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This Little Piggy…

26 Aug

Shelburne Farm

As you all know, we have a thing for farms. Someday, I suspect, we shall live on a farm. With a pig. Chris loves pigs. And, chickens. He loves chickens, too. After our (my) tour of Ben & Jerry’s, we headed to Shelburne Farms, a 1400-acre farm that sits on the shores of Lake Champlain. Given our slight obsession with farms, we had heard of this place earlier in the summer. I was interested in checking it out so with the Airstream in tow, off we went!

When we pulled into the Farm, we noted the admission price. I confess. We’re pretty cheap. Yes, I’ll pay $3.00 for an ice cream tour but did I want to pay $8.00 to see a farm? I saw a lot of farms this summer. For free. We parked the Airstream and sat inside it while I fed Emerson and we discussed whether we wanted to see the farm or continue on to our campground in Burlington. We were tired…Chris from driving and me…well…I was probably coming off my ice cream sugar high. Oh, and that whole minor detail of the fact that we have a newborn and nights of peaceful sleep are just a memory at this point. So, yeah, we were tired.

View from the trail.

We convinced ourselves, however, to go and check out the farm. There have been too many occasions where we ended up not going to certain places because we didn’t want to pay the fee and too many people have informed us that we made a big mistake by not seeing said places. Well, we were not going to be accused of that this time!

We loaded up the stroller with child and the bazillion things necessary for child and took off for the farm. (Seriously, how can someone who is not even 10lbs require this much stuff?) The trail to the farm was 3/4 mile through an open field and then into a wooded area. It was a beautiful day for a walk and Miss Emerson seemed quite content in her stroller. She loved the bumpy gravel trails.

You can't possibly look at this without smiling, right?

Neither of us knew what to expect but as we came out of the wooded area the trail opened up again and in the distance we saw the amazing farmhouse. Or, farm mansion.

Developed in 1886, the farmland was to be a “model agricultural estate.” At one point, the farm had 300 employees working the land. Today, it is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conservation education. The grounds encompass a farmyard where children (and Lani and Chris) can meet the farm animals, a cheese-making building, an elementary school, an inn, a conference center, beautiful gardens, and miles of walking trails. Additionally, it still remains a working farm.

We explored the grounds, checked out the petting zoo, and watched some cheese being “cheddared“. (I learned something new during my visit!) But, the highlight of our day were the piglets that were only three days old. Oh. My. Goodness. They were too cute. We stood and watched as the piglets battled one another to nurse on mama pig. It was an amazing sight. So, amazing in fact, that I took a video of the piglets and it here it is for your viewing pleasure: (Sorry about the poor video quality.)

Isn’t that the cutest? It does make me happy I only have one child to feed. (And I thought my nipples were sore!) Watching these piglets was worth the $16.00 we paid. We could have stood and watched them all day long. But, we didn’t. We checked out some of the trails and I burned off some of the ice cream calories. It was a beautiful and wonderful day for all three of us! So, if you find yourself near Shelburne Farms, I highly recommend stopping. If you don’t you’re making a big mistake!

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An Afternoon in the Park

04 Jun

"Eternal Presence" by John Wilson

We took a trip recently to Boston to see our friend, Hong. You remember Hong, right? If not, here is a link to our introduction to him. He spent several weeks with us last summer as we traveled through Canada, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. He has been taking dance lessons for years and we were finally able to catch a performance now that we are in the area. He did an outstanding job. Way to go, Hong! Nice jazz hands!

While it was a short trip to Boston, Chris and I both wanted to make a stop at one our favorite places, Walden Pond. Only 30 minutes from Boston, the park quickly became one of our favorite places to escape the hectic city life when we lived in the area.

"Feral Goose" by Kitty Wells

In the summer months, the pond is open for swimming. The natural beauty and of course, it’s history, always left us feeling rejuvenated and inspired. We’ve been eager to return.

