Our trip began at 3:10 Thursday morning. The boys were up for the adventure! and enjoyed some snacks before dozing off (Maynar) or falling asleep (Modygg). The only unfortunate casualty of the first leg of our trip was a skunk with very poor timing in crossing I-88 somewhere around Oneonta (5:00).
The part of the trip we were most nervous about was the Albany area, particularly Troy, a suburb west of Albany that we have not figured out how to avoid on our way to Vermont. But Maynar's National Geographic magazine and bubbles (the spill-proof bottle that he can handle all by himself) came to the rescue, both his and mine - he was happy, and I didn't have to provide the bubble-blowing entertainment! (6:15)
We stopped for breakfast about 8:30 in Springfield (eastern Vermont) - after five hours and two tanks of gas. Modygg had made quite an impressive nest for himself! We discovered he has a great knack for collecting blankets.
New Hampshire (State #3) by 10:15.
With a nod to Dan and Cindy as we continued northeast from Bethel. (11:45) State #4, our final destination, but quite a few miles (and tanks of gas) to go yet.
Wait, who's navigating?! (Farmington area, 1:45)
Modygg's seat mirror had gone missing, so I took backward selfies of him for status checks.
By the time we reached the County (4:00), Maynar thought he and Milo would try for a nap.
But it didn't take long for him to give up. He worked hard with Milo to help Milo sit next to him ("Sit! Sit!") to enjoy the scenery.
Modygg stayed well-hydrated, as usual.
Maynar and Milo enjoyed some cow crackers (more commonly known as animal crackers) and snake chips (pretzels in the common tongue). Maynar emptied the contents of his snack cup onto himself and then ... well, I'm not really sure what the intent was. But by 4:30 and Houlton, we were grateful that he and Modygg had been such troopers and were pretty open-minded about how they chose to pass the time!
We drove through a rainstorm north of Caribou (6:00) to arrive at the house for the walk-through. (6:10 - precisely 15 hours start to end! and seven tanks of gas) There was a brilliant rainbow by the time we arrived. We walked through with the realtor and unhitched the trailer, which would spend the evening there while we stayed at a hotel.
In the car, Mick asked Maynar what he would like for dinner. The prompt response (as it is so often) was, "Cake!" We thought he had certainly earned it! and Mick found some locally(ish)-made carrot cake at North Star Variety which seemed to hit the spot! I think the "cheese" (icing) was his favourite part. At least, it made the biggest mess!
The next morning at the hotel, Mick found French cartoons with French subtitles for the boys to watch while we got things ready. We hadn't realized there would be quite some much French here! But I've heard that watching television is a good way to pick up a language - we shall see! :)
While Maynar was honing his francais, Modygg got some time with Milo.
The closing went smoothly (other than Maynar writing on the bank walls with the pen the banker gave him!), and we loaded up on groceries at Hannaford's (before realizing the car was already PACKED and where were we going to put all this stuff?!), then headed to our new house! Maynar helped us unpack (Modygg had fallen asleep in the car), then we enjoyed some semblance of nap time.
After nap-time, Maynar wanted to explore the porch.
... until he was inevitably distracted by sticks (which, incidentally, are great for whacking trees). The tree may be one of his favourite aspects - when we left to do some shopping Saturday morning, he said, "Bye, tree." It is a beautiful, huge (at least to our experience) gray birch.
Then Maynar was able to share what he had experienced with Modygg.
... and Modygg's fairly constant companion (the blanket).
The trailer includes the added benefit, unknown to us until the boys discovered it, of a mobile playground - slide included.
Modygg mastered the porch before long.
Mick and Maynar explored the yard a bit (and somehow got to wrestling). :)
"Mush!" [Mushroom]
Mick, Maynar and I have all been fascinated by the quantity and variety of mushrooms. Mick identified some lobster of the woods and thinks he also found some chanterelles. There are many more varieties that we don't recognize, but it'll have to wait until we get our guide book here. Maynar also enjoys looking for "sticks" that he can use as "hammys" (hammers) to poke mushrooms. And ever since Mick harvested a sample to bring back to the house to look up online (the lobster of the woods), Maynar has collected his own samples to bring back to Poppa.
An aspect of the property we have all enjoyed quite a bit already is the apples. There are many apple trees here, and many of them seem to be cultivated varieties or at least close descendants of cultivated varieties. So far, all that we have tried have been delicious! or at least (less enthusiastically) edible. :) We have identified four distinct varieties right in the front of the property, and at least two more in the bits of the property we have explored so far. We've enjoyed a very successful apple crisp already! One of the things we were sad to leave in McGraw was our apple trees just coming into their own, so we were delighted to find an abundance of apples, and already ripe.
Maynar has been very conscientious to share with Modygg, and the rest of the family for that matter. Any time that he requests a trip to the apple tree, he makes sure we also have an apple for Modygg, plus provisions for the parents.
The world seems to fade away for Modygg when he is eating an apple. At one point, Maynar and I were ready to go inside, and then he asked, "Where Baby? Where Gogo?" (in the vernacular, "Where is Modygg?") Out in the driveway finishing up his apple, he was! When he was good and ready, he (and the remains of his apple) came crawling up the driveway towards the house.
