Now it can be told---we spent Thursday and yesterday in Vermont, and headed back home this morning. We got home about an hour ago. The agency where I work had booked rooms for an offsite meeting at a great inn in Woodstock, but the agency was so busy in August that the offsite had to be canceled, so the agency had the bookings on their hands. They negotiated with the inn to make re-booking the dates flexible, and held a drawing for several two-night stays. I won one, and that's where we've been. (I don't like to tell on a public forum when we will be away ... you never know who might read it and figure out it's a good time to burgle the house.)
The drive up on Thursday was gorgeous and sunny, and the traffic was fairly light once we got out of Massachusetts. Many of the trees are still green, but there were beautiful vistas in New Hampshire and Vermont of hills covered with green, liberally splashed with vivid red and yellow and orange, as though the colors were airbrushed in over the green. I couldn't take photos because I was on the highway! We settled in at the inn in a big, beautiful room (thank you, workplace!) and strolled around Woodstock looking into gift shops and such. We LOVED a general store called Gillingham's ... they had everything from handmade pottery to whoopee cushions to groceries. The inn had tons of attractions and activities nearby, but with only one full day there, we mostly just hung out and relaxed and strolled around and figured out when and where we would eat our next meal! The inn had a lovely "library," a cozy room lined with bookshelves of old books, and with two sofas and a chair facing a coffee table with an undone jigsaw puzzle on it, and a table with backgammon laid out on it, another table with a chessboard laid out on it, and a fireplace. If we'd had more time, I could have spent an afternoon there reading and sipping tea. They also had a nice sunroom where they served tea and cookies in the afternoon, and coffee, tea, and hot chocolate in the mornings. A big fireplace in the lobby.
It was dark and rainy all day yesterday, so we just relaxed indoors and read and played some Quiddler. Late yesterday we came back from a short drive and my "check engine" light came on, which made me anxious because I wasn't sure whether we were safe for a three-hour drive home. I called a local dealership that was just closing, and they assured me I would have no trouble as long as the light wasn't blinking. I worried all night and all morning anyway, but the drive home was quick and easy. It was kind of murky in Vermont, but the sun came out while we were on the road, and the sky here at home is a brilliant blue (and there's a frost advisory for tonight, first one of the season). We stopped for some lunch not far from home, and we're just checking e-mails and posts and getting settled back in. Monday my office is closed, so we still have a three-day weekend to spend at home and celebrate. I'm looking forward to getting a good cup of tea! I'm never satisfied with tea away from home.
Thinking of everyone and hoping you get over your sore throats and bugs soon, those who have them. And Sugar, congratulations on the new opportunity!
