VA Winegars: August 2011

Home again, home again.

After five weeks, my Mother and I loaded SMI back up again (only with MUCH, MUCH more stuff) and drove the 21 hours back to Texas. We had so much fun. Seriously, it was really fun. Mom stayed for a few days and even got in a great ski. Go Mom!!!

Thanks to our parents for a wonderful month of FUN!!! We saw cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great old friends. We love you all!!! Maybe we'll do it again next summer...

July End

When we got back to SLC, the Parker cousins had come! This is the only picture I got of them. Sorry Bennett. You are going to hate this one some day.

We went to the Zoo with Papi and Grandma Jacque. We saw the bird show, which was fantastic. Now THAT is a bird of prey!! I think Virginia was afraid that SHE was the prey. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. Papi bought that little tiger in a purse that Savannah has. It hasn't left her arm for ONE minute since that day. Thanks Papi!

See you next month Parkers!!

July--Part 2

About half-way through the month Trevor and I left the kids with our parents for a week while we went to New England.

We started in Newport, Rhode Island where we did a section of the "cliff walk" and then toured the Vanderbilt family summer "Cottage" called "The Breakers". So, so, amazing.

The front drive.

A mountain of hydrangeas.

The ocean side of the home. The home has over 100,000 square feet. It is amazing.

The side porch off of the music room, which was my favorite in the house. The original Steinway is still in there.

Then we were off to Maine, through Massachusetts. We hit Boston near rush hour so we decided to stop there for dinner. We went right to the North End and had spectacular pizza at Regina Pizzeria. Delicious.

Then to Maine where we planned to see Acadia National Park. We stayed in quaint little Northeast Harbor. (Next door harbor to Martha Stewart's summer home.) It was so lovely.

The view of the harbor from our hotel room.

We biked 23 miles through the carriage trails in Acadia NP. It was such a fun, peaceful way to see the park. We hardly saw any other bikers at all.

The park has over 50 stone bridges, all built in the 1920's. They are so beautiful. The trails are all wide and groomed.

Had lunch at the Jordan Pond House

The famous popover. It was HUGE and delicious.

The park is surprisingly hilly. Several places had scenic views. We also parked our bikes a few times and scrambled up hills to see the look-out.

We took a little boat ride to see the island from the sea-side. It was fun to see some of the incredible homes and boats.

A little restaurant on a tiny Cranberry Island. A favorite of Martha Stewart.

Then back in to Acadia NP to Cadillac Mountain to see the sun set, and then at 4:00 AM the next day to see the sun rise. It was spectacular.

After Maine, we drove to New Hampshire to see Lake Winnipesaukee. I have wanted to see Lake Winni since I first saw What About Bob? I can't say that the lake itself was disappointing at all. That said, I was super sad when I Wikipedia-ed What About Bob? to find out that it WAS NOT actually filmed at Lake Winnipesaukee, but at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. Boo. Good thing Lake Winepesaukee is every bit as beautiful as I had expected it to be.

We found some teenage kids that take people skiing for their summer job. It was SO fun. I have never seen such clear lake water. I could see several feet below me in the water. Despite being quite far north, the water was super warm.

Our hosts knew of the owners of many of the lake homes, including this one's owner, Mitt Romney.

In the afternoon we went to a ski resort overlooking the lake and went for a hike.

Back in the car for a drive to Vermont. We stopped off to see Dartmouth University on the way to Sharon, VT, the birthplace of Joseph Smith. As always, the Church has a beautiful little monument and visitors' center there. Trevor couldn't get over the lawn. He asked the missionary director if he could go on a mission there just to mow the lawns. The guy laughed.

Could not get over how beautiful Vermont is.

It rained and rained on us, and we saw many rainbows.

Then it was back to Connecticut to head out. But before we left, we spent a morning in Springfield, MA at the NBA Hall of Fame, which I must admit was pretty cool.