Vermont - postcard state

All their barns are picturesque and town streets are decorated with gorgeous flowering arrangements.

Click & Clack & other famous Boston sites

Boston's newest contemporary art museum
JFK Library & Museum
A "Car-Talk" sighting in Harvard Square!

Famous Houses

At Middlebury, Vt. we encountered the birch-tree artist again, whose constructions we've seen in CA. This time, ever more the witch house builder.

Concord, Mass.: Little women grow up to be great women. Hey, Louisa May.

Thoreau's cabin at Walden pond has been recreated near the parking lot; the actual location in the woods, up a gentle hill is indicated by stones. People swim and canoe in Walden, easy to walk-around 2-mile through the woods.

Goats

Goat cheese making in Vermont at Trevin Farm

NYC & Boston

In NYC we visited the New Contemporary Art Museum on Bowery St. We made our own art piece in the elevator reflections.

We're in Boston today. Came up on Amtrak and are staying next to Fenway Park off the Green Line. We walked in very hot, humid weather along the Freedom Trail, even across the Charles Ri. to the USS Constitution (many of the tourists were no longer with us at that point). No photos -- camera battery lost its juice.

New York, New York

We're staying near Union Square, where they had a global warming event with melting ice. We've been walking around, just enjoying the sights of lower Manhattan.

Point Reyes with Andy and Laura

Next, we had a reunion with Andy, Laura, Amelia (2), and Penny the dog, camping together near Point Reyes. We met a pair of llamas on our hike. On Thursday, my favorite store, Spirit Matters, in Inverness was open.

UC Davis & Sierra Club Lodge

Our favorite part of the tour of UC Davis was their community garden of 300 plots. Among them someone was growing hops for beer. In the afternoon we drove on to the Sierra Club's lodge, Clair Tappan, near Donner Pass on Highway 80, where we hiked and swam, and Lily took rock-climbing lessons.

Summer Vacation 2009

Day 1: LA to Sacramento.

Highlights: concord grapes that were seedless and stopping for lunch at the Tule Elk Preserve. The Youth Hostel in downtown Sacramento was a Victorian surprise.