The weather was beautiful that weekend and after a gigantic breakfast at the S & S Restaurant, a landmark in Cambridge, we needed to move around and get some exercise and we agreed that Walden Pond would be the perfect solution. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea on that lovely hot day and the Pond was closed for crowd control when we arrived. Doh!

Forced to change our plans, I quickly pulled out the iPhone to see where else we could spend the afternoon near the fabulous towns of Lincoln and Concord and I found the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park to be nearby. From what I could tell, it had lovely grounds and fit our needs at that moment. Hong, Chris, and Hong’s friend, Jose, wanted a place to toss a frisbee around and just be outdoors. I just needed to walk since I had all-too-easily consumed massive amounts of blueberry pancakes, home fries, and fruit.

"Figure from the Sea" by Elliot Offner

The park was a nice surprise. The 35 acres of land owned by the park are beautiful and, of course, filled with sculptures and beautifully landscaped gardens. There is also a museum although we didn’t take too much time exploring the museum as we wanted to be outside.

Opened in 1950, the property was given to the town of Lincoln by its owner, Julian de Cordova. An avid traveler and lover of arts, he remodeled his home on the property to resemble a European castle. Today, the home serves as the museum to contemporary American art, primarily from artists in the New England region.

"Manna" by Tom Chapin. I have no idea why I was so drawn to this sculpture. Hmmm....

Currently, the park is the only permanent public sculpture park in New England and displays approximately 80 sculptures on the property. We walked quite a bit of the property that day and viewed a good portion, if not all, of the sculptures. We also found a nice open field where the guys could toss the frisbee while I sat in the shade and held my breath hoping they wouldn’t hit the nearby sculpture.

While it was no Walden Pond, the DeCordova Sculpture Park was a great find and a lovely place to spend an afternoon. Actually, Chris and I were reminded on this little trip that, like many New England towns, the towns of Lincoln and Concord are on our list of dream towns. Ah, if only we had an unlimited amount of money! These quintessential New England towns, so full of history and gorgeous landscapes, for us are an idyllic location. But, for now, and probably forever, we will remain content to be tourists of Concord and Lincoln. My goal is to make it back for another visit while we are up here for the summer. I realized all of my focus has always been on Walden Pond and the area has so much more to offer. So, Lincoln and Concord: I’ll be back!

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Fun Times in the ATL

21 Apr

View from the SkyRide as we ride to the top of Stone Mountain.

Following our stay at Rainbow Springs State Park, we spent a week in the ATL, Hotlanta, the Peach State, whatever name one prefers for Georgia; it seems to have many. We returned to my parents’ home and had a lovely Easter with the family. For the work week, Chris went into Atlanta and stayed there as he had a lot of work to do and a conference to attend. I stayed with my mom and dad and enjoyed a week of family fun activities.

It was spring break in the area so my nephews were out of school. We went to Six Flags at the beginning of the week (don’t worry, I am aware that I am currently with child and therefore did not partake of any rides.) While the kids stood in line and rode rides that would make me vomit, I enjoyed people watching. Amusement parks are excellent for people watching, especially during spring break when you get to watch the drama that comes from the middle school and high school kids. “Eeeeww…he kissed her?” Or, “Like, she’s totally a weirdo!” Oh, how I don’t miss those days.

View from the top of Stone Mountain. The visibility is poor due to the high amounts of pollen in the air.

Later in the week, my parents, nephew and I went to Stone Mountain Park. While advertisements claim that Stone Mountain is the largest exposed granite “in the world,” according to my brief and unofficial research (er…Wikipedia), there are other larger granite landscapes. It’s still a pretty cool site and while my nephew claimed that there were four other places he rather be at than Stone Mountain during his spring break (i.e., Six Flags, White Water Amusement Park, Washington, D.C. and I can’t remember the other one), he did have a great day and I think Stone Mountain moved up in the rankings as the day progressed.

I hadn’t been to the park since I was a kid and back then, the primary activity one did at Stone Mountain was attend the laser show that occurs every night during the summer. The park has changed significantly and now has a ton of family activities.

