a weekend in the country

i don't know about you, but so often when i plan a trip there is something that goes wrong or just not the way i expected it to. this weekend was an exception. the trip was everything i could have wished for. rachel and i arrived friday evening at the end of the metro north line. as you can see it was nice and rainy. 

(don't ask why i am wearing a three quarter length shirt. now that i have an ac in my room i find that i often leave the apartment dressed for much cooler weather than we are actually having.)

saturday and sunday, on the other hand, were beautiful. i didn't realize how much cooler it was just two hours outside of the city. the sky was oh so blue and there was so much green! look at that view.

paula made sure we were well-fed. isn't this a lovely lunch spread? rachel and i were in heaven.

we spent the majority of our time in the pool. even the lounge chairs had a nice view. i had never swam in a saltwater pool before but let me just tell you if i ever have a pool it will be saltwater. the water was just gentler and didn't irritate my eyes. when you got out of the pool it didn't leave that strange film that chlorine sometimes does. anyway, i loved it. we played many rounds of sharks and minnows with the girls and had a grand old time. 

paula had a lovely garden. the bunnies had eaten all the strawberries but there were plenty of raspberries to eat. i've always been interested in gardening but after this weekend i am inspired to have one. there was something so wonderful about going outside and collecting fruits and vegetables to have for dinner. we saw so many deer and different types of birds. i also saw a groundhog for the first time. i've seen pictures before but in person they are so much bigger than you would think! 

on sunday they took us to bash bish falls. after a short hike, we arrived at the falls and because we were going to be hopping on a train soon rachel and i just got knee deep in the water. it was freezing but i can imagine it would have felt so refreshing to swim in. 

we also ran across a little friend.

overall, it was a delightful, relaxing weekend which is just what i needed.