'Tis the Season once again

As we do every year, Dean and I have created Christmas card using Shutterfly. This year it is just our little family at home. Hope you enjoy this season's greeting to you and all your kin. Love, Katy and Dean A note about Shutterfly: This is per say a sponsored post as we get a $10 credit for our next purchase on the site. I do highly recommend Shutterfly though. We always love the quality of our Christmas cards and this year have ordered a couple of photobooks which we were very impressed with. We have also ordered prints in the past and have been very satisfied. :)

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Summer In New England - Roadtrip 2012 - Day 14

Today we were back down in Kroger country so we stopped at a Kroger near our hotel to get gas using our reward points from before we left. We got gas for an amazingly low $2.53/gallon and headed down to North Carolina. We made a stop at the Circle of Friends Yarn store in Elkin, NC which turned out to be a very cozy place with an owner that handspun and dyed a lot of her work. Katy really enjoyed the shop, and when she was done we went down the road to have lunch at Moe's Southwestern Grill. Just an hour down the road in Charlotte, NC, we went to the last yarn store on the trip at Charlotte Yarn. The owner of that store had gotten out of a fast paced life in finance and opened her own yarn store. Katy bought her last bit of yarn for the trip and we struck out for South Carolina. We drove thorugh the "upstate" part of South Carolina and then entered Georgia. The hotel we stayed at was in Tucker, GA, just outside of Atlanta (where, again, Tucker the bear had to get a picture). The hot tub at the previous night's hotel inspired us to get a hotel with an in-room whirlpool tub (which was free because we used our accumulated hotel points to book it) and lots of cool amenities. We ordered in Chinese and got rested up because we were gearing up to head back to Arkansas the next morning! Here's the pictures!

Summer In New England - Roadtrip 2012 - Day 13

This morning we said goodbye to our friends in Brooklyn and started the drive back home. Unfortunately when we left, the views of the New York skyline were obscured by a pouring rain. The rain also made the drive out of Brooklyn a little more tense. We made it through the traffic, over the Verrazano-Narrows bridge, and eventually into New Jersey, where we stopped in Piscattaway and got some Starbucks and filled up on gas. We continued our journey into Pennsylvania where we went through Allentown and stopped at Tucker Yarn Company (where Tucker the bear had to get a picture with the sign). Just down the road in Hershey, PA, we took a long lunch break at Chocolate Avenue Grille, which turned out to be one of the best meals we had on the trip. It was a little pricy, but the food and the service were awesome, and we were right next to the Hersheypark theme park. After a very nice break, we got back on the road and went all the way to our hotel in Salem, VA, just outside of Roanoke. When we arrived, we dropped our bags and went out for some IHOP for supper. When we got back to the hotel, we spent about half an hour in the hotel hot-tub to get some relaxation time in before bed. We went quite a way down the road today and we will be doing about the same tomorrow. Looking forward to getting back down south! Here are our pictures from today!

Summer in New England- Road Trip 2012- Day 10, Day 11, Day 12

Day 10- This morning we woke up and it was still hot! 84 degrees in fact when we rolled out of Chicopee, Mass at 8 am. After a few stops to fuel up (both gas for Eva and coffee for me) we were Brooklyn bound! We were very excited to see gas prices dropping as we headed west and south toward home. It was my first experience driving in NY. We crossed the Bronx Whitestone Bridge and sat in tons of traffic. It took almost an hour to travel 16 miles from the bridge to our friends' apartment. We had a great 4 hour drive and had a fantastic evening with our friends (A and M) and their wonderful babies. We ordered in pizza for dinner and enjoyed an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation while snuggling babies for the evening entertainment.

Day 11- We went for a lengthy outing around Brooklyn today. First we walked to Catskill Bagel Co. and had a fantastic breakfast. I can definitely say that the cinnamon raisin bagel is amazing. Then we walked through to Prospect Park. It was an absolutely beautiful day with temps in the high 70's and low 80's. In the park we chilled under a gorgeous tree and I did a little photo session for our friends. It was a wonderful day that ended at Ample Hills Creamery for Ice Cream and then a short subway ride and walk back to the apartment. Dinner was ordered in sushi. I had a Snowcrab Avocado roll in addition to my usual Philly roll and was super satisfied.

