Day 92 – Good Day Sunshine.
What a gorgeous day! We woke up to clear blue skies & bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, 50 degrees – the Lake was like glass & we could clearly see the mountains in the Adirondacks. It’s the beginning of Week Fourteen, our final week on this trip – nice start.
We drove up to Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge, lazy day with people fishing on various lakes & streams. Went kayaking on the Missisquoi River, so pretty out. We saw the usual suspects of geese & ducks, plus an osprey and a red fox. There was a breeze which kept the bugs to a minimum.
We took various out-of-the-way, small roads back to the campground, which is the best way to see the scenery, stumbling upon some really old farmhouses on the Champlain Islands. They were nicely maintained and dated late 1700’s to mid 1800’s (but were private homes so we didn’t take pictures). And we drove a beautiful area in the town of Grand Isle (one of many) taking a small road to the Eastern side on Lake Champlain & overlooking the Vermont mainland with layers of the Green Mountains as a backdrop. Rolling hills with farms and cows dotting the hills, then beautiful homes set back from the lake. It’s like paradise here.
We drove to Grand Island State Park to check out the campground. There are several State Parks on the Islands but this is the only one that is not day use only & allows overnight stays. The Park had just opened and was almost empty. It was dry camping only, no hook-ups, and many sites were not level. But there were some sites that were nice and the Park was quiet & well maintained.
We passed by an old log cabin with a sign out front indicating it was an historic building. We turned around and went back to explore. The Hyde Cabin, the oldest building on the Islands, and they say that it may be the oldest log cabin in the U.S. Next to it was a restored one-room schoolhouse.
Back to the campsite, 71 degrees, the Lake still calm. More people have arrived & the campers all are well spaced around the grounds. Every morning and every night either JC or Emma go by on a bicycle, checking things out. There are possibly more French Canadian people from Quebec here than people from the United States. JC stops when he sees someone and they have conversations in French. Couples are taking walks on the pathways; some ride their bikes by. Idyllic. Another observation, we are surrounded by French Canadians. None are fat. The ones we’ve seen are extremely active, at least 2 elderly gentlemen doing heavy physical labor without difficulty. They walk rather then drive, they ride bicycles, they are very active. Some do smoke, though and there’s some coughing going on. But it also stands out that they seem to have a certain zest for life, a happy, healthy spark & glow about them. We’re thinking we should take one of our future trips in Canada, the province of Quebec, and see if we can find out what their secrets are.