Virginia to Vermont

Traveling with Paula is fun no matter what we are doing. Even if it is just hanging around, we have fun. She has been a great sport about my courthouse photo adventure which made for a fun few days with Chris and Kenni and road trip from Buena Vista to Windsor in our new (to us) FJ Cruiser, aptly named by Chris as the Cheese Block!

On our first day in Buena Vista, we went to a presentation by author Jason Wright, of Wednesdays Letters, Christmas Jar and Covering Charles, all current bestsellers. Paula bought them all at the book signing, had them signed and then promptly read them. A couple of days later one of our first stops was the county seat of Woodstock Virginia, where accross the street from the courthouse was the pharmacy featured in the book Wednesday's Letters! Boy was she excited!



Later that night I just didn't want to give up. I wanted to get a few more courthouses, so I pulled out a 1.8 50mm lens and tried a few shots in the dark. I didn't have a tripod with me, so I had to do these all handheld. The Nikon 700 will allow us to shoot at 6400 ISO without serious degradation. There was literally no direct lighting on this federal courthouse but even cropped it came out pretty well.


Confident now, I tried this one and was pretty happy with it also. No flash and again, just indirect lighting.


Before going on however, a few shots from the Virginia courthouse hop. I had recruited some help with Chris, Kenni and Paula. Here are Chris, Kenni and of course, dog Kelso.


Here is a shot that Paula took of me taking a picture of the courthouse accross the street from the balcony of a financial planning firm. The lady was really nice to let me upstairs for the shot.



Chris really likes a woman with a big lens.


Something that Chris pointed out is the proliferation of confederate statuary in front of virtually every courthouse in Virginia. They range from the simple:




To the more elaborate complete with a guy on top.... in a Confederate Army Uniform,


To the almost absurd statements which seem to ignore the fact that the nation was almost split apart over the conflict and thank heavens the "patriots" of this monument didn't win!


Meanwhile, as we got closer to NYC, the paranoia over a guy with a camera seemed to get completely out of control. The following picture is of a county admisitration building which I thought was a really interesting picture. As I was taking this picture, I was approached by a uniformed officer and informed that I was breaking the law. According to this guy, it is a federal crime to take a photo of a public building. When I asked him what law he was talking about, he informed me that I was being belligerent, and took my camera. I then demanded to see his superior officer, who after some negotiation finally gave me the camera back and ordered me to "move on" . Fortunately, I had already gotten the courthouse shot next door, so mission accomplished. I still don't think there is such a law, but I think I will make up some credentials for future use.


We are now in Windsor, Vermont staying at the "Parrish House". Windsor is a great little place, and we are really glad for all the family here. This is a shot down Main Street from in front of the "Inn" the family is getting ready to open. See www.snapdragoninn.blogspot.com.


It is cold here! A few minutes ago I was out in the car and it was 3 degrees! The Connecticut River is frozen solid.


The bridge in this picture is really fun. The longest covered bridge in the county, it was built in 1866.


It is a good example of the history that makes this area really fun. In case you can't read it, the sign reminds us to walk our horses over the bridge or be fined $2!


So here we are in the snow with the grandkids and the opportunity to learn some more history and see some fun stuff. Paula is really having fun with the little ones. Anders is a true goofball!


Finally a few random photos from the last few days:


Timber Frame!


Stairwell


Ice


Any guesses?


How about this one?

Peace Out! Rich