Winding Roads, Moose Sighting, Unfriendly People, and Apple Cider Donuts!

The day after our marathon in New York City we packed up and prepared to head north, through NW Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and into the southwest corner of Vermont.  We decided to stop at the Whole Foods in Westport to pick up food and eat lunch before heading out. 

We put the address in Joel's phone so "lady long way" could get us there.  Wishful thinking!  We followed her directions exactly and ended up in a beautiful area of Westport  looking at a mulit-million dollar home.  Alrighty then.  We put the address in again, thinking we had typed it in wrong.........same destination.  So we finally drove to a business area, and pulled into a parking lot.  I saw a woman walking across the lot so Joel got out and asked her if she knew where Whole Foods was.  She stayed her distance until she saw our Iowa plates and me in the car.  She replied, "Oh no wonder you can't find it, you are from Iowa! Let me tell you how to get there."  She asked us why we were in Westport which led to the conference on healing which led to our day in New York City, which led to the 9-11 Memorial.  She shared with deep emotion how some of their friends had died in the towers and that she and her husband, who was retired, were unable to go see the memorial.  She said it was just too painful.  So sad.

With her instructions, we found the store right away.  I really like Whole Foods and what they offer at their deli.  I found some very tasty veggies which I had been craving and steamed brown rice.  We picked up more roasted chicken and other supplies and headed off leaving Westport behind.  I confess, doing so brought tears.

Roasted Sweet Potato wedges,

steamed beans, broccoli, and brown rice.  Delish!

NW CT is very rugged and the highway we took was a back road,  so it was winding and slow...but with beautiful views.  I am not so sure Joel enjoyed it as much as I did from the driver's seat!  Massachusetts had it's own beauty to display.  Then  we went into Vermont....where we noticed the trees were mostly bare already.  We stayed in the small town of Bennington VT. with plans to look around the next day before heading to Niagara Falls. 

Massachsetts covered bridge

 

We were so fascinated with this bridge we just had to

go through it!

 

Northwestern Connecticut  

We found Bennington VT a bit unfriendly. Maybe it was the end of the season for tourists, maybe it was a bad hair day, but all the people we encountered were aloof and unfriendly.   No biggy.  We still had fun checking out a few stores and picking up some apple cider donuts, blueberry jelly, etc. at one called the Apple Barn.  They had a special place for Joel to park up front!!

"Cowboy Parking Only"

All others will be branded!

Everything seemed to be decorated with moose, but when we asked if they had a lot of moose in the area we were told no. We did spot one moose we wanted to share with all of you.  It was the only one we saw the whole trip.  :)

 

This moose was sculpted half in and half out of

 the window of the store.  So funky!

We headed out of Vermont and into New York later in the morning with the hope of getting to Niagara Falls in time to see the Falls before dark and after, when it was all lit up.  It turned out to be a challenging day, though, and we struggled with staying positive.  We eventually got to Niagara Falls but missed the exit to the Park to view the falls.  Ugh.  Then we backtracked, etc. and ended up stopping for directions which took us through a very scary part of town.  I must say, we were very surprised that the city was not only unattractive, but rundown. Discouraged and tired, we decided to just go check in at the hotel, which was easier to find.   The desk clerk had maps she marked for us and told us exactly how to get to the Falls in the morning.  While she was showing us where to go we realized we had been in the area of NF that she now told us to avoid.  Of course!   

We knew that high winds and rain were forecast for the next day but we went to sleep that night thinking positive and believing tomorrow would be a better day!  Like "Annie" says, "tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always tomorrow....it's only a day away."