Saturday Snapshot - Lake Champlain and Sights From the Bike Lane

This past week, SB and I took a little camping and biking vacation. A couple hours north of us, we found a camp site along Lake Champlain just outside of the center of  Burlington, Vermont. The city has extensive bike trails and maps for bicycle tours in the area.  We rode along the lake and through a chain of lovely city parks that were full of interesting sculpture and structures.

This beautiful wooden sculpture is about twenty feet tall and looks out over a park right in the center of the city. From the park, there are stunning views of the lake and the Adirondack Mountains across the water in New York State.

Further south on the bike trail, there is a wayside green space with a stone henge constructed that allows one to clock the Earth's astronomical movements through the solar year. Very cool.

It's in a quiet area and makes you feel really reverent. When we came upon the site, there was an elderly woman just completing her morning Tai Chi meditation and movement. She smiled and quietly gathered her bag and walked on down the path.

We parked our bikes and walked to the center of the henge to note the different positions of astronomical events within the Earth's year.

Coming back through the city on one of the bike lanes, I saw this house and fell in love with all its gardens and window boxes ... so pretty! The entire yard is extensively planted front, sides, and back! One evening when we were driving back to our campground from the city, we passed the house and the man who lives in it. He was out deadheading the flowers. What a labor of love, huh?

Back on the bike path, we found a house of a different sort ... this incredibly cool treehouse! I could just imagine playing pirates or Robinson Crusoe in and around this beauty! It is called the Forever Young Treehouse.

Late one afternoon, we drove away from the lake and passed out into the dairy farmland that surrounds Burlington. I made SB pull over to take pictures of the meadows and fields and the views. When I took this field vista, I felt something plop on my foot. I looked down and there was a little spangled frog that was all bright green and golden designs. He was hopping around, hunting for the crickets that were chirruping in the grasses.

Later, we came upon a herd of young heifers hanging out in the shade and munching the sunny perimeter. They all turned to stare at me like I was some crazy fool ...

The air was hazy with heat and humidity. We headed back to the campground so we could cool off with some shade and cold beers and cheese and crackers ... but not before I snapped a mountain vista of Camel's Hump from the car, as we whizzed along Rt 89.

Ahhh ... vacation. Dirty feet, sweaty clothes, damp sleeping bags, woodsy camp fires, simple food, and beautiful views. Wouldn't trade it for the world, but I'm glad to be back in my comfy bed and hot shower! Until next summer ... hope your Labor Day weekend is shaping up to be a good one!

My Saturday Snapshot joins others at Melinda Ott's website, West Metro Mommy Reads ... click on the link to see what others are sharing this weekend ... see you next Saturday!