We went out for breakfast at the Danville Inn with friends this morning.  We always enjoy breakfast there, and today was especially nice to be with our friends, Elisabeth and her son, Michael.  After we finished eating, we took a road trip - something Michael, who lives in Alaska, really enjoys.  We took the road past the old Frye Quarry to Oneida Road and then turned onto the Peacham Road.  We left Peacham by way of Ha'penny Road, finally coming out by Injun Joe's Cabins in West Danville.  There were beautiful views everywhere.    The foliage seemed to be just about peak, or a little past on some ridges where the wind had stripped leaves off, but overall, there was nice color and we even had some sunshine along the way. 


Last time Michael was here we took him on Last Road in Cabot - a particularly steep, narrow, almost totally "unimproved" road with only a few homes on opposite ends, and today he said he wanted to take that road again.  But before we did that, he was interested in the "old Route 2" in South Cabot.  We intended to just do the loop along Molly's Falls Pond (top right), but ended up visiting Peacham Pond (bottom right), too, as long as we were so close.  It was lovely there, too.  Just a perfect day with sunny periods and mild temperatures. The water looked good enough to jump into, but I expect it was pretty cold.

When we left there, we went back to Last Road.   Shortly after heading up that road from Route 2 in South Cabot, there's a sign, "Road Not Plowed In Winter Beyond This Point," or something to that effect.  I don't know if there is a similar sign at the other end off the Danville Hill Road, but I expect there is.  It would be impossible for a plow to get either up or down that road in the winter.  It is narrow, besides being steep, and it's cut into the side of the hill so there's really no place to plow the snow to.  I doubt the road was even rolled in winters years ago when there were one or two farms at the top of the hill, and one at the bottom near what is now Route 2, but nothing in between, so there was probably no road connecting between them in the early years.   Danville Hill Road was laid out I believe in about 1828, and until then anyone living on that eastern hillside had to keep their own road or path through the woods to get wherever they needed to go, mostly on foot or horseback or by wagon or sleigh.   The foliage was lovely along this road, and there were a few very nice views through the occasional break in the foliage. This last photo was taken from the Groton State Forest Road of the farm by Molly's Pond - from a slightly different vantage point.


We have just had a shower and the temperature is still in the 60 degrees range.  The foliage is particularly vivid when wet, but I'm expecting that in the next few days most of the leaves will be off the trees and we'll settle into real fall mode, so it was nice to get out one more time to appreciate the color around us.

When we were at the Danville Inn, Steve, the owner, asked that I let people know about the benefit turkey pie supper coming up on Sunday.  Steve is very generous to do this.  We hope you will all turn out for it, eat heartily (the food will be soooooo good!) and then give generously to help preserve this fine old historic church.  It is a struggle for most churches to keep up with just the everyday maintenance costs, so when it is necessary to make major repairs to preserve the iconic old buildings we like to see as part of our Vermont heritage, that can carry a hefty price tag.  We wish them well, and hope you can help.