New England in the Fall? Really?

With all of yesterday's challenges and surprises behind us, we began the day with great hope, well-rested cheerfulness, and optimism for a great day ahead.
We spent Friday night at the Stratton Mountain Inn and I was anxious to hear that the "stuck in the snow" tour bus had finally returned safely to the hotel. As it happened they were stuck at the very top of the mountain we were attempting to cross and waited there for 2 hours before the snowplows came to plow them out. So we were very happy that Randy had turned us around with is 25-point turn so we didn't have to spend two hours stuck in the snow, especially with no heat in the coach!
Well Emily's group returned safely about 7:00 PM and were enjoying dinner and I was keeping everyone informed about Randy's trip to Amsterdam and the possibility of having heated transportation for the next leg of the tour. He returned at about 9:00PM with the best news of the day. When asked if we had heat in the bus, he said "We could have a bar-b-que in there!"
Turns out the heat was fixed so good that we couldn't adjust it or even turn it off! It got so hot in the bus on our way to Williamstown, MA that women were taking off their sweaters, and some of the men were stripping down to their t-shirts! They took it in good humor though, because no one wanted to give Randy any grief since he had ridden 200 miles in the Nor-Easter to get the heat fixed. Finally, just before I fainted of heat stroke I asked Randy to stop at
a pumpkin farm to let the people off to take pictures, (really it was so they could cool off).
So everyone got off and the farmer told Randy to pull further ahead onto the grass where the ground was "hard".
I decided it would be nice to buy 50 McIntosh apples and when everyone was back on the bus I was passing them around as Randy began to pull onto the roadway. After spinning the wheels a few times back and forth in the grass and getting no traction, we determined that everyone should get back off the bus and surely it would drive right out of what was now a ditch under the front and back passenger-side tires. So now everyone is standing around on the hill, in the drizzle, eating apples, taking pictures, and discussing what Randy should do. The farmer brought his tractor around and hooked it up and as he began to pull the bus, the front bumper came off. So Randy, the farmer, and 5 passenger men figured out how to put the bumber back on and before we knew it there were 3 or 4 local guys pulling up in pick-up trucks who proceeded to pow-wow about what to do, then set about collecting tools, and gravel and boards and the passengers, as far as I could tell, thoroughly enjoyed the show. So between the four pick-up truck guys, and the gravel, the tools, the boards, the farmer, and the tractor, (this time at the back bumper) the bus finally came out of the mud.
We re-boarded the bus and congratulated Randy and applauded the pick-up guys and the farmer and continued on our way.
I am officially renaming this tour "New England in the Mud!"

New England in the Fall?????

I am on a tour called "New England In the Fall". The tour starts with a guided city tour of New York after which we head up the NY State Thruway until we get to Albany where we take a right turn and head into Vermont where our hotel is situated in the beautiful Green Mountains. On the NY State Thruway we got a taste of what was to come as far as beautiful and colorful fall foliage. So much for expectations. At about 3/4 of the way to Albany the heater on the bus malfunctioned which wouldn't have been so bad except that along with the heat, went the windshield defroster. The rain was pretty intense so I spent the last 2 hours of the trip to Stratton Mountain Inn standing in the front of the bus wiping the windshield with paper towels so our driver, Randy could see where he was going in the dark and the wind and the rain. We made it to the hotel and everyone was happy about that and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Bentley's restaurant at the hotel. We thought we had gone thru the worst of the storm.
This morning our plan was to leave right after breakfast to head to the Vermont Country Store, then continue on to Woodstock, Quechee Gorge, Hogback Mountain and return to the hotel tonight. So breakfast went well. And we got to the Vermont Country Store with little trouble, although the wind and the rain was gradually turning to wind and sleet and eventually wind and snow. At the Vermont Country Store we bought a squeegee on a telescoping handle so that I could keep the windshield clear from my seat by reaching over Randy's head and swiping the
condensation off the windshield. So as we continued in the snow/sleet/rain/wind toward
Woodstock a few cars traveling in the opposite direction were beeping and flashing their
lights at us. Finally, a car signaled Randy to stop and told us that there was at least six
inches of snow accumulated on the mountain ahead of us and in fact another tour bus was stuck
in the mess. We decided the smart thing to do was to turn around and head back for the hotel,
and everyone on the bus was in agreement with the decision. So Randy made a 25 point turn
around in a 45 foot bus to head back down the mountain. Him driving, me squeegeeing and 46
passengers assuring us that they were not nervous and not freezing.
When we got back to the hotel, I quickly discovered that the restaurant would not open until dinner time, so how to provide lunch for 46 people became my next issue. There is a small sandwich restaurant in the town about 15 minute's walk from the hotel but by now the wind/ rain/sleet/snow was at it's most intense so I diplomatically convinced the hotel desk person
that he needed to shuttle my group to town or have a complete mutiny if 46 hungry, cold people
in his lobby. So shuttle he did, 15 at a time to the sandwich shop and back. The whole
process took about 2-3 hours. So everyone got fed and warm and settled in to enjoy the
windy/rainy/sleety/snowy view through the huge wall of windows of the hotel's restaurant. Later in the afternoon, Randy left on a hundred mile ride to Amsterdam, NY to get the heat and the defroster fixed and we found out that the bus that was stuck in the snow was there for two hours until a snowplow came and released them from their windy/rainy/ sleety/snowy hell.
So I am officially renaming this tour "New England in the Winter"

Tales of Whale Tails

Today was the highlight of our "New England Fall Colors and Whale Watching Tour". The tour has provided some wonderful sights and experiences including a city tour of Boston, a cruise on Lake Champlain in Vermont, and some beautiful fall foliage scenery through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. We've had a mixed bag of weather to deal with including wind, rain, and fog, temperatures ranging from the 50's to the 70's.

But today all the best forces of nature converged on Cape Cod when the weather and the whales put on a spectacular show for us! We cruised from Barnstable Harbor on the "Hyannis Whale Watcher" in bright sunshine under perfect blue skies to about 35 miles out into the ocean to "Stellwagen Bank", a Marine Sanctuary which is evidently the ultimate "Food Court" for whales before they head to their winter in the Caribbean. What a life!!

We began the ride with some skepticism, doubting that we would actually see whales and expecting the day to be not much more than a pleasant day on the water. Boy, were we wrong! We saw whales, whales, and more whales. They surfaced and dove and waved their fins at us. They flapped their tails for us. The ship's crew was wonderful at helping us to spot the clues and where to look to see the always brief sightings, whales don't pose for you, you have to be looking in the right place at the right time, and to take a picture of them is even more of a challenge. But see them, we did. And we even got some pictures.

At some points during our whale-sitings it actually felt like the creatures were playing with us as they would dive on one side of the boat and come up on the other. It seemed like they must have enjoyed the silly sight of a hundred people running from one side of the boat to the other just to try to capture their antics! I truly wondered who was watching whom.

Well it really doesn't matter and I hope the whales had as memorable an experience as the people did!