Day 12- Today was also pretty low key. We walked to the Farmer's Market on Cortelyou Street. We celebrated A's birthday with a pie after dinner and then I took a few more pictures for A and M of their precious girls. One of the highlights of the day was when Dean and I walked around the block and got some ice cream from the Mister Softee truck. Yum Yum! Dean used the down time during the days to finish up reading the Hunger Games Trilogy that he got for his birthday and I was able to talk knitting (and touch all my pretty new yarn with my friend A). Our time in Brooklyn was some of the best memories from the whole trip so far as we were able to share these days with friends. Out of respect for those friends pictures of their children are not included in the album for these days. Thanks again to A and M (and PB and J) for sharing their home with us for a few days. We had a wonderful time just hanging out and enjoying your company! 

We didn't take too many pictures during these days (except for baby pictures), but here are the ones we did take!

Summer in New England - Roadtrip 2012 - Day 9

This morning when we left from the hotel it was 84 degrees at 8:15 in the morning! We went over quite a few toll roads as we head south out of Maine and into New Hampshire and then Massachusetts. We made it into Rhode Island, which offered up some beautiful coastal views. Before we went to the beach we first stopped by a shopping center in Newport with the Knitting Corner, a yarn shop where Katy bought some new yarn, and Island Books, where I bought a book about the periodic table of the elements that I wanted. Our next stop was the Newport beach, where we parked for a little while, built a sandcastle, played in the surf, and walked along the beach. After the beach we headed to western Massachusetts toward Northampton, where a huge yarn store, Webs, is located. Webs had a giant store with every kind of yarn imaginable, but in addition, they had a warehouse in the back with bags of discounted bulk yarn that you could buy by the bag-full. Katy bought some yarn for herself and for a friend and we went to settle in for the night at a hotel in nearby Chicopee, Massachusetts. Tomorrow we get to go see our Brooklyn friends and their new babies! Here are some of today's pictures (mostly road signs because we took a lot of phone pictures today)!

Summer in New England - Roadtrip 2012 - Day 8

Today we woke up with an amazing view of the sea from our tent at Recompence Shore Campground near Freeport, Maine. We hung around camp for a little longer than usual because we weren't going as far and because we were waiting for Purl Diva, a yarn shop in Brunswick, to open at 11:00 am. We made our usual Starbucks breakfast-time run before heading to Brunswick, where Katy picked up some yarn and she talked me into buying a drop spindle kit so I can learn to spin yarn for her. We went through Portland, Maine next, which turned out to be larger than we thought, with a metro population over a million. They had a large downtown that we drove through and found a parking place so Katy could go into Knit Wit, a local yarn shop there. Katy bought some needles that she didn't have and we went to go get lunch at a place on the outskirts of Portland called "Anania's, Your Neighborhood Store." We got a gigantic turkey wrap to share and each got a homemade Maine "Whoopie pie," which is a cookie/brownie/cake substance with cream sandwiched in the middle. We bought our lunch and took it out to Fort Williams Park, home of the Portland Head Lighthouse. We sat out in the park at a picnic table and ate our lunch before heading out to take some pictures of the lighthouse itself, built in the 1790s, and the surrounding seascape. Our next adventure was to try to take a walk on Old Orchard Beach, consistently voted the best public beach in southern Maine. It was very difficult to find a parking spot, but eventually we did and we got to go stick our feet into the ocean and walk along the beach. Afterwards, we took a short drive to Biddeford, Maine where we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and went out for some local seafood at the Seafood Center, just north of Kennebunk, Maine. We got our first taste of a lobster roll and got to eat at a restaurant that was brimming with local Maine culture. It was a fantastic day and we got to spend the night in a very nice hotel to cap things off. Looking forward to heading south tomorrow for the first time in a while! Here's our pictures!

