We parted ways with Maricela’s brother in New York City and headed to New England where we spent a week exploring around the area – Connecticut, Massachusetts, upstate New York, Vermont. We’ve run into snow flurries nearly every day, and it’s very cold (at least by my California standards). After all, we are halfway through April.
We found many places still “closed for the season”, and those that are open have shortened hours. We stopped by two state parks in Vermont to see if we could go for a little hike. One was completely closed. The other had a sign on the road at the entrance: “Snowmobiles only”. From what we’ve seen, most things don’t open for the season until May 31.
The trees are not budding yet, daffodils haven’t bloomed… It’s definitely still winter here.
Yesterday, today (April 16), and tomorrow we’re getting a mix of snow and freezing rain. Here’s the view outside our window this morning:
Several inches of snow in mid-April
From what I hear, the next season we have to look forward to is “mud season”!
Our next house sit will be in Massachusetts, and we have a two-week gap between when it starts and when our Kentucky sit ended. Maricela’s brother will be joining us as we travel around upstate New York, Philadelphia, and New York City. Then we will part ways and complete our drive to Massachusetts.
After driving through the snowstorm in Kentucky and Ohio, our first stop was at Niagara Falls in New York. The weather was great in Niagara; the only bad weather was on the drive to get there, not while walking around the tourist sites.
Niagara was more impressive than I had anticipated. I was expecting to be a bit disappointed by another over-hyped site that didn’t live up to expectations. But that was not the case. The Falls carry a massive amount of water – 20% of the drinking water for the East Coast passes through the Falls!
Niagara Falls from the US side
The other surprising thing to me was the river itself. It makes sense that for such massive falls, there must be a substantial river leading up to the falls. And the river is very accessible – you drive along it, park right next to it, walk out to it and cross over it. Some stretches have powerful rapids; you can really sense the magnitude of water passing through.
Rapids leading up to the Falls
We visited at an interesting time of year. It was early March, when it’s very cold, which made for some interesting landscapes. There was no ice in the river, except for a little along the shores, but at the Falls themselves, since the Falls generate a lot of spray, the frozen spray settles onto the nearby cliffs and rocks and gives the Falls a whole different look than if we had visited during a warmer season. There was so much ice as a result of the spray that the observation decks below the falls were closed – they were inaccessible because they were buried by many feet of ice.
Lots of ice below the falls, including on the observation deck
While there we made a brief trip across the border to the Canadian side. We walked across, figuring it would be easier than taking the van across and back. The Canadian side had a more touristy and commercialized feel – large casinos, expensive restaurants, flashy gift shops, and Ripley’s Believe it or Not types of places – a whole different vibe. There were some on the US side as well, but it was more low key. I like to say that my favorite part of our visit to Canada was crossing the border back into the US!
During our last couple of days in Kentucky we received one of our heaviest snows yet, probably around 4 inches. Apparently this is what’s common for the area, and it melts off quickly. Heavy snowfall beyond 6 inches or so is uncommon.
Snowy trees and fence
Our house sit in Kentucky is complete and we will miss the lovely home we stayed in and the friendly dog. We will miss the peaceful quiet by the lake, and the pleasant walks around the forest and pastures. We had a great experience and made some new friends in the process.
The dog is unfazed by the snowOur long, snowy driveway
We had never experienced a “real” winter before, besides visiting the snow occasionally for a day or two. In Kentucky we got to live out the winter for two months, which gave us a much better idea of what real winter is like. Snow was never much of an issue, since we didn’t have anywhere that we had to be. The house was always comfortable due to the type of radiant heat in the floors. The only times we were uncomfortable were when we had to go out somewhere and the air was bitter cold (to us that’s anything under about 35 degrees!) Overall we actually enjoyed winter in Kentucky – maybe because we know we can return to California any time.
We had to drive through heavy snowfall on our way out of Kentucky. For three or four hours we were driving through falling snow on slushy roads in Kentucky and Ohio. The slush was very wet and had accumulated at least 3-4 inches on the road. That’s not what this Californian is used to driving in, but we took it slow and made it safely to our destination.
We undertook this journey to meet new people, visit new places, and have new experiences. Our stay in Kentucky more than accomplished all of these goals!
We are spending two months house- and pet-sitting in central Kentucky. We are in a rural part of the state near Lexington. The house is a 250-year old log house, which was recently remodeled. The interior has been fully modernized, and the exterior is well maintained.
Log house in Kentucky
The house sits about 50 feet from a lake, on a large property with few neighbors.
The house with a view of the lake
The pet is a 6-year old English Springer Spaniel, with a very easygoing personality.
Taking the dog for a walk
Even though it’s winter, the weather is often pleasant enough to sit out by the lake.
Sitting by the lake
All in all, we’re having a great time on our first long-term sit!
