Welcome to Connecticut!

Denisa has been admiring the bright red cone flowers right outside our motor home window at our Boondockers Welcome site in New York. Our gracious host knew that, so she cut a whole bouquet to send with us when we left. How blessed we have been during our trip to meet such wonderful people in New York!

It was raining when we left, so we crossed the toll bridge for the last time in the rain. While crossing in the pickup, the toll was $1.55, but the motor-home-towing-a-pickup is a hefty $11.40. We're learning about the use of EZpass and tolls on this trip in the northeast.

It was still raining when we crossed the state line into another new state for the motor home. Welcome to Connecticut, where Ned Lamont is Governor.

It rained for most of the day, but we got set up in our new campground at Lake Compounce on the western side of this little state. That's when we started hearing it. A strange burbling sound that seemed to be coming from the rear ceiling of the motor home. It reminded Denisa of the sound a baby raccoon makes. Sure enough, when we googled that sound, it was similar. We looked in the vents, and we listened for clues. We were hoping that we hadn't picked up an unwanted animal guest that was now living in the ceiling of our home. Mark decided to check outside, and it seemed even louder out there. He traced the sound upwards, and climbed the ladder to the wet roof of the motor home.

He was lucky enough to spot it before it disappeared into the crevice under the roof air-conditioner. "It" was a frog that was enjoying the rain, and his "song" was amplified through the air-conditioner ducts throughout the motor home. We have no idea how he could have gotten onto our 12.5-foot-tall roof, but we're glad that the mystery sound was solved! We're also glad that he is no longer hitch-hiking with us.

The real reason that we made this stop in western Connecticut was to visit a friend that we met in South Texas. Herman winters in the same park that we do, and we have enjoyed playing pickleball with him for many years. Today we were heading to his house in Connecticut to be introduced to another of his hobbies--collecting antique tractors.

He invited us for breakfast, which started with this bowl. This was a new dish for us--gooseberries with cream, and just a touch of sweetener. They were delicious!

Herman showed us his gooseberry bush, and we got to eat them straight from the garden too. We found that one has to be fearless to pick these sweet berries, as the thorns are sharp and wicked.

Our breakfast also included an omelet, and a slice of Greek pizza. We were well-fueled for the day! We were ready for a bike ride on one of Herman's favorite trails--the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

We started in the town of Amenia, New York, and rode several miles through the forest and across wooden bridges. We were blessed with beautiful weather for our bike ride!

Our first stop was the town of Wassaic. We soon found that this was the home to the first Borden milk factory. We've heard of Borden milk all our lives, but today we learned that Gail Borden invented the process of canning milk in 1861. Here they canned the milk that was supplied to the Union soldiers during the Civil War. It was labeled as "Eagle Brand Condensed Milk," the name that is still used today. A portion of the original milk factory has been preserved, but it wasn't open today.

We enjoyed our ride around town, including this old church with a very creative shingle pattern.

We're not sure why there was a cloth tent with a matching "roof" design in the church yard. We're doubly not sure why there was a bed inside the tent.

Our favorite house in town was this gem that looked like a beautiful old doll house. It had so much detail in trim and paint colors that we could admire it for a long time.

Our bike trail took us right beside the train track, and it was interesting when the local passenger train went by. We had a lot of questions about where this train was headed and how much it cost to ride.

The train was still there when we rode our bikes to the next station. So Herman struck up a conversation with one of the train employees. She has been working on this train for almost 30 years, and she was a wealth of information about the train schedule and who usually rides the train. Herman is great at finding the answers to all our questions!

He also pointed out details of the landscape as he escorted us on a driving tour. These are the Taconic Mountains that rise above the corn fields.

He also took us to Copake Iron Works, a state historical site. They have built a roof over the iron furnace that was built here in 1845. It was used to make iron until they couldn't compete with high-capacity operations elsewhere. But much of the old ironworks is still intact, and fun for visitors to see.

The original walls of that iron furnace came from stones quarried nearby. An old stone quarry makes a perfect swimming pool with its solid rock bottom and sides. We drove by the old quarry with its crystal clear water that is now part of a state park.

Even though we have spent much of the morning across the line in New York, our next stop is in western Connecticut at Kent Falls State Park. The state would have normally charged us $15 to park here, but since we have a Connecticut citizen with us we got to enjoy it for free. The trail leading to the falls went through an old covered bridge.

We found a list of the most beautiful places in each state, and Connecticut's was Kent Falls. When we were standing in front of the falls they were nice, but is this it?

Herman pointed out that there was more. He showed us a side trail that led us up steps that were carved into the landscape. From a higher vantage point we saw more of Kent Falls.

Then we saw another set of steps that took us up and up even higher. From this new height we could see more of Kent Falls.

After ascending another long set of stairs, we finally got to the very top of Kent Falls. We learned that the falls is 250 feet tall, but you can only see in stages. 

If you look carefully in the picture above, you can see that Mark managed to climb all the way to the top of the falls. Denisa zoomed in for the picture below. Now Kent Falls is really the most handsome place in the state.

We feel like we had a great guided tour of the area! Herman took us to some of his favorite places, including this lake close to his house.

The most photographed church in New England is in Litchfield, and that white steeple sure made a pretty picture against the blue Connecticut sky. It's even prettier when those trees change to shades of autumn.

Back at Herman's house, we learned about more of his hobbies. He has a flight simulator, programmed with different missions to complete. Mark is learning how to land his plane on the island outside of Sitka, Alaska. We have no pictures of Denisa flying because she always crashed her plane.

You might notice from the picture above that Mark's hair is longer than usual. It is driving him crazy, so when Herman offered to give him a hair cut, Mark was glad to say "yes." We told Herman that he was certainly a full-service welcoming committee. He fed us, he showed us some of the most beautiful spots in his area, he taught us to fly, and he even gave Mark a hair cut. What a welcome to the state of Connecticut!