Summer in New England - Roadtrip 2012 - Day 7

Today we woke up from our chilly night of camping in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and packed up camp. We went about 20 miles down the road to the Conway-North Conway area and found a Starbucks where we sat and caught up on blogging, charged various electronics, and waited for a knitting shop in North Conway (Close Knit Sisters) to open at 10 am. At the knitting store, Katy bought a kit to make a headband and some circular needles. When we left Conway-North Conway, we headed for the Maine state line near the town of Fryeburg, Maine. We stopped just on the other side of the Maine border at a travel information center and met a nice lady who told us about some cool things to see in southern Maine and told us about a place to camp on the Maine coast near the ocean. We took her advice on some of the things she told us and went through Naples, Maine to see a little quilting shop at a bed and breakfast, then went to Standish, Maine, near the southern tip of Sebago Lake to find Korner Knitters. At Korner Knitters Katy bought a couple of skeins of yarn and a pattern for a hat. We also took up the lady's advice on where to camp and we headed to Recompense Shore Campground near Freeport, Maine, where we were able to find a very-private campsite with an ocean view. They also had a shower house and laundry so we cleaned our clothes and ourselves before going back to nearby Freeport for supper at the China Rose. Freeport was a town full of outlet malls and restaurants that was cool to walk around on foot. Freeport is also home to the L.L. Bean flagship store. After supper and walking around Freeport for a little while we went back to our campsite and settled in for the warmest night Maine had all year up to this point, a low of only 63 degrees. We had great slow-paced day with lots of breaks and resting. Looking forward to travelling out to the Maine coast tomorrow! Here are our pictures from today!

Summer in New England - Road Trip 2012 - Day 6

We woke up at our campsite at Gold Brook and broke camp. Repacking the car was a great investment of time and everything fits very nicely now. I have a slight coffee/caffine addiction so our next stop was Black Cap Coffee Roasters in Stowe, VT. Excellent atmosphere and even better coffee. We recharged a few batteries, wrote a few words, and knitted a few rows and soon hit the road again. We were off to Montpelier, VT. The smallest state capitol in the US. With 8,000 people, Montpelier was a great size. It had an abundance of bookstores in old creaky buildings, coffee shops, bakeries and interesting local shops. We visited two book stores, Bear Pond Books and Rivendell Books and then the local yarn store, the Knitting Studio. We talked to a couple of locals and got advice of places to visit on our journey. We also stopped in at La Brioche, a bakery that is staffed by the culinary students that learn in the same building. They had windows into the kitchen so you could see the pastry chefs to be working hard. Next we attempted to visit a local fiber farm, The Wool Shed, but no one was home so down the back roads of Vermont we went to the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks. Its not sugaring time at the farm right now so we did not get to see the big evapaporator working, but we did get to watch an interesting video made the the 7th generation of sugar farmers there and enjoy a sampling of the different grades of male syrup they produce. We bought a few candies and some syrup in the gift shop. It was a lovely place and we could see how every season brought its own unique beauty that part of the woods. The speed limits in Vermont are quite slow by Arkansas standards on the highway 50 mph is your max and all of the little towns have are 30 mph so our next stop though only 20 miles away, it took more than half an hour to get there! Cabot Creamery Co-op was our next adventure. Some of the 30ish varieties of Cabot Cheeses, some of the best in the world, are produced in this plant as well as Greek yogurt, dips, yogurt, and sour cream. We were able to take a tour of the facilities and watch the plant at work. We bought a lunch of cheese and bread and yogurt as we left and we can definitely say that the products were amazing. Soon after visiting Cabot, we were leaving the state of Vermont. Into New Hampshire and a new adventure to find a new airmattress and travel the Kancamangus Highway. We found a Wal-Mart just across the line in Littleton, NH (yay Arkansas Industry!) and then after many warnings to watch out for moose, we entered the White Mountain National Forest on the Kancamangus Highway. It was quite the scenic drive and we enjoyed watching out for moose, bears, and other wild life. We set camp at the Passaconaway Campground on the far side of the watershed divide and were promptly attacked by hundreds of the largest mosquitos we have seen since visiting Crater Lake 2 years ago (when there was 6 foot of snow on the ground) We did not see much of the camp because of this and spent the evening inside our tent to escape the bugs. We are excited about entering Maine tomorrow and seeing the Atlantic Ocean!

  Here's today's pictures!

