One of my wonderful Christmas gifts from my generous husband was three "Golden Tickets." One is to take me to a fun dog trial weekend in May, one is for a romantic weekend get-away, and one was to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Vermont. When we first moved to Maine, I was happy that I would get to see more of my siblings, because we would all be in New England. Unfortunately there is no quick way to get to Vermont, so visits have been rare. It's about a 5 hour drive to get to the lovely part of the country where Dana and Paula live. So this weekend, I cashed in my ticket, and we had a pretty drive through Maine and New Hampshire, finally landing near Mt. Ascutney in Vermont. Chris had arranged for us to stay in a marvelous hotel. We checked in, then Dana and Paula came and got us, and took us out for a delicious supper at Skunk Hollow Tavern.
The next morning they were there again, and after a terrific breakfast Paula sweetly chauffeured us and gave us a nice driving tour of their corner of the world. We stopped in at their son's newly purchased property, where he stores his fleet of construction and excavating vehicles. As I looked at all the massive vehicles lined up, emblazoned with our family name, I couldn't help but think how proud our father would be to see his grandsons thriving enterprise.
We also stopped at my brothers real estate office. It has a brook running behind it, and he once saw a moose splashing in it!
Next we swung by their other son's house and picked up their precious 5 year old grand-daughter, Nora.
Then we were off on a new adventure. They had arranged to take us for a sleigh ride.
The old sleigh had been beautifully refurbished, and each seat had a soft cushion and a warm lap robe. We watched as they harnessed the horses, Duke and Jake, then hitched them to the sleigh. For the next hour we rode over sparkling snow, past babbling brooks, over a little bridge, through meadows and woods and past fabulous old farms. The weather was completely perfect, bright sun and warm temperatures for this time of year, but plenty of snow for the sleigh to glide over.
A strap of bells on Jake's harness made a clear, ringing sound. The runners of the sleigh creaked over the snow, and the horses hooves made a muffled tattoo as they jogged along. It was all quite magical.
A red tail hawk perched overhead, looking for lunch.
Best of all was a little time spent with my big brother. He has always been one of my all time favorite human beings on the planet, and it makes me sad that we don't see each other often. Now that we know the road to Vermont, maybe we can make our visits more frequent.
My first Golden Ticket provided a delightful weekend, with Chris driving me safely there and back, treating to yummy meals and being a perfect companion. The finest of gifts.
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