I got behind in posts again! In July I was very busy sewing up various outfits for our great niece. Because I prefer to save a dime where I can, I made good use of baby clothes patterns available for free online. Interestingly, most English based patterns could not be had for free, but patterns in French, Japanese and German were available to download for free. If something didn't make sense, Google Translate was a big help. I made several jumpers, a dress, onesies and even a few hats to keep the sunshine off the little one. I'm including just a couple of photos of these projects. This hat was based on a really cute Japanese pattern. It has a removable bow and it is also reversible. The reverse side of the hat is the same fabric as the dress made to accompany the hat.
We actually met our great niece when we visited the US in late July/early-mid August. She is adorable, naturally.
We got to spend time with family and friends on that trip to the US. A road trip to Massachusetts allowed us to meet up with B's brother and his wife. We met at the Mt. Holyoke Summit House located in Skinner State Park in Hadley, MA. It has incredible views of the Connecticut River Valley below.
It's an interesting place. It's situated on a peak at around 935 ft, Initially, a small cabin was built on the site in 1821. In 1851, the cabin was rebuilt into a 2-story, 8 room "hotel". Between 1851 and 1900, there were many upgrades made and a steep covered rail tramway was built to reach the summit. At first the tram was horse-drawn, but it was later mechanized. A railroad was added between the summit tramway and a "halfway house" and a steamship dock on the Connecticut River. From the "halfway house" guests took the steep tramway leading up to the hotel. It doesn't sound like it was very easy to reach this hotel.
The hotel was eventually enlarged to 44 guest rooms and a 200-seat dining room. Plumbing was even added at some point but most guest rooms did not have an ensuite situation. You could apparently ride up to the summit via horse (or horse-drawn wagon?) because you had the option to pay for your horse to be fed (or not, apparently).
Ultimately, the property was donated for a state park in 1939. The tram was demolished in 1965 but it hadn't been serviceable since 1942. The remaining structure probably doesn't look anything like it did during late 1800s and early 1900s. But as I said, the views were incredible! The weather wasn't too shabby either. Gotta love the bright blue sky!
We spent some time at the Summit House (now the visitor center). You can view at least some of the guest rooms (including a Jenny Lind room –though she never stayed there but she did perform there in 1851). Many other famous folk stopped by apparently including Abraham Lincoln. Certain of the rooms faced in the perfect direction to open windows and enjoy an absolutely delightful breeze in the heat of the summer, but all did not. There was a room where a large telescope was mounted and there were huge doors that could be opened to enjoy the stars in the night sky.
After our visit to the Summit House, we had a scrumptious lunch and then enjoyed a round of mini golf.
We were also able to travel to North Carolina to visit with friends. Most of our time was spent just relaxing, chatting, enjoying the balcony, etc. It was so nice to just be able to do this! We had a great time.
Our friends live adjacent to a golf course and I just had to take a photo of this OSU labeled golf cart!
One day we wanted to visit an aquarium. It required a ferry ride. Here we wait in line for the ferry to come and unload before we could drive on.
I loved this sculpture in front of the aquarium.
B and I love to snorkel so we seem to gravitate towards aquariums during our travels. It's always good practice to see how many fish I can identify.
Very often aquariums and zoos have interesting signage in the bathrooms. This place was no exception. Cute!
In contrast to our days of fairly easy activity during our US visit, I want to brag about my brother who enjoyed a little bicycle ride one day in August between Evergreen, Colorado and Vail, Colorado. Called the Triple Pass, this little ride is apparently a definite entry on many a cyclist's bucket list. The cyclists travel approximately 110 miles over 3 mountain passes: Juniper Pass, Loveland Pass and Vail Pass. Joined by a like-minded friend, my brother did this ride! He was wearing high-tech devices that allowed me to follow him throughout the ride. I knew where he was and how he was doing the entire time. I remain in awe of his accomplishment. There was even rain and wind and 40 degrees at the top of the first pass!
The diagram above shows the ups and downs of the passes. The ride begins at 7830 ft and reaches 11140 ft. Then you get to descend to around 7575 ft. Next, you ascend to 11,990 ft ultimately dropping back down to 9023 ft. There is a little elevation gain at this point to 9508 ft, a descent to 9043 ft and then another ascent to 10,256 ft. The final descent is back to 8254 ft. All of this was accomplished in a about 9 hours. My brother doesn't live at these elevations so I think it's all the more incredible. A perk of this ride was the incredible views. I share a couple of his photos..jpg)
Here he is at the Loveland Pass summit, 11,900 ft.
.jpg)
