I’m just back from a hop down to Easton Mountain. The trip came together rather quickly once vacation leave was approved late in the previous week. There was a flurry of phone calls to set it up in very short order. As it turned out, there were a lot of flurries on this trip.
I left last Monday and drove to Kingston Ontario. After supper I met up with a former work colleague: great to see Shannon and get caught up. Next day I crossed the border into the USA at Ivy Lea: a lovely crossing in summer and really nice in winter. The view from the bridge over the St Lawrence River is a treat. My normal route from Kingston to Easton Mountain is to fire down I-81 to I-90 and then blast over to Albany, jump to Troy and up highway 40 to Easton Mountain.
This trip I did things differently. I turned off I-81 and onto smaller country routes, eventually roller-coastering through the mountains in Adirondack State Park to Saratoga Springs. Then my GPS took me the long route down to Easton Mountain. All in all, a nice drive, and much less stressful than the high-speed drive on the interstates and the congestion around Albany.
It’s peaceful at Easton Mountain this time of year.
They’d had a group in for the weekend, and there were 2 participants who’d stayed for a couple of extra days. There was a guest up from NYC working on a magazine article, and the 2 interns working on various projects. Most of the permanent residents of Easton Mountain were there. I settled in for some knitting, and after supper, Dave and I headed up to Uncommon Grounds in Saratoga Springs for tea and knitting.
On Wednesday, Dave and I drove over to Green Mountain Spinnery in Putney Vermont where we met up with John.
We watched the machines operating -- I find them endlessly fascinating. (Thank you to John for the pictures.)
John (on right) facilitated Dave’s yarn purchases. I needed no help.
Lunch was sandwiches at The Front Porch Cafe. Wonderful conversation and camaraderie. John headed back north to teach his printmaking class at Dartmouth College, and Dave and I headed back to Easton Mountain. After supper we headed to Uncommon Grounds for tea and knitting.
On Thursday, I knitted. Aaron had contacted me via Facebook to let me know that it was open-knit-night at his LYS, Trumpet Hill Fine Yarn and Accessories. Dave and I headed to Defazio’s for one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten: highly recommended if you are in Troy. (But take cash, because they don’t accept plastic.) You know how you start at the point of the slice and eat out, and you get to the crust and think "meh...". Not with this pizza: organic whole wheat, soft, tender, delicious -- you'll eat the crust! Amazing. Then on to Trumpet Hill for knitting and conversation, and when that ended --surprise!!-- we headed to Uncommon Grounds for tea and more knitting.
I had planned to start the drive back to Canada on Friday, but when I woke up, it was snowing. And it snowed, and snowed, and snowed, and snowed and snowed and snowed, and snowed, all day. Can you see the mountain in this picture?
I had a wonderful conversation with Harry Faddis, one of the founders and permanent residents at Easton Mountain. He is a remarkable and inspiring man. Eventually the plow came down the driveway, and after supper, Dave and I headed up to Uncommon Grounds for tea and knitting.
Saturday was a glorious morning at Easton Moutain.
After saying good bye, I drove to Buffalo (where it was snowing) to cross the border, eventually ending up at John and Alan’s place in Jordan. Remember Alan and John? They have the fibre/spinning store that doubles as their home. Well, now they have an online shopping presence as well, so you can buy some wonderful fibres from the comfort of your spinning chair.
All in all, a lovely trip: great locations, intriguing conversations, wonderful friendships. Thank you to my wonderful friends.
