My childhood memories of trips to Connecticut involve crowded rooms full of aunts and uncles who had very firm opinions on many topics of no interest to a small child; now all the aunts and uncles are gone so our visit to Connecticut was crowded with dogs and trails and waterfalls and flowers.
And a kayak. Yes: my brother succeeded in persuading me and my husband to try out his two-person inflatable kayak, which he promised we novices would not be able to flip. And he was right--we paddled around a flat, calm lake without incident, except for my difficulty in getting in and out of the kayak.
We hiked to waterfalls and took the dogs for a splash in a creek, ate fabulous food (much of it cooked by my talented brother) and stood in the rain eating ice cream at a dairy--but not before visiting the Pinchot sycamore, where we were dwarfed by its nearly 30-foot circumference.
And then this morning we left Connecticut and drove to Longwood Gardens, south of Philadelphia. I promised myself that this time I wouldn't take a zillion photos, but then I saw a hummingbird and started clicking away.
Tomorrow we get up early and make the long drive home, taking sore joints and piles of sweat-soaked laundry. And pictures, of course, and memories. This vacation has passed too quickly but I doubt that I'll soon forget the many varieties of beauty we experienced.
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The Pinchot Sycamore, in the rain
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Bash Bish Falls
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Cloud hugging the mountain
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Indian pipes
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Striped wintergreen
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Looking toward Hartford from the top of Case Mountain
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Mississippi River Trillium
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Cup plant
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Shrimp plant
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The orchid room was amazing
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Orchids that look like autumn leaves
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Lollipop tree
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Artichokes in Pennsylvania? Yes!
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