Getting to the Alpenrose Inn
Jul. 1st, 2005 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liralenThere was plenty of time to get up and get breakfast this morning, and we'd bought local, Vermont, syrup the night before so John made pancakes while I slept a little more in the empty van. There was fresh orange juice, fresh air, and plenty of mosquitoes. But the DEET kept most of the latter at bay, and Jet really liked eating his pancakes outside. So that was fun. The view of the lake and all the other beauty of being able to enjoy it all outside was like little else. Getting away from it all.
Okay, it's with mornings like this that I can actually understand why people actually go camping.
We packed up, in no real hurry, and got on the road heading East. Kinda. It was quite the job to get going that way because of all the jigs and jogs in the highway system. We did stop by another station for another scenic railway. They were running, and there were women setting up all the books and toys in the gift shop, including a lot of Thomas stories, which I took advantage of and bought two story collections. The train schedule, however, was nearly the antithesis of what we could actually do, as the early one had already left, and the late one wasn't even leaving until we should already have been at the Alpenrose.
So we just looked around, peered at the town museum, and headed out again. We stopped at a grocery store, found sandwiches and cheese for lunch, ate in the van while it POURED outside, and then did the last bit of road to the Inn while Jet slept.
It's green here, impossibly and wonderfully green, with that water haze in the air and the heat held by the same humidity. Not Seattle, but the water was amazing.
We beat the rainstorm to the Inn, and we were greeted very enthusiastically. Anne immediately showed Jet a grass snake in a huge, glass jar, which Kierdan had found while "doing yard work". Turned out that David Squires, Kierdan, George and Isabel were outside helping with mowing the lawn, which, like at our old Erie house, was actually acres and acres of wild grasses. George was running the mower and Kierdan and David were raking up the results and throwing 'em into compost pits. So Jet, John and I joined in the work and had a blast just getting it done. I, of course, didn't DEET up and got bit like mad. Yeesh.
The rain started while we were out there but just as we were finishing up. David spoke of a thunderstorm where he saw a bird flying as fast as it could across their meadow and seeing it get hit by lightning. Eek. So we all went in when it really got raining, and I took a wonderful, hot shower to the sound of thunder. The room is great. I love it. They added a twin bed by the window for Jet, so while he was sleeping in our room, he did have his own bed. Yay! Definitely the better arrangement.
While I showered, lots of other folks showed up, and after Marina showed up I saw a whole lot less of Jet. After a week of being in the van together it was good to get some time apart, too. :-) I really enjoyed some quiet time with a book as my hair slowly dried. Jet and John were the social animals they are, and joined the party. Jet had his first and last accident of the whole trip when he was just a bit too distracted by playing with Marina. They were just having a bit too much fun.
The rain really cooled things down, and that was very nice. Dinner was ready at 6, and I got my first taste of Anne's Inn cooking and it was good. Gazpacho was a staple of the weekend, it was plenty fresh and there was plenty of it, crisp, crunchy, and juicy with summer. Yum. Dinner itself was a plethora of items, enough so that Jet did find something to eat, as picky as he is. He pulled out his "sprinkles" and added them to his rice and was a very happy camper, though his sprinkles elicited plenty of curiosity from those around him. I was pretty amused.
I elected for an early night. I hadn't slept very well for most of the trip out here, other than in Niagara Falls, and I needed to catch up. So as soon as Jet was snug in bed I went to sleep, too. Ahh....
Okay, it's with mornings like this that I can actually understand why people actually go camping.
We packed up, in no real hurry, and got on the road heading East. Kinda. It was quite the job to get going that way because of all the jigs and jogs in the highway system. We did stop by another station for another scenic railway. They were running, and there were women setting up all the books and toys in the gift shop, including a lot of Thomas stories, which I took advantage of and bought two story collections. The train schedule, however, was nearly the antithesis of what we could actually do, as the early one had already left, and the late one wasn't even leaving until we should already have been at the Alpenrose.
So we just looked around, peered at the town museum, and headed out again. We stopped at a grocery store, found sandwiches and cheese for lunch, ate in the van while it POURED outside, and then did the last bit of road to the Inn while Jet slept.
It's green here, impossibly and wonderfully green, with that water haze in the air and the heat held by the same humidity. Not Seattle, but the water was amazing.
We beat the rainstorm to the Inn, and we were greeted very enthusiastically. Anne immediately showed Jet a grass snake in a huge, glass jar, which Kierdan had found while "doing yard work". Turned out that David Squires, Kierdan, George and Isabel were outside helping with mowing the lawn, which, like at our old Erie house, was actually acres and acres of wild grasses. George was running the mower and Kierdan and David were raking up the results and throwing 'em into compost pits. So Jet, John and I joined in the work and had a blast just getting it done. I, of course, didn't DEET up and got bit like mad. Yeesh.
The rain started while we were out there but just as we were finishing up. David spoke of a thunderstorm where he saw a bird flying as fast as it could across their meadow and seeing it get hit by lightning. Eek. So we all went in when it really got raining, and I took a wonderful, hot shower to the sound of thunder. The room is great. I love it. They added a twin bed by the window for Jet, so while he was sleeping in our room, he did have his own bed. Yay! Definitely the better arrangement.
While I showered, lots of other folks showed up, and after Marina showed up I saw a whole lot less of Jet. After a week of being in the van together it was good to get some time apart, too. :-) I really enjoyed some quiet time with a book as my hair slowly dried. Jet and John were the social animals they are, and joined the party. Jet had his first and last accident of the whole trip when he was just a bit too distracted by playing with Marina. They were just having a bit too much fun.
The rain really cooled things down, and that was very nice. Dinner was ready at 6, and I got my first taste of Anne's Inn cooking and it was good. Gazpacho was a staple of the weekend, it was plenty fresh and there was plenty of it, crisp, crunchy, and juicy with summer. Yum. Dinner itself was a plethora of items, enough so that Jet did find something to eat, as picky as he is. He pulled out his "sprinkles" and added them to his rice and was a very happy camper, though his sprinkles elicited plenty of curiosity from those around him. I was pretty amused.
I elected for an early night. I hadn't slept very well for most of the trip out here, other than in Niagara Falls, and I needed to catch up. So as soon as Jet was snug in bed I went to sleep, too. Ahh....
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