Connecticut

Ann and Vern, Bob's sister and brother-in-law, have a cabin near Sharon, Connecticut in the northwest corner of the state, very close to both New York and Massachusetts. They live on Gavel Cabin Rd. and they own Gavel Cabin. It is about 4 miles outside of Sharon, a quintisential New England town. Every day we went on an excursion. The top two photos are from a protected natural area called Pond Mountain. We walked down next to a huge escarpment and then circumnavigated the lake. Ann, who is a master gardener, identified many of the plants we walked past.

We also went off to a Massachusetts State Park which consisted of a cobble, irregularly shaped rocks thrust upwards during the early plate tectonics. This particular cobble is located along the meanders of the Housitonic River and is the home of over 50 different species of ferns. We walked around the cobble at its base and then went up to the lookout over the Housitonic Valley. The weather was again beautiful. We then went down to walk around the house of the original owner of this property, the oldest house in the Poconos.

Another day we went to see the Great Falls on the Housitonic. Like many falls, there is an electric power generating facility at its base. In total we spent about 10 days in Connecticut and New York City.

Bash Bish Falls & Copake Iron Works

Ann and Vern had tried to find Bash Bish Falls twice from the Massachusetts side. They had heard that it was easier from the New York side and Taconic State Park. We headed off to NY (Sharon CN is very close to both Massachusetts and NY). We found the falls and hiked in 3/4 of a mile to what was described as the most beautiful falls in Massachusetts. The walk was through the woods and it was a little cool.

The falls are beautiful. At the board next to the falls the park service has posted descriptions of about ten accidental falls (some fatal, some not) to deter people from swimming in the pool below the falls or climbing up the rocks next to the falls. There are big signs prohibiting swimming in the river.

Also in Taconic State Park is the Copake Iron Works. This area was heavily developed to produce iron in the mid-1800's. It had water, limestone, iron ore and wood to make charcoal. The furnace (above) is one of the only extant furnaces from this era. There were great descriptions of how the iron was produced. By the early 1920's almost all these iron works went out of business due to competition from Pennsylvania and Minnesota. The Copake Iron Works was famous for producing plows, railroad wheels and other tools, which it continued doing after it ceased to produce big slabs of iron. To entice workers, duplexes were built by the company. These houses still exist and have been converted into cabins. The owner's house is now the house of the park manager.

This is one of the few buildings remaining from the iron works. The furnace is located to the right of the photo, in the trees. There is also a company store and storage shed for dynamite. A small museum is located in the building.

White Mountains & Boston

Bob and I left Montreal early Monday morning on September 8 to avoid the commuter traffic. We traveled the back roads to the border crossing in Canaan VT where we were the only car and there was one border guard. He asked a few questions, swiped our passports and we were on our way. We decided to travel the Three Rivers Scenic Byway, a route along three rivers where logs were floated to mills and which passed through the White Mountains. We were going to drive the road to the top of Mt. Washington (known for the worst weather in the US and the highest wind gust ever recorded at ground level, 231 mph), but the $27 cost, the 39 degree weather at the top with 47 mph winds and 100' visibility deterred us. Instead, we continued on to the AMC cabin in Pinkham's Notch (Pinkham arrived on a sled pulled by a pig) and took two short hikes. The first was to a rock outcropping about 450' above the road and looking towards Mt. Washington (which is in the clouds) and up the valley (see above).

The second hike was to Glen Ellis Falls, a delightful short walk to these beautiful falls. The trail had been laid by the CCC. Afterwards we continued through the White Mountain National Forest towards NH 153, another scenic byway and stopped at Crystal Lake for our picnic lunch of Montreal bagels, chevre cheese and fruit. Our destination was Boston where my niece Catherine and her husband Arjun and son Miro live.

Arjun is doing a post-doc at MIT and Catherine is pursuing prerequisites for an MSW. Miro, who is 19 months old is a cutie. Catherine speaks only French to him and Arjun speaks English. He is very verbal and communicates in both languages. It's wonderful to see how the next generation is raising its children. After Miro went to bed, Catherine fixed a wonderful dinner and we all toddled off to bed.

The next morning Miro woke up at about 6:30 and we all ate breakfast and yacked until Arjun had to go to work at 8:15 and Catherine and Miro were headed off to a coop daycare play group for Catherine's first 3 hours without Miro. We headed off on the Mass Turnpike towards Sharon, Connecticut in what became a driving rain. As we took the back roads we traveled through small Massachusetts towns, passed an old Quaker Meeting House, saw Amherst and eventually stopped for lunch in Lanesborough, MA (where the Road Food book had recommended a restaurant that no longer exists). However, we stopped at a pub and had yummy belly clam sandwiches (Bob) and buffalo burger with sweet potatoes (me).