And now, for a bit of a tour ...
The house faces south and has three "sections": the two-car garage on the right, a middle section with the ridge parallel to the garage, and the left (oldest) section with the ridge perpendicular to that of the first two sections. Both the middle and the left sections have a door facing south.
The west wall of the house faces the road. (The picture below is the left wall of the house in the picture above.)
The front yard, between the west wall of the house (pictured above) and the road. The driveway is to the left of this picture.
Here is the house across the yard, from our most-frequently-visited apple tree.
... and the view (to the west) from the same location. The road is at the treeline. We find the sky and the clouds quite remarkable here. Mick wonders if the geography results in different cloud patterns than what we are used to, and the air is also quite clear and clean.
The garage, from right to left (i.e. counter-clockwise).
That door pictured above leads into the house, into what is currently a utility-type area but is slated to become (some day) a study.
Here you are in the utility room looking through the open door (the same door as pictured above) back into the garage.
Continue rotating counter-clockwise - this is now the north and west walls of the room.
And the south wall of the room - the door pictured below leads into the rest of the house and is opposite the door to the garage.
That door leads you into a sort of mud-room - the picture below shows that same door, now open, with the door to the garage visible at the far end of the study-to-be. The door to the outside is to the right below. This is the outside door in the middle section of the house.
This room as pictured above opens to the laundry room (to the left in the picture above, opposite the door to the outside), and the door opposite the door to the study leads to the kitchen.
We expect this room will function as a mud room - a place to take boots, snowpants, coats, hats, etc. on and off.
Through that door into the kitchen ... the front (south) half of the kitchen is open, which we have been using as a dining area, and the north side of the kitchen includes the cabinets, countertops, and appliances.
The kitchen pantry (behind where Mick is standing in the picture above).
Mick kneading his first loaf of bread - three so far, and all have been delicious! (No surprises there.) We have been listening to mostly French radio - there seem to be just as many (if not more) French than English stations, and we have enjoyed the music on the French stations. Also, listening the news doesn't stress me out because I don't understand any of it. :)
The kitchen is of course a wonderful place to eat apples.
Maynar has been loving this empty double cabinet.
He climbs in, then requests, "Shut."
... and lets himself out when ready.
Modygg has occasionally indicated an interest in joining Maynar in the cabinet, but for the most part, he seems content to eat apples.
The kitchen opens into the living room (opposite the mud room). The picture below also shows the closed double doors to the hallway (the wooden doors shortly behind Maynar) and the closed doors to the "office" (white, back left).
Walk into the living room, and turn to your right. This window faces north.
Continuing to turn counter-clockwise, this window faces west (the road).
Those double doors open into a small "office" - currently the home of our Internet connection and related devices.
Turning to your left within that office, the red is the chimney.
Back into the living room, and continuing counter-clockwise from (to the left of) the office, is the doors to the hallway. The hallway ends at the outside door on the western section of the house.
To the right of that door to the hallway is the door to the basement. The kitchen is just visible to your left and the hallway is visible to your right as you look down the basement stairs.
From the front door, looking back up the hallway towards the living room (back), you see the bathroom door (left) and the stairs (right).
The bathroom (duh). This window opens out towards the driveway, on the south wall of the house.
From the shower at the back of the bathroom looking out through the bathroom back towards the hallway and the stairs.
And up the stairs. You may almost notice, but the ceiling slopes in at the top of the stairs, so you don't have full head-space by the time you get to the top. An, um, intriguing design that has left us scratching (and bumping) our heads.
The top of the stairs opens up into this room, with a bedroom door just visible on the left.
Through that door into the boys' room. This window is on the south side of the house, overlooking the driveway.
Turn clockwise ...
From the corner of the room looking back towards the closet, with the window not quite visible on the right and the door back into the main room (back left).
As you walk back into the main room through that door above, you can see the window, facing north, and the closet (to the right). The stairs are to the right.
The closet (pictured above), and the door to the grown-up bedroom (right). The stairs are now just out of sight on the right side of the picture.
Through that door into the bedroom Mick and I have been occupying. The closet is on the back wall to the left, and the door opens into the "bonus room", an unfinished room that will probably ultimately become our bedroom (and maybe also an upstairs bathroom and maybe also a nursery room).
Closet to the left, and that door into the back room.
Looking back across the bonus room towards that door you just saw that opens into our current bedroom.
The stairs take you back down to the utility room. The door at the bottom of the stairs on the left leads to the garage.
From the bottom of the stairs (in the utility room) looking back up - the garage door is immediately to your right, and the door on your left opens into the mud room.
Having completed our tour of the house, time for a bit more exploration of the outdoors (and, of course, the apples).
We have been working our way slowly through the 53 acres. There are stone hedges along the north and south borders at least, which is handy, and we were surprised to find a stream already on the property.
This morning, Mick found the pond. As he walked out into the clearing, he heard a strange noise that ... no, that's not a bullfrog. It turned out to be a rather large moose with a rather large rack picking its head up out of the pond. Perfectly classic! I slept through it but did get a picture of the pond (sans moose) when Mick and I walked down this afternoon.
