Where I've Been

Well. At least this time I have an excuse to explain my absence. Dave and I went to Vermont for a week to visit with his family (Let's not consider that we came home last Saturday.) and I couldn't really blog from there. The other problem is that I have so much to blog about and it's been so long that now it's become overwhelming. I can't even blame the scientific paper I'm writing because I spent last week doing actual science instead of writing, and there are always breaks in the science (and in the writing, to be fair, but blogging is also writing). So, let's have a quick recap of the Vermont trip, and then I'll do separate posts about my recent tea swap package and my finished Estes Vest.
Dave and I spent a week in Burlington and environs, relaxing and doing some touristy things like leaf-peeping. I'd been there before but it was nice to go back. It's really a lovely area and we timed things perfectly for maximal foliage viewing.
One of the things we did was hike up Mt. Mansfield, which is the highest peak in Vermont. You can also drive up there on a really sketchy toll road, which we did on Friday when my parents joined us for the day (from western PA - we are a family that travels). There are some nice views from the top, and I have a lot more on my Flickr page (here), but here is a good one looking east across the rest of the Green Mountains:
It was significantly colder when we drove up on Friday than when we hiked up on Tuesday - there was frost on the trees! My dad took this photo of Dave, my mother, and I, which I love because we don't look like we should be in the same place. I'm all bundled up and my mother is wearing sandals - in her defense she didn't know we'd be walking around up there, or that it would be 34F! And we're all wearing orange, which was honestly a coincidence...
Dave and I also went to Shelburne Farms, where we saw lovely trees, sheep, and Cow Twister, which was one of the highlights of the trip:
We also spent a day in Montreal visiting Anne-Marie. We saw many old buildings, the Modern Art Museum, and possibly the best sign ever:Apparently the buildings attack! We also spoke grammatically awful French to each other (but not to the locals) and ate spectacular croissants. It was good to see Anne-Marie - I've been in withdrawl since she left Seattle in September...

We also walked around Burlington, went canoeing, went sailing, and ate a lot of yummy food. And drank a lot of delicious apple cider. And probably other things that I'm not thinking of right now. All in all we had a lovely time, and it was tough to come back and head to work, although at least the Seattle weather has been lovely so we've been easing back in!