Vermont Summer and Stave Island

The launch for Stave Island

Stave Island Barn

 This August marked the fifth time I visited Heidi and her family up in beautiful Vermont. There are always so many beautiful things to see, tasty foods to eat, and fun times to be had. I will always think of delicious corn on the cob rolled in butter, starting off the day with a hot cup of coffee, and walking the Miller family dog around the pond when I think of Vermont.

 During my summer visits we try and spend a lot of time out at Stave Island. This privately owned island is mostly wooded  wilderness out in the middle of Lake Champlain. It is a great place for colorful sunsets and I always try to circumnavigate the island by stand-up paddleboard. Deedee, Don, and Susie are always incredible hosts. It is pretty impresive to watch them work all day and then whip up a huge meal for a dozen of Heidi's friends. They are quite the team.

Happy baby swingin' with Dad

Noah, Anna, Charlotte, Heidi, Skye, Erin

 Heidi and I kept busy this trip making the drive down to Rye, New Hampshire for some surf with the Summer Sessions crew, eating Dutch pancakes at the Grey Fox Inn in Stowe, and checking out downtown Burlington.

The old mill

Another beautiful Stave sunset

Looking across the Winooski River

Kula, the new addition

  One of the most exciting things this visit was the new puppy, Kula. Heidi did a great job training Kula, a beautiful 5 month old black lab. And as always I did my best to get Kula all riled up and then worn out by the end of the day. I was very impressed with how well Kula did sitting on the stand-up paddleboard. It was fun watching Kula learn about and become a water dog!

Main House under the stars

Light painting the look-out tower

 The weather was hit or miss this visit to Vermont but we did have one very clear night out at Stave Island so I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple of night scenes around the island. These shots of the main house and the look-out tower were photographed with a long, 30 second exposure and a technique called "light painting." During the 30 seconds the shutter was open I ran around shining a flashlight over the front of the house and the look-out tower. Even though the light is only over one section of the building for a short duration it is enough for the camera to pick up the different colors.

  It was great catching up with the Vermont and New Hampshire crews. Heidi has some amazing friends. As always it was a blast spending time with Heidi's grandmother, Deedee. She has so many wonderful stories I feel like she should have her own blog. And I can't thank Don and Susie enough for being such welcoming hosts and making feel like I am part of the family. Hopefully you two can come out to Hawaii so we can return the favor!

Heidi and Kula on the stand-up paddleboard