3rd Stop - New York

New York ~ not the Big Apple, but the North Fork of Long Island.

This was another trip inspired by family. Last Sunday I headed to Long Island for a baby shower for Tony and Sarah. They had the shower at Rafael Vineyard & Winery in Peconic, NY. Tony is their winemaker. The 2 expectant grandmothers weren't able to attend so I had fun capturing the party in photos for them. The baby's nickname is Primo so the wine glasses were special party favors.

After the party we spent some time with Sarah's family at their Winemaker Studio in Peconic.

I got to spend time with Phil which is always fun. He lives and works on the North Fork flipping houses. I got to see a house that is almost ready to go on the market after all of his hard work and another house that will be his next project. It fits the description of fixer-upper. I hope I get to see it again after he has worked his magic.

On Monday I woke up to the sound of rain on the roof. That shifted my plans to go exploring with my camera and I enjoyed the hot tub overlooking the beach instead. When the rain let up I had a nice walk on the beach in front of the house where Phil is living in Mattituck.

That afternoon Phil took some time off from his work and we went to the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead. I really enjoyed their butterfly exhibit - one of the best I've visited. Lots of photo opportunities.

Raining again the next morning when I took the ferry back across the Sound to New London.

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2nd stop - New Hampshire

This post is over due, but I am still getting used to this adventure and deciding how to best chronicle my visits to the states.

Last week I made a day trip to Alton, New Hampshire. The Wells family has a little house on Lake Winnipesaukee and it was my sister-in-law Susie’s week at the lake. Jason was there too, along with her 3 dogs. Cousin Wendy and her husband Steve came down from Vermont to spend some time there too.

The weather was windy and there were white caps on the lake. That meant no swimming or boating for any of us on the day that I was there.

It was a nice day to go out with our cameras so the ladies went for a lovely walk in the woods. Wendy and Susie so it was fun to stroll and see what caught our attention.

When the boys were little they loved going up to play around the frog pond. It's man made and hasn't been cleaned out in years!

There were lots of interesting looking mushrooms.

Wendy and I traded cameras lenses so I could try her 55-300mm lens. I ordered one for myself as soon as I got home - love it.

Being in Alton brings back memories of when the boys were young and there would be family gatherings at the lake house. Good times and crazy times. Happy times and some strange memories. There used to always be a line up of colorful windsocks blowing in the breeze ~ on this visit there was only one. The property is for sale and having just gone through the process of selling a family home I know it’s not easy and I know not everyone is going to be in agreement. Change is hard... change is good.

It is a beautiful and peaceful place ~ but I bet I will find more beautiful and peaceful places in my travels. Time to make new memories.

 

CLICK HERE to see the rest of the photos posted on Flickr.

Meet MUSAP

This is MUSAP. 

This little butterfly will be traveling around the USA in my camera bag. Hopefully in the next 10 years there will be a photo of MUSAP in every state. Alas when I visited Rhode Island MUSAP hid in the camera bag. But there isn't any rule that says I can't visit a state for photo adventures more than once!