Hello from Vermont!

We arrived on Sunday, August 13 after a very nice & leisurely drive through Canada & New York. We stopped at Niagara Falls on Saturday evening for dinner - Becky's first Niagara experience, and Patrick's first in over 2 decades. We parked about a 1/2 mile away from horseshoe falls, and walked the length of the park on the Canadian side. We ate at the restaurant overlooking Horseshoe Falls - at a table by the window (all we had to do was ask - no reservations required!). During dinner, the wind picked up from the east and sent the spray of the falls over onto land - we didn't need a boat ride or tour behind the falls to get wet! We watched from our table as people pulled hoods over their heads and darted away from the falls -- and after dinner we went out into the mist ourselves. All the advice we received was right on - visit the Canadian side, and you only need a couple of hours to fully enjoy the falls.

After we crossed back into the US, we were greeted by a suprise at a New York tollbooth -- I-Pass from Illinois works on the NY thruway!! We had invested in an IPass for our trips back to Chicago, and it turns out it will pay off, as it's accepted throughout the North East - a nice suprise.

We stayed over Saturday night at a Holiday Inn in Syracuse - nothing to write home about (though I did enjoy the free (and slow) wireless internet).

Sunday morning we were on the road by 11:30 and continued through New York - leaving the thruway to skirt north of Albany, and rejoining the interstate system in Saratoga Springs (a very nice town to drive through). We were on I-87 for awhile, before darting off north-east toward Ticonderoga, past Lake George - a very pretty vacation area in the eastern Adirondacks. We crossed Lake Champlain over the bridge at Crown Point and were welcomed to Vermont with the overwhelming smell of cows. We turned north toward Burlington, and drove through the towns of Vergennes, Charlotte (shar-LOT), and Shelburne. We arrived at our condo by about 6:30, had dinner, and headed to the grocery store. On our way to the store, we discovered that when we turn out of our little neighborhood onto the busy street (which is currently totally torn up for road-widening construction), we get a great view of the Adirondacks. That will take some getting used to.

After unloading the groceries, we collapsed in exhaustion on the air mattress, and had a nice sleep.

Monday we drove to Montreal (we didn't think 2 days in the car were enough...) for a trip to Ikea. Ten minutes north of our condo is a sign on the interstate that says "Moose, next 5000 feet." We didn't see any moose, but it made us happy to see the sign. It was quite an experience driving in a foreign language - though with Patrick as the able navigator, we made it past the Quebec farms and into the city. I hadn't been to Ikea before, and I thoroughly enjoyed my first trip.

Our tip for border crossings: put a 6-month-pregnant driver behind the wheel and you'll be through in no time. At our 4 crossings (2 on Saturday, 2 on Monday) we spent a sum total of less than 5 minutes at immigration/customs.

We stopped in St. Alban's, VT for dinner on the way back - at a fabulous restaurant called Chow Bella. While the name may not be authentic, the food was pretty darn close. I nearly expected to be charged in Italian Lira rather than US$ (I know, I know, Italy's on the Euro now).

Monday night, we assembled 3 (of 4) new bookcases, a desk, and 2 (of 6) new dining room chairs.

Tuesday the truck arrived with our 7500 pounds of earthly belongings (oy... we need to simplify!), and it was unloaded by 11:30. Only a few things were damaged en route, but nothing unfixable/irreplaceable. And we started unpacking... and unpacking... and unpacking... I learned while unpacking that we have enough mugs & glasses to serve beverages to OVER 100 PEOPLE!!! at one time. We can't even fit 100 people in our condo! EBay here I come... to sell, of course! We have also created an additional 5 boxes of books to leave our lives, plus some kitchen stuff. Next I'll weed through our 8 tons of linens...

Wednesday Patrick took a couple of boxes to his office at St. Mike's - a corner office with a view overlooking the mountains (Adirondacks, I think). His office is twice as big as the one he has shared with Justin and Peter for the last 4 years. All of his econ books & binders don't even half fill all of his bookcases here. I continued to upack at home.

Thursday, I headed up to St. Mike's with Patrick - I needed a fix of high speed internet!!! We'll be online at home soon(ish). We then stopped by his boss's house for a light lunch, and a not-so-light load of fresh herbs and vegetables from his garden. Parsley, basil, tarragon, cilantro, mint, chives, pears, plums, eggplants, red peppers, tomatoes (cherry & full-sized), and zucchini. We had a delicious meal last night (if I may say so myself) - an appetizer of caprese (I had to buy the mozzerella - made an packed in Vermont less than a week ago), chicken w/ tarragon, basil, and parsley, and pan fried polenta, red peppers, and zucchini. Tonight perhaps we'll have something Mexican-themed with the cilantro.

And that brings us to today -- there's still unpacking to do, but we're back at St. Mike's. Patrick is at an HR orientation about benefits, and I'm continuing to enjoy high-speed internet.

Much love,
Becky (and Patrick)