We started our day by riding the SkyRide to the summit, an elevation of 1,686 feet. The pollen count was so incredibly high that day that visibility was really poor. The pollen was so bad, in fact, that it would gather under my fingernails and I actually had an outline of the pollen on my feet where my sandals didn’t cover the skin. Eeew.

Our miniature golf course was next to the train depot. You can ride a train around the base of the mountain.

After our time at the top of the mountain, we spent the remainder of the day at the base of the mountain exploring the museum, catching a 4D film (which was super fun!), exploring “The Barn” where kids (and grownups, too) can enjoy trampoline floors, climbing structures, and interactive games, and then we took a quick lunch break and enjoyed a picnic in the park. To finish our day at Stone Mountain, we played an intensive round of miniature golf. Clearly, my practice on the Wii Golf game paid off as my putt was on fire that day!

At the end of the week, Chris finished up his conference and then we did something really crazy. We drove into downtown Atlanta with the Airstream in tow. During rush hour. On a Friday night. On the same night as an NBA event. Yeah…parking…not easy. We were in downtown to attend some after-conference parties. We brought the Airstream so a) friends at the conference could see it; and, b) so we could leave straight from Atlanta and make our way north to Virginia.

Chris navigated the busy streets beautifully. We got some stares from passers-by as well as some laughs from police officers and parking attendants when we inquired about parking. At last, we found a parking lot open for the NBA game and for a very ridiculous price, we were allowed to park overnight. I will confess…it was sketchy. Really sketchy. But, off we went to meet up with folks, have some dinner, and say our goodbyes to friends. Thankfully, when we returned, our home was safe and sound. Let the journey northward begin!

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Posted in Airstream Living, Outdoor Adventures

Is that a Whale? No, It’s Just Lani.

19 Apr

Kayaking to the Headsprings of Rainbow Springs State Park

I’m back and I promise I will catch up this week! Our final days at Rainbow Springs State Park were glorious. The temperatures were in the 80s and it was sunny and hot. So hot, in fact, that I finally got up the nerve to put a swimsuit on and spend some time at the Springs and the park’s pool. Of course, I tried to go at times when there were no people since I’m a bit uncomfortable wearing a bikini with a pregnant belly. (I swear, the bikini was the only swimsuit I had that would fit which is why it took me so long to work up the nerve to even go swimming.) I may have scared some kids away but other than that, all was fine. It felt great to be in water and get some much-needed exercise.

On Thursday, Chris’ brother came up and we took the kayaks out again. This time, we made it to the headsprings, which is the main portion of the state park. The water and grounds were beautiful. Chris and his brother took the kayaks out again later that day once Chris finished work. They swam in the headsprings where the temperature is always 72 degrees. The water was crystal clear and the fish and turtles were abundant. They even saw an otter. Here’s some video footage of Chris’ underwater exploration. (Please pardon his loud breathing at the end. The fact that I edited video is an accomplishment. My audio editing attempts will come later.)

Chris’ underwater exploration of Rainbow Springs from Lani Pokrana on Vimeo.

After seeing their video footage and photos of the headsprings, I was determined to go one more time and check out the park’s trails and actually swim in the springs.

View from the trail

Chris and I returned on Friday evening, our final evening in the park. We walked the trails, which were lined with vibrant pink azaleas. The sun was setting and creating a beautiful color on the springs. As the park was closing soon, we had limited swimming time, but we took advantage of the almost-empty swimming area. Chris grabbed snorkel gear and our camera and took off exploring. I enjoyed floating leisurely in the warm springs. Sadly, Chris took video of this moment. If you’d like to get an idea of what I look like swimming, just Google “whale swimming” and you’ll get a pretty good picture. Thankfully, Chris took lots of video and not just the one of me and my belly floating contentedly.

We returned to our site and began our packing up process. We both admitted to feeling sad to leave this park. It was a great two weeks. We met some fabulous people, including Jim and Julie from Ohio. They were our incredible neighbors who shared their breakfast with us twice, dinner once, and then gave us their outdoor carpet. Um…how awesome are they?