Summer in New England - Road Trip 2012 - Day 5

Today we didn't have to break camp and pack up because we were staying in the same place for the second night. This meant we slept a little later and then headed out for Stowe, VT to get some breakfast at the Dutch Pancake House. This restaurant was part of the Grey Fox Inn and they served Dutch style pancakes which were somewhat thinner than an American pancake, but thicker than crepes, and it was about 12 inches in diameter. After our awesome pancake breakfast we went up the mountain road northwest of Stowe to Smuggler's Notch , which was a narrow notch cut into the mountain up near its peak. The scenery was beautiful and we got some great pictures of the rock faces in the area. Next we looked up a couple of backwoods Vermont covered bridges and set off to go find them. We saw the Brookdale covered bridge, which was a little more modern, but still had the rustic feel. The second bridge was the Sterling Brook covered bridge, which was built in 1896 and we got some awesome pictures there too. Both bridges were at the end of dirt roads and you really got a feel for rural Vermont.  After the bridges we headed to the Stowe Farmer's Market, where we bought some locally grown steak for supper and got to see some of the same vendors we saw at the Shelbourne market.  At the farmer's market Katy noticed a sign for the local NOMAD Dog Agility Competition being held just a few miles away, so we loaded up and went to see it in person.  We like to watch agility shows on TV, but this was our first in person show, and the dogs were amazing!  They ran the course very well and I'm sure we will see some of them in the national competition later this year.  We had lunch at a local place called McCarthy's, which was fantastic, and then we went for dessert and a tour at Ben and Jerry's in Waterbury, VT.  We got to take a short tour of the factory, see a video on the creation of the brand, and have a sample of an ice cream in testing (which passed the test to us!).  We picked up a few souvenirs and went to see a couple of places we noticed on the way to our campsite before.  The first one was Ziemke glass blowing studio, where we got to watch the glass being made, and the second was the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, where we got to see some history on the mill, look around the mill itself, and buy some cider jelly, which tastes amazing!  We tried to find somewhere to buy a new air mattress because ours was losing air, but we were unsuccessful because it was Sunday and lots of places were closed.  It wasn't too bad though, and we had a great day otherwise!

Here are our ictures for the day!

Summer in New England - Road Trip 2012 - Day 4

Day 4- We were up bright and early this morning as the sun was peeking over the "pond" at 5:15am. I know early, right? We broke camp and were off and going by 8 (well we actually left the site at 7:15 but we decided to drive on around the pond, but when we got to that exit, it was locked, so we drove all the way back around at 2 miles an hour and all the people in their RVs stared at us). The scenery was spectactular as we drove through the Adirondacks. One of the first towns we came to was Saranac Lake, NY. This town is known as the "capitol of the Adirondacks" and was a pretty good size. The downtown area was very impressive, as it has 136 buildings on the National Historic Record. We attempted to visit the weekly Farmer's Market, but they weren't opening until 9, and we were hungry so we headed on and soon reached Lake Placid. As you probably know, Lake Placid, NY was the host city for 2 winter Olympic games (1932 and 1980). Soo cute! We ate breakfast at a place called Pan Dolce, which was fantastic. As we were driving out around 9:45 I spotted the yarn shop, though it was still early I could see people setting up a tent outside with yarn so we stopped in Adirondack Yarns. It did not disappoint. The owner was awesome. She had an excellent variety of yarns and a ton of samples (even some for sale) She talked to me for a while and told me about the fiber arts demonstration she was having outside. One farmer was bringing her alpacas, another was a spinner and sheep farmer, and the last was an Angora bunny breeder. Dean and I got to pet the bunnies. They were precious and I could see how they will make someone some beautiful yarn. We continued through Upstate New York to the small village of Essex to catch the ferry across Lake Champlain. We chose to take the non-interstate route and enjoyed some absolutey amazing bucolic scenery. Eva the Equinox, Dean, and I took our first ferry ride on a car ferry across a lake. There were at least 20 sailboats on the water and the weather was perfect. After arriving on the other side at Charlotte, VT, we drove about 10 miles to Shelburne, VT. This town famous for its musuem and Teddy Bear Factory was hosting a Farmer's Market, so we stopped by. Everything was local and it all smelled and looked amazing. The next stop was the Burlington, VT Town Center, which we thought was a large mall in a good sized city. In reality, it was a wonderful area and city with lots of fantastic restaurants, local stores, and vibrant community. We ate at a little place called Henry's Diner which has been in operation since 1925. We visited a couple of local shops including a yarn/sewing store called Nido. Dean found another yarn shop just a few miles down the road in Essex Junction, VT. Kalideoscope Yarns is my favorite so far. Amazing selection, lots of variety, and super friendly staff. I purchased a pattern that I can't wait to try out. Since I have the most awesome husband I was able to visit one more yarn shop on day 4 in Williston, VT. The Northeast Fiber Arts Center was more than just yarn. The owner had made a haven for fiber artists of all kinds. She was well stocked in yarns, batts, roving, spindles, spinning wheels, and looms. There was also a huge room for sitting and making fiber art with 15 of your closest friends. Apparently many classes are taught there and it is very much enjoyed by the community. So I was able to visit 4 yarn shops in one day and the last 3 were within 15 miles of each other! Craziness! We had planned on camping at Little River State Park, but unfortunately they were full, so we scrambled to find another campsite that would have openings on a Friday night! We drove to almost Stowe and found a lovely campsite called Gold Brook Campgrounds. This is one of the first private campgrounds we have stayed at and we are quite impressed. We have only traveled two states today, but we have learned so much about the local culture. Tomorrow we explore Stowe, Waterbury, and the surrounding area. Having so much fun!

