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Certainly!
It was a gorgeous day here yesterday - lots of sun, fluffy clouds, light breeze, 70s...little traffic due to the holiday and of course NO traffic at the destination lol.
I met them in the parking lot of the restaurant, so I could leave my car there and my sister did the driving for the exploration.
We first went to my grandparent's farm, it has passed into new hands twice since they sold it in the late 70s.
We just drove right up the driveway, spotted a guy unloading some gravel in a truck and so we got out of the car and waited to speak with him. We waved as a sign of friendliness.
I had to laugh because until last year, I lived in a major east coast city where you wouldn't dream of driving up someone's drive way and just getting out and standing there lol.
He unloaded, parked the truck, got out and came to speak with us. Nice guy. We told him about our connection to the farm. The barn had fallen in and was never replaced....so that part was a bit sad, but understandable.
It is no longer operated as a dairy farm. Now they just grow crops for sale and have rented out the land as a solar farm. We noticed that as we drove up....rows and rows of solar devices covering the surrounding hill. We didn't ask, he offered that his father earns $40K every year for renting out that hill. Appears to be a very good return on investment given how cheap land is there.
The house looked smaller. The man explained that a few years ago, the back room caught on fire, so it wasn't replaced. They renovated - and where the back room was, is now a deck with picnic tables and grill.
My grandparents used the back room as a mud room...if you're familiar with the rural Northeast, you might know about mud rooms.
We were pleased that the home and property has been well maintained. We took some photos, but don't think I can attach them here. My favorite photo is the front lawn...my grandfather, on summer Sundays, after dinner, would take naps on the grass under the trees.
The former commune was tricky to find as the main house has been torn down and no longer exists...but we were able to spot the location by locating the pond in front of the old house. The area is so remote that the particular road doesn't appear on any maps...not even the local county maps. We called our cousin for his recollection of location since he lives a lot closer than we do.
We noticed some people have used the nearby properties to bring in RVs and they've constructed storage barns on cement slabs - the RVs parked next to them - looks very much like they are used seasonally. Not uncommon for people from New York City to buy land in this area and use it for recreation or retirement. As well, a Buddhist group has purchased a bunch of nearby land and they have constructed a monastery there - very impressive, beautiful place, so peaceful.
It's very noticeable that all of that area where we were, was once used for dairy farming and now exists solely for retreats, recreation or retirement - or in that one case, a solar farm. We only spotted one place with horses.
We made our way back to the bigger town for a late lunch and birthday cake, my brother had a great day, he enjoyed it all very much. We all did. After lunch, he wanted to see the ice cream drive-in that sits on a country road - it's been there about 80 years, in continuous operation, so we went there too. When my mom was a kid, she and my aunt used to ride their horses several miles to get ice cream there.
Was a very nice day....so good that my brother and sister now want to make a plan to get together for more than holidays/birthdays - they want to do a monthly exploration trip to places we've always wanted to get to....our family, on all sides, has been in the area since before the American Revolution, so we have list of spots of significance.
Peace and birthdays
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2024 08:26PM by BarefootBliss.