The swimming area at Rainbow Springs State Park

We also met a really cool couple from Canada, Marcel and his wife, Suzanne (I hope I’m not spelling her name wrong…). They travel in a Safari Condo Alto. Chris has really wanted to see inside one of these trailers so, of course, he wasted no time in introducing himself and asking for a tour.

Lastly, this was also the first campsite where family has been able to come visit us. It was great having people over for a cookout and some outdoor fun. We definitely left this park with some great memories and are hopeful for a return visit someday. They ARE looking for camphosts. Hmmm…tempting….

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Posted in Airstream Living, Campgrounds, Outdoor Adventures, Pregnancy

A Fort, An Old City, and Gelato = Perfect Day

08 Mar

Outside the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida

Well, hello there! It’s been awhile. We’ve been tending to some personal matters, making important plans, etc. so I fell behind on my entries and realized I never posted about my glorious afternoon in St. Augustine, Florida. Oops!

Our three weeks in Jacksonville were wonderful. We went for strolls on the beach and around the campground’s lake. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of a family reunion, kids playing on the playground, and a very happy puppy playing in the ocean and running in the sand. At the top of my “To Do” list was to see St. Augustine but I don’t think it was on the top of Chris’ list. He had already seen St. Augustine and I think had other things on his mind. But, on one Sunday, he graciously agreed to my request and off we went to see this historical city.

"Cover your ears!"

It was a spectacularly sunny day. (As it should be, after all, this IS the Sunshine State but lately it has been cold and un-Florida like…probably because I’m trying to live my life as a snowbird now and winter is not pleased with me.) We were quite happy to put away our fleece jackets and sport our short sleeved shirts. With the weather being so nice, the city was packed. Luckily, we found a tight and somewhat overpriced parking spot for our monster truck, grabbed a map, and set off on our exploration.

The oldest wood schoolhouse in the USA

Our first stop was the fort, Castillo de San Marcos, which was constructed in 1695. Here we enjoyed the benefit of having a National Parks Pass. We were able to walk up the ticket booth, flash our Pass, and gain access to the fort so easily! Seriously…this pass is totally worth it! Go out and get yours today. I love forts. My love of forts dates back to my childhood. I have fond memories of visiting Fort Pulaski in Savannah, Georgia. Additionally, I excelled at building forts in my backyard out of pinestraw, or in my living room out of bedsheets and blankets, and even as an adult, building forts out of snow. I’m all about the forts. We walked in and out of the different rooms of the fort, listened to the park ranger tell about the history of the fort and read the various exhibits posted around the fort grounds. It was very informative and interesting. But, we were anxiously awaiting 3:30 p.m.

Cathedral of St. Augustine

Finally, at 3:30 p.m. we rushed up to the second level of the fort and watched as men decked out in 17th Century Spanish Colonial uniform marched from the courtyard up to the second level and over to one of the many cannons that lined the wall of the fort. For the next five to ten minutes, they demonstrated how a cannon is prepped for firing. And, then, the moment all the children (and most adults) were waiting for: the uniformed men shout, “Cover your ears!” And, with that, the cannon is fired sending a puff of smoke into the air. It was very exciting.

After our tour of the fort, we walked over to the historical city streets and strolled along with the thousands of other tourists noting the nice cafes, shops, and churches. There is a definite charm to St. Augustine and if I could have, I would have plopped myself down on a bench or at a cafe table and passed the remainder of the day by simply watching the happy tourists and enjoying the quaint surroundings. Instead, we headed back to the truck to return to our campground but not without me finally giving in and stepping foot inside one of the many chocolate shops. And, lo and behold, this one had gelato. It was meant to be for this pregnant lady has been needing some gelato. For anyone who cares, I chose the mixed berry flavor and it was fabulous. Oh happy day!

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Posted in Outdoor Adventures