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Published: October 15th 2008
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We took off early to go "leaf peeping". We headed East on Highway 9 over to Keene, New Hampshire. It's only about 40 miles across the bottom of the Vee of Vermont. That's how I remember which state is Vermont and which is New Hampshire, Vermont is shaped like a Vee. The colors were fabulous. Around each corner, there were more oohs and aahs. Rich, a person who is color-blind, said, "I've never seen such vivid colors!" That made the whole trip worth it. We are just so impressed and so glad we decided to do this. We read that Vermont's fall foliage is the best because over 20% of their trees are maples, which make the most brilliant and amazing reds in the forests. Highway 9 is called the Molly Stark Trail. She never actually took this route herself. Her husband, John Stark, was instrumental in defeating General Burgoyne at the Battle of Bennington in the Revolution. On the victory march home to Molly Stark in New Hampshire, he and his men "might" have , followed this approximate route. The Starks sounded like an interesting couple. They had eleven children, Molly tended the farm during the wars, and they both
lived long lives. It was named the Molly Stark Trail in 1967, after years of trying to decide whether to name it after her or not.
When we were getting close to Keene, Jodie called to tell us that our ducks had a bad night. Our housesitter, Sam, had the sad job of finding that two ducks were dead, three were injured, and one was unhurt. She took the three hurt ones to the vet, where one had to be put down. Poor Sam! The vet said it looked like too much damage for an owl, so it was probably a bobcat. It could also have been a mountain lion that has been eating chickens in the neighborhood. Somehow, whatever it was got through the deer netting part. Jodie brought the ducks back from the vet, and she and Sam put all three surviving ducks in the dog run. They are the big white duck, the black duck, and the buff colored one with the fluffly feathers on its head. Jodie put hay in the big doghouse with a heat lamp. Sam filled the swimming pool for them and brought up the duck feeder. They should all recover, and the dog run is lionproof. Before we left Carson, the silly ducks had laid about 22 eggs. One duck had made a nest and was sitting on 18 of them. After the first cold snap, she gave up and Sam had to collect up all the eggs scattered around the pen.
After the bad news, we were sad, so we weren't hungry when we got to Keene. We drove to the oxygen place and traded Rich's oxygen bottles. Then we drove to the downtown area where there are nice shops and restaurants and even a traffic circle around the town square, I mean circle. We found a nice little cafe that proudly served locally grown produce. There was a sign that said, "Last harvest shares still available for purchase." Each share entitled the bearer to 20 to 25 pounds of produce. All shares must be purchased and paid for before produce is picked . Each share was ONLY $125. Shares for the 2009 crop would be available in December. All shares for first harvest must be purchased before planting. Planting would be dependant on shares purchased. Cost for shares yet to be determined. Each pound of that produce would cost about $6.00. Such a deal!
On the way back, we stopped at a roadside marker that said Chesterfield Gorge. There was a mile and a half trail to the gorge and back, so we took Daisy and went into the forest. It was dark in there. You would never know the sun was shining! The canopy was so tight that hardly any sunlight could get through to help the understory grow, so there wasn't an understory. Also, the ground was totally covered with evergreen needles so that only acid-loving plants would survive. The gorge itself wasn't very deep, fifty feet or so, but it had a lovely stream falling in a succession of cataracts. The boulders alongside were covered with yellow leaves. We all enjoyed the walk. We continued on and found a little shop that sold leather goods. Rich is always interested in leather goods, and the stores always smell so great. We each found a pair of slippers to wear in the camper. We thought about bringing our slippers from home and then said, "No. We don't need our slippers." So we left them home. Mistake. We really need warm slippers so we can take off our shoes at the door. Back in town, we bought some groceries. On the way to the campground, we passed a little side road that said Fishing Access. Rich had to see what that was about. We went down a tiny dirt road covered with leaves until we came to a nice little lake. We saw tiny fish. There were no rocks, and Rich didn't try to fish at all. The trees made nice reflections. Rich was happy to find a road that didn't end up at somebody's house.
We went to sleep with those amazing leaves in our minds.
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maud
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ducks
Nancy and Rich, we have more ducks than we need, so if you would like some when you get back, come over and we can catch a few. Maud