Fall Foliage, Part 2

Fall Foliage, Part 2

Leaving White River Junction, we visited Billings Farm. I thought—farm, big deal! But it was. The grounds were extensive, again with rolling green fields of beautifully mowed grass and trees in the fall colors. First of all we watched an academy award nominated movie about the history of the farm, which has been owned by 3 families beginning in the nineteenth century: Marsh, Billings, and Lawrence Roosevelt—each was a visionary and conservationist. Billings (as in the capital of Montana) was the most fascinating. He lived in San Francisco for part of his life, helping to establish the University of CA at Berkeley. (f he’d known what a pitiful football team we’d have, maybe he wouldn’t have been involved!)

The farm is quite large with cows, horses, sheep, and chickens. We were able to see them up close and personal. In the field, the cows had a particular eau d’cow, which prevented me from making a long visit. Inside a barn were all the milk cows and pregnant cows. It was around 11:30 and they weren’t going to be milked until four, but, they looked very ready. If a Baby’s R Us had been nearby, I would have treated them to a breast pump! Their calves are taken from them when they’re hours old! I think that’s cruel, but we were able to visit the calves, too, and they didn’t look unhappy.

We toured an old farmhouse that was built for the farm manager by Marsh. I thought it was more charming and livable than Roosevelt’s home. This next bit is for my friend, Elaine. In Roosevelt’s home were a large number of stuffed birds. Birds fascinated him, and his father let him kill one female and one male of each breed but not during breeding or nesting season. The farmhouse was very modern for its day with hot and cold running water and indoor plumbing.

Near the farm was Woodstock, Vermont (not THE Woodstock, NY). It is considered the quintessential New England town, and it was most charming—somewhat like but smaller than Carmel with little shops. art galleries, restaurants and tons of tourists.

On the way to our Inn, we stopped at Queeche Gorge, which was very nice (I damn with faint praise) until we saw much more incredible sights yesterday and today. The ride was unbelievably spectacular. For miles and miles the small roads and big highways are lined with trees dressed in their fall foliage. I particularly liked the narrow roads where the arms of the trees would make a canopy over the highway, their branches barely meeting like Michelangelo’s painting of God creating Adam with just their fingertips barely touching. On this trip, the journey not just the individual stops, is remarkable.

Our inn was a full service inn with swimming pool (I think not), horse back riding, gliders, lounges, and games. I played darts with Dan. At first my darts were hitting everything but the dartboard. In the end, I was a centimeter from two bulls eyes.

Today was unbelievable. The day started cool (not cold) and clear (not sunny). We were in Franconia Notch. I used to think that Norway, and Glacier Park were the most spectacular places I had ever been. The scenery today topped both of those. We went on a short hike along a wide stream cascading over boulders again surrounded by a zillion trees. The fallen leaves were so thick it was like walking on a padded carpet in the forest. I picked up a tree booklet at the inn and started gathering fallen leaves so that I could ID them. The trees include sugar, red, and striped maple; yellow birch and white birch; white ash and American mountain; ash; northern red oak. One of the listings was sumac, which I think is like poison oak/ivy, so I was careful not to pick up any fallen sumac. We continued with a second hike to Franconia gorge, which again was rushing water through beautiful forests.

Finishing out the day, we went on a cog railway up to Mt. Washington, which is known for the worst weather in the U.S. It’s also the highest point on the East Coast at 6880 ft. I renamed the ride the “Polar Express.” It is the oldest cog railway in the U.S.—Dan thinks in the world---very, very rickety. When we started, it was raining lightly. Two thirds of the 40 -minute ride up, we saw patches of snow on the ground, and then a complete white out for a third of the way. It was other- worldly. At the top, the ground was covered with iced snow. I slipped and slid into the visitor’s building at the top. When I found that the bathroom was locked, I slipped and slid back to the train. There was a porta potty outside, but I would have peed in my pants before using it! For those of you who know me well, you know how I tolerate cold---NOT. I had on a long-sleeved shirt, a quilted vest, a jacket to match my pants, a cordoroy jacket, and a lined rain coat—my outfit was finished off with a hat, gloves, and wool scarf. Dan had on a long sleeved shirt and a windbreaker. We were the last train of the day because they cancelled the remaining one due to the weather. I clung to Dan on the way down as the brakeman got off to put anti-freeze on the switches, and the announcement on the two-way radio said, ”be careful coming down.” It was an experience!