain Valley. You can see an area where the narrow part of Lake Champlain is, and then the mountains on the other side (with the cloud coverage) is the Adirondacks of New York.