We arrived at Ann and Vern's cabin, Gavel Cabin, at around 4 in the afternoon. It's about 4 miles outside Sharon, CN on its own pond, surrounded by state forest, lovely gardens created by Ann and quiet.

Montreal

When we returned to Montreal, we visited the site of the 1967 World Fair, Man and His World, and the site of some of the Olympic venues on two islands in the middle of the St. Laurence River. The Biosphere, which was the US pavillion during the World Fair, is now the site of an environmental museum. The dome used to be covered by acrylic, but in 1976 a welder was repairing the frame and accidently caught the surface on fire. It all burned in 20 minutes. Now there is an environmental museum inside. This view shows the Montreal city skyline through the frame of the dome.
The dome with the museum inside. There were various very interesting exhibits. We saw a film on six screens (you sat on stools that could be turned) about endangered species. There was a hands-on, interactive exhibit about the St. Laurence River and the Great Lakes. There were wonderful photos of boreal forests. The top of the museum has examples of many of Buckminster Fuller's inventions (he's really a Renaissance man), including cars, a needle rowing boat, domes of various varieties, etc. In the center was an explanation of wind power (very interesting now that there will be a wind farm just outside the Cottage). The museum uses bogs to clean its waste water and has wind generators inside.
From the Biosphere we went to the Montreal Botanical Garden, a huge place with wonderful green houses, a Japanese and Chinese garden, an aquatic/bog garden, an insecterium, model gardens, etc. There were two wedding parties with photographers going around having their photos taken (lots of dragging little kids and bridesmaids with sore feet). This orchid was in the greenhouse.
The Botanical Garden is near the Olympic Stadium. The removable dome designed for the stadium did not take account of the snow loads in Montreal and has been replaced numerous times. Montreal was paying for this stadium through a tax until 2005. This shows the tower with the lines connected to the present roof (which is also removable).

We also walked around the ethnic section of Montreal (St. Laurent street), visiting a 50 year old bagel bakery where the bagels are cooked in a wood-fired oven.

Ile d'Orleans

After visiting Montmorency Falls, we crossed the St. Laurence to Ile d'Orleans, a large agricultural island in the middle of the river. Our first stop was a small vineyard which made wines from black currants, including a world class Creme de Cassis. We tasted and purchased both and then continued on, looking for a picnic spot. There were farm stands all along the road with fall produce (including raspberries, strawberries and blueberries). We purchased fruit and small tomatoes and went on to another vineyard where we ate lunch.
Lunch time! This view is north over the St. Laurence. The north side of the river is actually narrower than the south side and it is as wide as the Columbia. We discovered in the Biosphere a few days later that the St. Laurence tides at Quebec City are 5.9 meters and that a way further down stream the depth increases from 11 meters to almost 300 meters.
At the east end of the island there is a lookout tower. You can't drive to the end of the island which is all in forest. Most of the island is still laid out in narrow strips and there are truck crops, wheat and dairy farms scattered over the island. The population consisted of farmers, ship builders, pilots and captains.
We continued on around the island to this lovely church along the river. The tide was out and Bob and I went down to see if we could walk along the river's edge. It was muddy and slippery, so we returned. The rocks here were wonderfully colored and stratified. Three different tectonic plates collide here including the northern-most portion of the Appalachians. This church had a parsonage across the street which now houses an artisinal bakery where we had a drink. The parsonage even had two bowling alleys in the basement and an attached barn/garage where the priests would accept the tithes from the parishoners in the form of wheat. We returned over the bridge to Quebec City.

Montmorency Falls

The second day we drove out of Quebec City to Montmorency Falls, taller than Niagara Falls (272'). We rode an aerial tram to the top and then walked across the falls on a suspension bridge and down the other side. Here you see the stairway down the schist. The river below the falls is very shallow and flows about 500' into the St. Laurence.

Below the falls is a big eddy with all sorts of wood floating and slowly swirling in circles.
In addition to the main falls, there are several smaller falls on the side. There was a hydroelectric facility (below the bridge on the left) which is no longer operational. There is also a villa, Manoir Montmorency, built in 1781 and used as a private residence, a hospital, a monastery and now a hotel.

Quebec City

This year is the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City by Samuel de Champlain. Champlain landed at Cap Diamante (Diamond Cape), thinking that he had arrived at the source of riches in the new world. Mom arranged for a hotel in the old town right next to the Chateau Frontenaque. We drove out (about 3 1/2 hours) from Montreal, arriving about noon. That afternoon we walked all over the old town. Quebec is still the heart of New France; almost all the signs are only in French even though this is a big tourist destination this year. This view is of the pedestrian-only street in the port area (down below the stone cliffs which provided the military advantage). It is filled with shops and restaurants.

