Thendara : Part 1 - The Drive

Every year, for the last 13 years, the Morales Family has taken a vacation to Vergennes, Vermont. There we stay at the summer home of the Cahill-Price Family. My Dad is good friends with Dann Batting who, other than being my Dad's boss, is married to Susan Price. Since I was teenager Dann and Susan have invited us to come up to their family's summer home, which is named Thendara. This is one of my favorite places.

Thendara is just over 100 years old and features a huge dining room; where Luisa and I practiced waltzing, a library; where we now have movie nights, 4 bathrooms, some with claw foot bathtubs, 9 bedrooms and a wraparound porch, where we eat most of our meals. This porch has also been our setting for countless family portraits throughout the years. The house is right above Lake Champlain. It is absolutely gorgeous here. This year we went in June, which is still a little chilly for Vermont, but this year the weather was much better there than in Mass.

The drive to Thendara is about 3 1/2 hours if you don't stop. It is a bit of an undertaking and even though you are sitting for the whole time you arrive feeling vaguely carsick and exhausted. But that first drive up to the house is full of excitement. WE ARE ON VACATION!!!!

This is actually Mt. Phylo, a mountain that we climbed,

but I liked the open road look.

The driver.

The driver's favorite way the kids occupy themselves.

You should hear her snore.

Cheesy. Alex and Cam were backseat buddies.

We arrived to a rude awakening. Planet of the Apes was filming a 21st century adaptation of the original movie, at our place, during our vacation. Here are some of the cast members before we kicked them out.

What actually happened was within moments of arriving Brooke was inside looking for her favorite toys and came out with the mask on. I actually jumped when I saw her, it looks so freaky. Mel gave it a try as well.