Road Trip NORTH

I hit the road early this morning and headed North to my favorite place.

It has been 2 years since I had been back to this nature's paradise and was happy to see that a large piece of woods and fields that once belonged to a woman who raised sheep and erected the first windmill in the county in the early 70's, had been made into a wildlife sanctuary.

I milked 60 cows here as a teenager, in this very barn and stacked hundreds of bales of hay into the 2 story peg and beam hayloft.

This barn had a witch on a broom carved into a window and the date of 1780.

It collapsed under heavy snow 10 years ago after the farmer had sold his cows and moved to Kentucky

I hayed these fields and dug out the endless rocks and boulders left behind by the glaciers.

 

My friends would come up to visit me and pitch their red tent in this field.

There were no trees in the field then. Just lots of cows grazing in the summer evenings and snotting on the tent as they licked the tarps and left us "gifts"  all around the tent.

 Some of the fields are now used to raise goats.

and show off pretty fall trees.

The turkeys were out in full force and eating bugs and crossing the rural roads without looking both ways.

 Mostly males.

Many old barns and old vehicles in this very rural area of Vermont.

The maple trees are burning red and orange here in the Northeast Kingdom.

Good owners take care of their barns.

Found this very weird plant.

 What is it ?

The bonus was as I was leaving this quiet village........

The views....

The crystal clear water...

The Loons.

Every dirt road has a view.

On Christmas eve day, 1975, it was minus 50 degrees F with the windchill.   When the cold Canadian winds come blowing down on this lake, it gets deathly chilly.
A tractor trailer delivering several hundred square bales of hay to us, jackknifed on the ice at this corner and dumped most of the load on that day.

I had to help reload it and thought my ears and fingers fell off in the cold.
I often think of that particular cold afternoon.

 Today it was a perfect 75 degrees.

I always wanted to build a small cabin on this spot. So far, no one has discovered it....

Do you have a favorite place ?