Mridul Masi is here!!
My masi (aunt) by relation, Mridul is only six months older than me. Perhaps for this reason, and perhaps because both of us were born in Soureni, the tea garden nestled in the hills of Darjeeling, we have the kind of connection siblings have. Over the years we have come to realize that we are similar in many ways - we enjoy the hills, we love nature, we believe in chasing big dreams, etc etc. But most of all, we both enjoy travel and while I have travelled all over the world, I have never had the opportunity to travel with Mridul.
Last time I saw Mridul was when we visited her gorgeous hillside home in Coonoor. At that time she had mentioned that she was interested in seeing the fall foliage. Since neither of us have done a Fall tour of the north east, it made sense to plan a trip together. And so here we are, mid September, planning a fall foliage trip. Our plan will take us into the Canadian North East and from there we will come down back into the US.
First from Pennington we will zoom up to Montreal - a quick 8 hour ride, and spend a couple nights there. Montreal is one of my favorite cities and I expect it will be very colorful with fall foliage. I can't wait to see Mount Royal, which should be splendidly decked in fall colors. We will of course visit McGill university, but my plan is to visit Jardin Botanique, the Biodome, Musée Pointe-à-Callière & McCord. If we had more time, I would love to spend it here, but two days in Montreal should be good enough to 'sample' this beautiful city.
From Montreal, we intend to drive up Rt. 138 to go to Quebec City. Along the way we might stop in Trois-Rivieres and drive up to La Maurice National Park if time allows. We will spend a couple nights in Quebec City and explore both the Lower town and Upper town. There is so much to see around Quebec City but with two days I expect we will spend a large portion of our time in Old Quebec visiting Chateau Frontenac, the Citadel, St. Joseph Street etc, but if time allows, we will drive to Mont Morency Falls.
Then from Quebec City, we will drive up the east of St. Lawrence River to Riviere-du-Loop and go around Maine, coming down on Canadian Rt. 2 to St. John, in New Brunswick. This is a long six hour drive, so we will likely be tired at the end of the day. We will rest the night and do sign seeing the next day, and spend a second night in St. John to leave next morning for Bar Harbor. Main purpose of visiting St. John is to see my favorite niece, Riddhi. Riddhi has decided to settle down in this small town with her soon-to-be husband Colin, and I am curious to meet him and his family.
Next stop - Maine.
Every one who has been to Maine has told me that the Coastal highway in Acadia National Park is a 'must see' attraction. So we expect to spend a full day in ANP driving around taking pictures and enjoying the foliage. Two nights in the area should be good enough to drive around Bar Harbor, Bangor and Augusta to experience the Fall beauty of Maine.
From Maine we will head over to Vermont. It's a six hour drive on twisty Rt. 2, which should be very pleasant given the lovely colors of the season. We hope to see many a small towns, but I am told that there is a Paul Bunyan Statue in Rumford and Skowhegan has the world's tallest Indian, so both will be on my to-visit list.
Our Air BnB is about an hour north of Stowe, but Vermont is fall foliage paradise so it should be fun driving from the ABnB to Stowe. There is so much to see in and around Stowe but one thing on our list is to go to Woodstock and check out this picturesque little town.
After a couple nights in Stowe, we will start our journey downwards towards New Jersey, potentially stopping in Poughkeepsie or such small town along the Hudson river.
This is our itinerary for the 9/10 day trip. I will post reports from our travels once our trip begins.
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