Vermont Day 3: A Drive in the Country

If you've been stopping by this blog for a while now, you probably know me well enough to know my favorite thing to do is drive in the country.

I've been out in beautiful snow storms. 

I've eaten ice cream with the cows who gave the milk.

I've even been swimming in the corn fields.

So when everyone decided we would spend our third day in Vermont swimming in an almost 100-year-old swimming hole full of huge boulders and who knows what else, I heard the country calling me! 

After I loaded my cameras in the car and dropped everyone at the quarry, I turned on my favorite playlist, rolled down my windows and went to my happy place for a couple of hours.

I'm a sucker for a great name. I mean, who wouldn't want to explore roads with names like 7 Hills Road or Roaring Brook Road. They just beg to be explored.

So I was giddy when I followed the road next to this beautiful place, The Barrows House Inn and Restaurant on Hwy. 30 in Dorset.

The road was called Dorset Hollow Road. 

(If it was in my home state of Tennessee, we would call it Dorset Holler Road!)

I followed this road until I came to a fork (quite appropriate for the state where Robert Frost was named poet laureate in 1961).

When faced with the decision to go left or right, I stopped in the middle of the road and looked down one as long as I could. It was called Upper Hollow Road. Weighing my options and fearing it might lead me to the top of some mountain, I took the other, as just as fair. It was called Lower Hollow Road,

and it was begging to be explored!

Almost every road in the state of Vermont follows along some river or creek or stream, and this road was no exception.

And almost every house on my drive had a view of the mountains 

or a beautiful barn

 or a stone wall

or a unique fence  

or  grazing creatures of some kind

   

or quaint little touches that just made me want to stay a little longer!

And this road even had a bit of history to it.

This little spot reminded of Robert Frost's poem Birches and the time my daddy told me about riding the trees when he was a kid. I think of him every time I read Frost's poem. One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

Lower Hollow Road did not disappoint. 

I'm glad I chose the road I did!

I stored the images deep where memories provide spaces to linger when life weighs a little too heavy, and I know I will visit often. 

As for the Upper Hollow Road, I kept it for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I ended my journey at this quaint little store overlooking the village green in Dorset, the Dorset Union Store. 

They have been selling "necessities & frivolities" for over 200 years and are listed on The National Register of Historic Places. 

I was only inside for a second when I got the call that my clan was ready to be done at the quarry. I had just enough time to grab an ice-cold Dr. Pepper and eye the amazingly enormous cookies in big glass jars at the front counter. (I'll have to go again some day to enjoy those!)

Dorset is just a small village, and I didn't think we would actually get to experience it, but I'm so glad we did. It made all the difference!

(Words in italics are from the poems, The Road Not Taken and Birches, by Robert Frost.)

~ A Great Start to a Great Sabbatical

Every five to seven years, our church gives my husband a sabbatical.

Really, it's a gift for our entire family. 

Even though he usually has a sabbatical project he's working on, we get to see dad way more than we normally do. 

We get to have dinner together almost every night and read together as a family. 

He gets to tuck the kids in bed every night.

We get to accomplish all the things on the last five years of honey-do lists that have been neglected. 

He gets to take the kids out for special lunches and dinners, and mommy even gets a few dates! 

We get to drive to church together and actually sit together during a sermon. 

We get to play silly games and see Dad in a different, relaxed light. 

We get to spend time with extended family and friends that we rarely see. 

And usually, because of the generosity of a great church fellowship, we get to travel to some wonderful places.

It really is a time for making wonderful memories.

Since Dad isn't really used to "down" time, it usually takes about two weeks for him to begin to unplug and relax. Before we can enjoy any of the above benefits, our first objective is usually to help him get his mind off work. 

So this year, here's what we did!

His first day of sabbatical, we had a silly string war. I think dad lost!

And then, we painted him blue - just for the fun of it!

The next morning, we took him to the bagel shop where my son works and treated him to the best bagels around. 

(shameless plug)

Knowing a few silly games and some great bagels wouldn't be enough to help him wind down, we did what needed to be done. We took him to the water and put a pole in his hand.  He always relaxes when he's near water, especially if there are fish involved.

I think it worked. Who wouldn't be relaxed after 24 hours like that!

(More about our travels later!)

~ Swimming With Flipper

In Australia, young aborigine boys are sent off on a spiritual journey in the wilderness for as much as six months as a rite of passage into manhood.

Boys as young as twelve, in the Amazon's Satere Mawé tribe, must wear ceremonial gloves filled with bullet ants, each causing 30 times more pain than a common wasp sting.

In one tribe in Papau New Guinea, boys undergo hundreds of excruciating razor cuts until their skin resembles the skin of a crocodile.

We considered all our options for Josiah's 13th birthday and decided to do our own thing to mark this transition in his life.

So with seven days in the Bahamas, Dad made sure his week was filled with all the things that make for a perfect coming of age ceremony:

leaving what is familiar and stepping out of his comfort zone,

coming face to face with a little danger,

dreaming about the future,

getting a special ring to mark the moment (more on that another time),

and making some lasting memories.

By far, one of the highlights for Josiah was getting to do a Dolphin Encounter on Paradise Island.

I

When he called me that night, he was full of stories about getting to meet and swim with the real dolphin who played Flipper in the television show.

I'm pretty sure Flipper was not part of the "danger"; however, he did propel my son across the water at 30 mph!

As you can see, Flipper was a friendly fellow.

For Josiah, it was one of the highlights of his trip (as is evidenced by the big smile in the photos). I'm sure he liked it better than the alternatives.

Special thanks to Josiah's Granny & Papa whose generosity made this little life memory possible.

~ How To Spend Your Day

Lookin' for something out of the ordinary to do?

You could do this...

Or you could do this...

You decide!

Top photos are just a typical winter day at recess here in the Midwest taken yesterday.

Bottom photos are from Josiah's 13th Birthday Adventure Trip with Dad in Nausau, Bahamas taken yesterday and today.