photography | Uncommon Heather

Bonus points to anyone who can identify the song lyrics in the title.

It’s been over a week since we had our family camping trip in Vermont, but I wanted to document the experience for myself and all my fans. (Hi Suzanne, Terri and Janet!)

This post is going to be mostly pictures, because I took approximately 100 of them during the weekend.

It was a humid and sunny Friday night when Kris and I set out on our journey northward.

I applied several filters to this image but was unable to make myself not look like a ghostly apparition.

We drove for many hours and had deep conversation about the meaning of life, or at least the meanings of the current things that are happening in our lives. We stopped at the Vermont Country Deli for dinner. It’s right off exit 2. We’re big fans.

After a few more hours, we arrived at beautiful Lake Champlain.

It was dark by the time we got to the campground, but we were able to get our tents set up quickly and then proceeded over to where the rest of our family had already gotten a fire going. We hung out for a bit but were soon sleepy and required some slumber.

Immediately upon lying down on the rocky ground, I regretted not bringing the foam mats that I usually have. Epic fail.

The next day dawned sunny and bright:

Some family members immediately embarked on a kayak trip to the little island pictured above. It’s two miles away. TWO MILES.

And they got caught in a thunderstorm. Everyone survived, don’t worry.

Meanwhile, back at the campsite:

It had been 10 days since the biopsy, so it was time to remove my stitches. Kris volunteered to play doctor. I gazed out over the lake and tried not to visualize what was going on. Of course it was over in an instant, and it did not hurt at all, even though I screamed dramatically.

Kris finally gets revenge on his annoying big sister.

One of our family’s obsessions is doing puzzles. Ok, it’s mostly John and I who are obsessed, with Nick playing a supportive role, and Kris preferring to gaze out across the lake while holding a dish.

IMG_4343-0 — Ignoring the gorgeous weather and scenery to focus on the puzzle.

Despite failing to actually get to the Rally for Ally this year, John and I were granted lovely green shirts and we sported them proudly.

I spent part of one afternoon relaxing and doing some much-needed sketching. Oh, and there's my shy feet! — I spent part of one afternoon relaxing and doing some much-needed sketching. Oh, and there’s my shy feet!

Later, I relaxed in the hammock. Shy feet again.

I built a little cairn. I like making them as precarious as possible.

I found some interesting driftwood as we waited for sunset.

We watched the sunset by the ferry crossing. Hey New York!

The final night it was down to me, Kris and Mom. After watching the sunset, we headed back to the campsite to make s’mores and hang out. As we sat there talking, I noticed a bright orange blaze in the sky. My first thought was that it was a fire, but it’s location didn’t make sense. Suddenly we realized it was the moon! It was peeking over the horizon like a ball of fire. I desperately tried to capture the beauty of it with my phone camera, but, if you’ve ever tried taking a picture of the moon, you know how that goes.

I begged my phone to take a decent picture of the moon but this was the best it could do.

We took turns looking at it through the binoculars. The mountain that was between us and the moon has wind turbines across the ridge. Through the binoculars you could see the turbines silhouetted against the moon. It was SO cool.

That night it was so windy that I kept waking up thinking it was torrential downpour. When I woke up in the morning I could hear the waves crashing against the shore. We packed up our stuff and had breakfast with Mom before setting out on our journey home.

The weekend away was definitely a nice break. I didn’t “unplug” as I had intended to, mostly because I was using my phone to take pictures the whole time. Even so, it was relaxing to be in the wilderness…

Ok, so it wasn’t really THAT wild, since we drove right up to the site, but once you get down to the lake, it’s very wild and unruly. And did I mention gorgeous?

Did you figure out the song lyrics?

Rusted Root, Back to the Earth.

It always feels good to come home. Mom and I bade farewell to Colorado yesterday. We left the resort at 6:30 in the morning and drove to the Denver airport. The sun was in my eyes the whole way and I was irritable but I managed to get us there in one piece.

We were able to board early enough to get a window seat this time (well, I got the window). What kind of a jerk makes their mother sit in the middle seat? Me.

A midwestern state, don’t ask which one.

We took off into a cloudless sky. I was able to take a lot of cool pictures and enjoy the scenery for a long time. The flight passed without incident. Once again, they warned us that there would be turbulence but there was none. When we got to Hartford, Dave was waiting for us. He looked especially handsome.

Mom and I parted ways, but I will get to see her again by the end of the week since we are camping together. After we got home; Dave, Dad and I went to dinner at our local favorite, Señor Panchos. I regaled them with tales of exploring Colorado and of my friends from the NFED. Both of them were tired from refinishing floors earlier in the day so they probably wished I would just be quiet.

Today was back to the grind. I was thrilled to learn that my co-worker who had given her two weeks’ notice the week before I went to Colorado had decided she wouldn’t leave after all. I had been trying not to think of it during my vacation but was rather stressed at the idea of having to take on more work or train someone new. So that was a relief.

It was a bit hard to concentrate at work today, because my head was full of mountains and clouds and thoughts of my friends and all the conversations we had last week. Of course I am glad to be home with my man and my feline children, but a part of me is sad that I won’t see most of those people for another year or more.

I’m thinking I might have to take at least one road trip to visit those who are within a few hours drive. But for now I will enjoy being home. Perhaps my next project will be to redo my gardens.