Here at Hangman Hill

Our next adventure was the “canopy tour” at Bretton Woods in NH. This involves about 9 zip-lines in the tree tops above the ski slopes with views of Mount Washington. We started with some basic instruction and a safety briefing, then we headed up to the top of the mountain on a chair lift. The next three hours were a high-flying adventure as we gradually slid our way back to the bottom of mountain. It was great fun and we'd highly recommend it to anyone who is ever in the area.

We have been enjoy fantastic summer weather this week and were thrilled with the offer from our friend Gene to go sailing.  We joined Gene at “Shenny” yacht club in early afternoon under cloudless skies.

With snacks, sunscreen and hats we set sail into Long Island Sound  We sailed to the eastern end of Fisher’s Island, and past North and South Dumplings. The wind was steady and just right for sailing lessons for Bryony and Keira who took turns at being Captain.

We returned along the shoreline to explore the resort town of Groton Long Point, making our way back toward the mouth of the Thames River and back to shore.  It was great to be out mid-week with only a few other boats, and mostly sailboats and a very polite speedboat!

After sailing Gene joined for local brews, Mezcal Mules and burgers on the grill. THANK you Gene for a great day on the water!

On Saturday afternoon we enjoyed spending time at the Museum of Modern Art, with Jackson Pollack, Rousseau, Picasso, Dali, and friends. There was also time for some shopping in the numerous local boutiques. To complete the day we had dinner at a nice outdoor restaurant near Rockefeller Plaza and we watched the world go by on a sunny summer evening.

No trip to the northeastern US is complete without a few days in New York. On our first day we walked from our hotel near Rockefeller Plaza to the High-Line trail, and sampled some locally made gelato. Then we went on to Brooklyn via the subway. We had dinner at a local eatery and watched the sunset, and walked back over the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan. A great start to our NY trip!

Bryony, Keira, Sheri and Bruno continued to take advantage of the beautiful weather this week. First up we paddled on the Wood River and saw turtles, herons, geese, dragon flies and an otter! After that we had dinner at the Blue Oar on the Connecticut River (those desserts!) and enjoyed a show (Oklahoma) at the Godspeed Opera House. It was a great way to become acquainted with American culture in a beautiful setting.

Bruno's nieces (Bryony & Keira) arrived from the UK for a 2-week visit on Tuesday. We have been exploring near to home for the first few days and enjoying the pleasures of summer in southern Connecticut and Rhode Island. On our first day we took Zealand for walk at the John Champlain park in Westerly, enjoyed coffee at Dave's Coffee, and picked blueberries from the garden at home.

Last Thursday we joined our friends Mark and Jen at the Weekapaug Inn to sample their summer clam-bake. This was in celebration of Sheri's birthday earlier in the summer. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and the ambience of the historic inn. We even managed a few games of shuffle-board and got to make s'mores over an open fire. All-in-all it was a wonderful evening.

We were happy to have the opportunity to look after Zealand’s best friend Sedona over the 4th of July holiday.  Here are a few pictures of their adventures together.