Prince Edward Island Here We Come - Day 1

After being home from my Cousins' Weekend for only 3 days, I'm off again with my husband to visit friends of our's in Prince Edward Island.  Our teenage daughter didn't want to come on this beautiful trip although I believe it is more the fact of spending hours on end in the van with her parents that she was opposed to.  So not long after we were one the road, we dropped her off (this was planned of course, ha ha) at family where she will stay for 2 weeks.  On this our first day on the road, we drove down into New York State, Vermont and New Hampshire.  The scenery was spectacular.  We drove 8 hours that first day.  New York State was not a new experience for us as we've visited that area numerous times through the years.  I've been to Vermont and New Hampshire just one other time in my existence and that was 26 years ago.

I fell asleep in New York State but my husband woke me just as we were driving past Lake Champlain in Vermont.  I missed a photo opportunity but the image is burned in my memory.  The highway was right beside Lake Champlain.  There was a marina immediately to our right.  The water was still as glass with not a ripple.  In the foreground there were about 4 or 5 yachts at anchor with their naked spars sticking upwards.  In the background was the long bridge that our highway was going to curve alongside the lake and eventually go over the bridge.  The sun was brightly shining and Lake Champlain was a brilliant blue.  It was a beautiful moment in time with the boats crisply outlined by the water with the bridge in the background.  This was the first of many magnificent moments on our first day of travelling.  We continued over the bridge into Vermont where eventually you could see the blue outlines of the mountains in the distance.

As we drove the mountains became closer and were no longer blue outlines but started to show small details.  As we approached the mountains, they became green and then you began to see small trees on the mountainside.  Eventually we were driving through the mountains on a lazy looping highway that gently curved up and through the mountains.  What an adventure it is to go around the curves and have your breath catch in exhilaration as an unexpected view of a valley and more mountains in the distance makes you scramble for the camera.  It didn't take me long to make sure the camera was always in my hand.  I took many photos of the various mountains, valleys and towns in the distant valleys.  There were a few scenic lookouts at the side of the highway.  We took advantage of many of these in order to take pictures and stretch our legs.

We finished our day by stopping in Gorham, New Hampshire.  We stayed at the Top Notch Inn.  We dropped off our luggage and then went for a walk to find a place to eat some dinner.  After dinner, we walked down the main street to a variety store where I bought some batteries for my camera.  I believe that I will go through many changes of batteries in the length of our trip.  After buying our purchases, we walked back to the motel.  I changed the batteries in my camera, took it in hand and we set out for another exploratory walk of the main street of Gorham.  The town was hopping with vehicular traffic as well as pedestrians.  It was the Americans' July 4th holiday weekend.  As a result, there was a carnival with rides and games set up on the Town Commons.  I forgot to mention that as we walked the main street, a little river meandered beside the main street gurgling happily away.  Of course we took more pictures.  I have a new "point and shoot" camera that I am still learning to use and how to use the various settings.  It was a relaxing evening after a long drive and it felt good to walk and stretch our legs.  We went back to our motel and settled in for the night as we had another long drive the next day.