First thing this morning Neil got out and got a picture of our site G014 here at the Apple Island RV Resort since it was raining yesterday.

About 0830 we lost power in the rig; investigation showed that the park had suffered a power outage due to failure in the primary circuit leading to our loop in the campground. Neil talked to the owner and they said it would be repaired in a couple of hours. So; we essentially rigged the electrical systems in the rig for travel; water heater and A/C off, internet and computers turned off, lights off and the fridge only running off of the battery and headed off for today’s adventure.

Our first stop was the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge about 25 miles north of us and maybe 8 miles from the Canadian border. We originally planned two hikes but Connie’s hiking shoes were still soaked from her dip into the mud hole the other day so we ended up with just a short 1 ¼ mile hike around the Marsh Loop Trail. Unfortunately there wasn’t much wildlife visible so they had to content themselves with nature scenes, flowers, and the like.

They did see one bit of wildlife that we could photograph; the wooly bear caterpillar below; as well as a frog that hopped away into the grass before they could catch a shot of him.

On the way too their second destination they saw this Osprey sitting on a power line. It’s kind of a lousy picture but it was the only one Neil could get before he flew off.

Their second destination was the Shrine of Saint Anne on Isle La Motte which is a small island northwest of Grande Isle where the park is. It was a pretty neat open air church but Neil thought it might be a might nippy attending Mass in the winter.

He wouldn’t be looking forward to Midnight Mass on Christmas at this church…brrrrrr.

After that they headed on back to the rig and discovered the power had been restored and the batteries were back to fully charged. Neil ran up to the laundry and tossed Connie’s hiking sneakers in the dryer since they were still soaked from the other day. He also listed to the MacBreak Weekly podcast from the TWIT network live while Connie did some work calling her affiliate labs to nag them about providing her some spaces for students. Then Neil cooked this really good steak and mashed ‘taters dinner along with some Parmesan Corn for him and some baked zucchini with Parmesan for Connie. Yum. They had some left over Merlot as well…it was yum too.

Tomorrow it’s off to Burlington to see what’s there then Thursday it’s off to our next stop at Lake George, NY.

Cyas.