Montreal and Winooski Thanksgiving

It's hard to believe that our visit here with our Winooski, Vermont kids is almost at an end.  We leave tomorrow for Las Vegas. It will be a bitter sweet goodbye.  Bitter because goodbyes are always sad.  Sweet because we will be going to visit our LV kids.  It is a rare occasion that the we will be able to see both of them albeit not together, on the same day.  We are scattered as the fall leaves.

During the last two weeks, we have visited the lovely city of Montreal Canada, enjoyed a cozy white Thanksgiving in Winooski, and pet sat for Misty and Balou, while Jess and Garyn traveled to Cape Code for Jessica's birthday.

Montreal - Old, New, and Lovely

We arrived in Montreal on Saturday just in time for the Christamas Parade.  Montreal grownups and children and were enthralled with Santa and snow angels.

The city was dressed up for the opening of the season.  The skycap was one of contrasts, old, new, spires, towers, and steeples.

We enjoyed the exceptionally balmy day in the low 50's, and the sunshine as we walked all around the town.

As the sun began to set, we ducked into the underground shopping malls which are simply aMAZing.  They are several stories deep and are all interconnected, one after another.

I am glad the kids knew their way around because without our GPS, we would probably still be trying to find our way out!  We spent Saturday evening in the bar at the Sheraton, sharing wine, cheese, and fruit.

On Sunday we visited the Cathedral on the hill overlooking the city and the former Olympic Stadium now used as a recreational stadium and Biodome of diversity (tropical, Vermont woodlands, marine, and subtropical environments).  It was very well done and interesting.  As we left the city. we made a quick stop at the Biosphere where sustainable environments is the focus.

The excursion to Canada was short but sweet.

Winooski - White Thanksgiving

Nature's Ice Art

Back in Winooski, the temperature kept dropping.  We put on our long underwear, took some nice walks in the crisp autumn air, and shopped for Thanksgiving.  We visited the downtown area, Winooski River area where we found a geocache.  We also found a geocache within view of Garyn and Jessica's home.  Right in their front yard...almost.

We awoke the day before Thanksgiving to a snowplow rumbling down the street.  We peeked out from our second story window to see a beautiful white blanket of snow that had silently fallen from the sky as we slept.

Jessica brined the Thanksgiving turkey overnight in a five gallon bucket which we chilled in the land cruiser (LC).  LC has taken our family on many trips, but brining a turkey was the first.

Thanksgiving was wonderful, snowy white on the outside, warm and cozy on the inside.  Garyn and Jessica worked on their tiling project in the basement family room, we watched endless football games, and stuffed our selves as all good Americans do on this day.

Garyn, turkey, and Jess - First Thanksgiving Dinner

The day after TG, Garyn and Jessica, took a short trip to Cape Cod to celebrate Jessica's birthday, and we pet sat for Balou and Misty.  We have loved every minute of being here with our family.  Now it's time to go.

Goodbye Vermont, Hello Las Vegas.

Russ and Misty working off the turkey,  Lake Champlain Causeway

All is well with the 2 Travel R's

Home to America

Fall in Burlington, Vermont

The 2 Sail R's have temporarily become the 2 Land Travel R's. We touched down in California on October 26, and have now been stateside for three plus weeks.

Week 1 - California:  We've been catching up with family and friends, buying some warm clothing, squeezing our feet into shoes, making arrangements for trips to Vermont and Las Vegas, getting a new roof, visiting doctors, dentists, oral surgeons and hair stylists, updating technology - cell phones, iPad, Mac, IPods, etc.  Russ's aching joints get a probable diagnosis from Dr. Abby,  Ross River Virus, a mosquito borne illness we believe Russ contracted in Vanuatu.  The bad news it lasts 6 months to a year.  The good news it lasts 6 months to a year, not the rest of his life.

Week 2 - Vermont: We packed our bags and flew east to be with our son and daughter-in-law for Thanksgiving.  Garyn and Jess have a darling old home in Winooski, across the river from Burlington.  We have visited Stowe, Trapp Family Lodge, Ben and Jerry's, Shelburne Farms, and of course downtown Burlington decked out with twinkling holiday lights.  Ir's wonderful being here with our kids!

Week 3 - Massachusetts:  Russ and I just returned to Vermont from a road trip to Salem and Boston Massachusetts.  It's a chilly but economical time of year to visit Boston.  There are a lot of off season deals.  We visited the Salem Witch History Museum, all of the sites on the Freedom Trail, took a tour of the Boston Inner Harbor, bus tour to Cambridge and Harvard, visited the MIT Museum of Technology, toured the USS Constitution, ate at Lemoncellos in the Italian district on the North End, picked up some chocolate covered cannoli at Mike's Pastry, and spent our last afternoon at the JFK Museum in South Boston.  We had a great time.

Week 4 - Coming up......The four of us are heading to Montreal for a few days and returning to Vermont for Thanksgiving.  We will be dog and cat sitting after Thanksgiving while Garyn and Jess, go to Cape Cod for the weekend to celebrate Jess's birthday.  Then we are off to Las Vegas to visit our daughter and son-in-law.

That's it for now.  Temperatures in Brisbane where Worrall Wind is cooling her keel is in the mid 80's.  We had some snow flurries last night here in Vermont.  All is well with the 2 Land Travel R's