Travels And Exploration

Porcupine damage on tree at the end of winter.

Misty sunset over the Barkhamstead Reservoir in Connecticut.

Double rainbow over the church at sunset in Torrington, CT.

Olde Town Arvada next to Denver is a nice upscale area to eat and shop. All over are historical displays explaining things. Park and walk around.

Denver Zoo is a nice place to spend a couple of hours on a sunny day. Spacey and nice exhibits, lots of spots for food and water, little kids attractions. A lot of stations to touch and explain things in depths by workers. It is in a big park also hosting the Natural History and Science museum.

Vail Mountain winter skiing. Amazing groomed wide and long runs, fun small glazes for kids, giant open bowl to drop in and ski wherever. The lines mid week were almost non-existent. End of the day and weekend quite a few people with drinks/high and without good judgement, just as at most of the ski resorts.

Skiing at Okemo, VT on a sunny day. The lift lines were bearable, especially on the non express and open quads. No gondolas, but quite varied runs. In this weird season it’s February and still some glades were closed due to lack of enough snow. At least the mountain looked like a winter wonderland. Ice sparkling on one side of the mountain in the sunshine, snow covered pines on the other.

Old railway turntable, buildings and cars in Downtown Toronto RoundHouse Park. Informative signs and a lot of different structures in a relatively small place. Part museum and the Roundhouse is repurposed to be an entertainment area with game consoles and restaurants.

Grey and warm December walk highlights from Downtown Toronto. Even if it’s cloudy, plenty of good museums, restaurants are open and the public transport is quite easy.

Perfect Halloween morning, fall colors and mist dispersing from the Farmington River near Riverton, CT.

Enders State Forest and Falls in West Granby, CT.

Connecticut Old State House in Hartford, CT. Is a relative small, but very varied museum. It has the old senate and house of common rooms from the 1800s, but also has an interactive basement level with Connecticut history and life style over the times. We loved the local inventions and famous companies, like Colt revolvers and Allan keys. The two headed cow and two headed pig is really something in the old style Museum of Curiosities on the second floor.

Animation and characters in Cheshire, CT for the kids or kids in spirit. There is a business flagpole becoming a roadside landmark symbol and a great little animation museum worth a visit, even the grounds and parking lot is fun to check out. There is also a converted rail trail between the two site to let the kids run/bike around.

Ice formations on Sandy Brook in Colebrook, CT.

Old Town San Juan is a delight with the narrow cobblestone streets lined with colorful houses, the whole town is surrounded with a wall and fortifications. Amazing sea views, artisan ice cream, plenty of bars with local rums, nice museums and restaurants. It can be tricky to get a ride in on the weekends, but it worth a try.

Sundown ski area in New Hartford, Connecticut. A relative small ski area, with two ski lifts going to the top, and several runs coming down forking out in between and on both sides, then merging all back at the bottom. Difficulty is from double diamond to greens. Complete different mountain area for the beginner carpet and lifts. The view is very nice from the top towards the lake.

New Marlboro preserve snowshoeing in New Marlborough, MA. 1.4 miles loop with two different rivers in the forest. No big rocks on the trail, it was great for snowshoeing