This is Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church, the oldest church in North America (1608). It is located on Place Royale, the birthplace of French civilization in North America. Inside, there is a replica of Le Breze, the ship on which the Marquis de Tracy arrived with his troops in 1665.

We walked on the Governor's Walkway along the St. Laurence River from the Chateau Frontenac to the Citadel, a fort built by the British after they captured Quebec City.

View of the St. Laurence River from the Governor's Walkway. By the end of the day, we were exhausted. We had visited the Museum of Culture with its rooftop garden, walked around the upper and lower city, etc. We had dinner at Portofino the first night and Le Cochon Dingue the second night. The weather was unbelievable, clear and warm with a light breeze. Quebec City definitely feels like a different country.

Beautiful Tunkhannock

Sunset from the tree house. With the west field cleared, we can see the sunsets beautifully. The tree house has a wonderful view over the property.

Darwin has turned into a complete farm dog. He lies around in the sun or the shade, rides in the jump seat of the pickup, plays frisbee and stick and goes with us to visit the Sands (and their five dogs). Markus went riding with a woman who is a dog groomer and breeder who washed, dried, and combed Darwin, along with cutting his toenails and cleaning his ears and teeth. He was the most spiffed up he's been in a long time.

While we're traveling in Quebec and New York, Darwin and Snoopy are in Tunkhannock. Markus reported that Darwin now rides in the front seat of the pick up and that he's doing fine.

Windows

One of the jobs Markus wanted to complete before we left was the installation of three windows and a door into the living room. The living room is extremely out of square, which requires significant cutting and fitting to install the braces necessary for the insulation and the windows. In this photo you can see the lack of insulation (the lathe is all that separates the living room from the elements) and Bob and Markus working on sistering and adding beams. The wall is so out of square that the boards were about 6" wide at the floor and 4" wide at the eave.

We had previously installed the two west-facing windows. The living room has settled around the chimney significantly, so the window frames looked completely off horizontal. Markus used a water level to make sure the windows were at the same height. This is a very clever way to make sure things are on the same level over long distances. We used excess PEX pipe, filled it with water, got rid of the air bubbles and then would hold the ends at each window to make sure they were level. We used the same process to make sure the south window (in the first picture) was level with the west windows. This is the first real work on the Cottage this summer (or so it felt), though we did do the basement and the subfloor. It will also allow Markus to have a slightly insulated living room in which to live during the fall and winter. The area covered by Tyvek is filled with insulation. I put the insulation in and Tyvek on while Bob and Markus did the skilled carpentry.

On the morning we left Markus and Bob installed the south window, though Markus has since had to take it out as it sticks too far into the living room.

Carriage House Doors

Bob bought steel hinges and hardware when he was down in Guatemala and brought it home. We then transported it to Tunkhannock. Bob's big job was to build the Carriage House doors (12' high). First we had to build the subfloor on the back of the Cottage to have a place to work. Then Bob had to build a perpendicular surface on which to mount the doors onto the Carriage House (not an insignificant job given that it is in no way square). Then Bob laid out the larch boards (from the tree cut on the property), which were warped and attached all sorts of braces and drilled lots of lag bolts. By the time he was done, these were heavy, strong doors. We loaded them into the pickup and drove them to the Carriage House where we set them up and attached ropes to the top so they wouldn't topple over on us. (see purple rope and belt above) The next problem was how to drive the hinges diagonally through the poles for 12". Markus figured out how to make a guide by measuring the two sides of the triangle on the post and then creating an identical triangle which was used as a guide for the drill (which had a huge extension bit). Lastly, we had to lower the hinges onto the bolt. Here you can see the door in approximately the right position. That was a three-person job; one person held the door on a pry bar and moved it up and down gently, someone else steadied it vertically and the third person tried to drop the hinges on to the bolts.

Here is the finished first door on its hinges. You can see all the bracing. The door opens and closes smoothly and without a lot of physical effort.

One door hung, with the second awaiting hanging. After the doors were hung, Bob installed the latch, Markus installed a ring so the latch can be lifted from the inside, Bob installed an extra piece of wood on the inside center of the left door to close over the right door and installed a piece of wood on the top of the Carriage House door frame. The Carriage House is now the most completed building on the property, though we also spent time preparing for the pouring of a concrete slab for the Garn wood furnace.

That required the installation of forms outside the Carriage House so as to anchor the poles into something (at present there is nothing attaching the Carriage House to the ground). Gale and Sabrina Saxton did the initial installation and then I created forms that fit against the rock surfaces (a series of approximations which required the use of a saber saw) so that the concrete doesn't ooze out the bottom). I also painted the surface of the poles that will be in the concrete with roofing tar and created steel sleeves for the same poles with cut outs for all the attachments to the forms.