From St. Croix to Vermont to Sweden

 We left St. Croix after a nine week vacation of sorts. The kids plowed through a lot of school work and Hans and I left the island more determined than ever to get Positive Waves to the Caribbean where we could enjoy the sunsets and underwater life from the comfort of our own floating home. Experiencing the Caribbean via sailboat is hard to beat, at least in my opinion!

Our family split up for 2 1/2 weeks, something we're getting used to doing. The kids and I flew to Boston and then took a bus up to Vermont to spend time with family while Hans flew northwest to Wisconsin to work 12 shifts. I hadn't been to Vermont for almost two years and was long overdue for a visit.

Channeling my inner chill

I have a tendency to have, let's say, "elevated blood pressure" in airports and prior to our travel day from St. Croix to Vermont I had a lot of interior monologues about keeping my stress in check. I built in plenty of time for transfers and unforseens and coached myself that a missed connection or a lost bag won't be the end of the world. Make a good plan and let the chips fall. Deal with issues as they arise, instead of trying to preempt any potential issues. I've done a fair amount of traveling with the kids alone and the last thing I want is for them to brace themselves for "crazy stressed out airport mamma" any time we go anywhere. So when Hans dropped us off at the St. Croix airport with plenty of time to spare, I channeled my inner chill and just got on the conveyor belt of lines and checkpoints that would eventually get us on the plane. When we finally got to the gate (St. Croix has a number of different hoops to jump through beyond TSA), an announcement was made that in-flight service was limited due to covid. AKA get all your snacks and drinks for the next three hours NOW! As I waited in line for coffee, the gate attendant started boarding our plane. But coffee! I stayed in line, keeping an ear out for boarding group numbers, got my coffee, added some milk, all the while watching poor Freja jumping up and down waving at me, pointing to the gate, and me and them and back to the gate again. A few minutes later as we were settled in our seats on the plane and I was sipping my coffee, she let loose. She was so mad at me. She said I can't just go from being a complete stress freak at airports to being all relaxed "like pappa." Point taken. (Although my inner calm was much preferable to my usual stress load!)

Spring flowers and snow?!

Classic springtime weather in Vermont.

I always have a fair amount of hopping around when I visit Vermont - lots of people to see and stay with - so I try to travel light and arrange my time so I have quality time with family and friends and also time to share some of my favorite parts of the state with the kids. We started off the trip staying with my mom who has recently moved to the Upper Valley (basically the area around Dartmouth College, and the VT/NH border). It was such a different experience than where I grew up in southern Vermont. Southern Vermont has a lot of rural poverty and towns that have seen better days. I grew up in Springfield and pride for my town was instilled in me through stories and lore from the past, never the present. Because of the machine tool industry, we were on Hitler's top ten list. And There used to be a trolley car from the factories into town where people would have lunch and do their shopping. Downtown used to be bustling. Springfield had a moment of fame in the early 00's when it was named as the Simpson's Springfield. But besides that, it has always been a little down on its luck. The Upper Valley, however, is bustling with small towns with active downtowns, neighborhoods filled with solid middle class home and yards, hiking and recreation trails, museums, and playhouses. It was a totally different Vermont than where I grew up. 

Meme hosted a proper British tea party, complete with scones and clotted cream, finger sandwiches, cake, and chocolate dessert. Yes please!

A fun, colorful shelter at the top of a mountain. The kids were excited to leave their own marks.

We all adjusted to wearing masks all the time, even on hiking trails, and we enjoyed the small town feel combined with access to shopping and things to do. We went hiking, visited VINS, a raptor education and rehabilitation center, brought home a HUGE stack of library books, the kids played Meme's piano and did endless art projects, and I spent quality time at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center meeting new doctors and establishing care.

Biking for the first time in almost a year.

 

Spending time with Allaire. We've been friends since we were 10, which the age of our eldest kids!

After a week at Meme's, we traveled down I-91 to spend a week with my Dad. He lives off the beaten path so we enjoyed busy days at home with him, playing and working in his yard, fending off ticks, building a roaring campfire, and looking for beavers in the pond across the street. 

We visited Fort #4 with Grampy; a living history museum detailing life at the first most northern British settlement in the US.

Our FL and TX raised kid quickly found the warmest place.

An old musket firing demonstration.

Replica birchbark house.

Fun and games with Grampy (at least Matilda and Grampy thought so).

My sister and nephew came to visit for a couple days, with two of Matilda's favorite dogs.

We first met Luna in 2019, and we all love her.

I'm not much of a dog person, so this is perfect for me. Luna has class!

We went back to my mom's for our last dinner in Vermont and she pulled out one last art activity, dying eggs with silk.

 

To Positive Waves via O'Hare

After two weeks, a few ticks, the common cold scaring us that it was covid, a birthday celebration, libraries and bookstores, hiking, doctors' appointments, and a few trips to the thrift store, we boarded a plane in Hartford, CT and flew to O'Hare. Hans met us at the gate and the whole terminal must have heard the kids' screams of happiness and excitement to see their pappa. We traversed the airport to the international terminal where we checked in to our flight to Sweden. We had to fly via O'Hare with Hans because with my American passport I am currently only allowed in the EU since I am Hans's spouse. We flew to Frankfurt where we were drilled by extremely unfriendly German immigration control, then after a few hours boarded our plane to Gothenburg. From Gothenburg we drove two hours and finally saw Positive Waves again after over three months. It felt like it had been ages. Jumping out of the car and running down the dock to climb aboard was very reminiscent of when we first saw PW almost a year ago in France, but it was so much sweeter this time because the minute we stepped aboard we knew we were home.

Home again! Back on Smögenbryggan, with a visit from friends.