  Here's our pictures from today!

Summer in New England - Road Trip 2012 - Day 3

Today was day 3 of our adventure and we started off from East Syracuse, NY and headed up the western-northwestern border of New York on I-81 and then later US hwy 11. Our first stop was Watertown, NY, where we visited the NY State Zoo at Thompson Park. Thompson Park was a fantastic place for families because they had not only the zoo, but a sprawling playground, sports fields, and picnic areas all around. The zoo was small, but had some animals we had never seen live before like wolves, wolverines, and a Canadian lynx. It had a great local flair and lots of programs to educate kids and adults alike on the animals, especially the ones native to New York. We stopped for lunch at a Subway in Potsdam, NY. After we left Potsdam, our next stop was Malone, New York, to see the Wilder homestead (actually located a little outside of Malone in Burke, NY) which was the boyhood home of Almanzo Wilder, made famous in the "Little House on the Prairie" series. We took a tour of the homestead and then loaded up to go camping in the Adirondacks! The highway down to Fish Creek Pond where we camped was full of everything you picture when you think of upstate New York; rounded top mountains, hidden lakes, and wetlands filled with trees that look like a moose might jump out any second. Our scenic drive led us to Fish Creek Pond, which was obviously a lake by almost anyone's standards of size, where we set up camp right by the pond (lake) and had a nice relaxing evening reading, knitting, and watching the wildlife. One creature in particular wasn't as wild as his outside let on, namely a little chipmunk friend we named Oliver, who was almost totally unafraid of us and knew that where humans were food was soon to follow. At one point he ran right over my foot looking for a dropped piece of cereal and consistently ran directly underneath our camp chairs while we sat in them. We had a wonderful day and are looking forward to getting into Vermont tomorrow! Here are some pictures from today!

Summer in New England- Road Trip 2012- Day 2

This morning we left from a very nice Comfort Inn in Obetz, OH and met Dean's friend Drew at a local Starbucks. We had a lovely visit and then off to Canton, OH to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We enjoyed some beautiful farmland scenery as we drove through rural Ohio. I dropped off Dean at the Hall of Fame and I visited a local yarn shop (The Artists' Gallery Yarns) while Dean explored the museum. For lunch we ate at a hole in the wall recommended from the yarn shop called Kennedy's BBQ. It was fantastic! We loved the food and the quaint setting. After eating and then mailing a few things at the post office, we headed north toward Cleveland and then finally east on I 90 for a long, long, long time. We saw glimpses of Lake Erie on the horizon and came very close to Canada and Niagara Falls. We have finally arrived in Syracuse, NY more than 1300 miles from home and tomorrow we are ready to explore Upstate New York up close (with much less driving) :-)

Here are some pictures from day 2 of our awesome adventure!

Summer in New England - Road trip 2012- Day 1

We left bright and early this morning to head out on our adventure to the northeast!  After a quick trip to Starbucks for Katy we were off like a shot!
We decided to go a different route than usual to avoid I-40 and see some different scenery, so we went the round-a-bout way through NE AR and the "boothill" of Missouri before heading up through Illinois and turning eastward through Indiana and Ohio.
We saw a very nice Missouri welcome center in Hayti, MO and decided to stop because even though we have both been to the state numerous times we had never been to a welcome center there before. 
We ate at a super-mega-deluxe IHOP in Cincinnati at one of the nicest malls we have ever seen with sprawling mega-versions of normal mall stores.  Overall it was a very nice day because we were expecting the day to feel longer because of the 750 mile distance we traveled. 
Looking forward to tomorrows travels through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York!
Here are some pictures of our first day!

New England Adventure!

Tomorrow we are leaving on an adventure to the Northeastern US including New England and visiting some friends in Brooklyn.  We are planning to see lots of things in upstate NY, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  We're looking forward to some classic New England sights and some authentic Northeastern seafood!  Lots of pictures and stories of our adventures to come!