Ready for Egypt!

Busta finally fed me. He gave me popcorn and Oreos. Granted, that was Tuesday. I'm HUNGRY!!



Is it time to go?







I'm ready. LET"S GO!!!!!

The Snapdragon Inn

It's been a delightful experience here in Vermont hanging out with the Larson clan. You can find out more about what they are doing here.
Today I decided to lend a hand on the third floor of the inn. They are almost ready to refinish the floors and then move in some furniture. I had to read up a little bit first before I got started.
One more day in Vermont and then we hit the road home to Illinois. Should be landing sometime Sunday. Can't wait to return to the peace and tranquility of this beautiful New England town. So much to do, so little time.

Oh Mt. Ascutney

The last two days I have been able to gaze at the beauty of Mt. Ascutney from two states. Yesterday, I visited the former home of Auguste St. Gaudens, who was best known for sculptures and his design of U.S. coinage in 1907. We tramped all over the gardens and took a minute to visit the site where the sculptor and his artsy friends would put on Greek revival type plays. Whatever floats your boat! It was beautiful weather on the large estate full of great gardens. I'm sure I could have found a cozy spot to settle in there somewhere, but there was more adventure to be had.
Today I sheparded 7 kids and one grown up on a picnic at Lake Runnemeade. We walked halfway around the lake and out to the gazebo in the middle. Once again I was able to enjoy the site of Mt. Ascutney, this time in Vermont, and relax by the water's side. Don't worry Sven, although I'm not dining with the likes of Paula Deen, I rather enjoyed my simple meal of sandwiches, chips, carrots and cookies. I'm not starving.
Tomorrow I hope to show you some of the work going on at the soon to be open Snapdragon Inn here in Windsor, Vermont. It's really coming along. Everyone is chipping in with painting, window repair, sanding and hanging light fixtures. We had to take a couple of days off to help with a new baby in the family, but now it's all business and full steam ahead. Until I get some pictures up, you can check out the action here.
Ta-ta for now!

Hangin' with some cute chickies in Chi-Town

As some of you may know, I am heading for a little relaxation in the peaceful tranquility of Vermont next week.
So I figured I need to mix things up a bit with a trip to the city for an afternoon of shopping and chocolate. We had a lovely lunch at the American Girl Place. Although some of my dining companions insisted on ordering non-red meat dishes, it was still a lovely atmosphere. After lunch and some shopping, we flew over to the famous Chicago Water Tower for some pictures and then on to the Hershey's store. Wow! Is the smell in that place something else or what! The kids were nice enough to share a kiss or two with me. No, not that kind of kiss, silly readers, but the chocolate kind!
At the last minute, I tried desperately to hitch a ride with the Doubledecker Tours of Chicago. I just wasn't quite ready to leave Chicago. After all, we hadn't even had pizza, or a hot dog, or both! But alas, the chickies held me back and we made our way to the Metra for the trip home.



Next week, it's on to Vermont for a little preview of the Snapdragon Inn in Windsor. Stay tuned!

No trip to Miami for you, Benny!

This is courtesy of my sister, Miss Julie Wells. You remember her, right, Benny? She's the one who took you to Australia.
--------------------------------------------------
Benny better not go to Miami.

When Chickens Go Bad

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5061058?fr=yvmtf

Choo-Choo

The last leg of our trip was spent in Chattanooga, Tennessee. What fun we had.

First we went to Ruby Falls. It is a natural waterfall, inside a cave, inside mountain! Crazy. I was a little skeptical about the whole thing, I am a little claustrophobic (everyone keeps me in their purses, backpacks, pockets, etc. Who wouldn't be claustrophobic?) but truth be known I really have no choice as to what happens to me on trips. So down in the belly of the mountain I went. Now the first thing that I noticed was it got A LOT cooler! It was about 60 degrees in the cave, and about 95 degrees outside. I'd take the cave any day. The second thing I noticed was that it was beautiful. I've never seen anything like it (not even Busta's apartment compares to this cave).

After Ruby Falls, Riza was feeling good, so we went to the Tennessee Aquarium. Again a great stop in TN! They had two separate sections, a river section, and an ocean section. We decided afterward that the river section was the best.

Underwater Benny

They had real gators too but this one was fine for me.

Proof that I am stuck in pockets

Hanging with my arctic cousin, Chilly.

I did say I was tired of being photographed with dead chickens but this is ridiculous.

Looking up at the sharks.

No, we did not miss having some great food again that night. We ate at Sticky Fingers, or in my case Sticky Feathers. Even the tables were sticky, but the food was great. I ate so fast they couldn't get a picture so I had to settle with a picture of our finished dessert.

I think by day 9 everyone was tired of camping so Sven splurged and got us a hotel room. AHHH clean sheets, and an air conditioner! What more could a chicken ask for?

Benny goes to Georgia

This post should be called "Benny Eats His Weight in Southern Food" but we do some other things too believe it or not.

After our lunch at Paula's ( I still have guilt about that so let's not talk about it) we happened upon Uncle Bubba's Oyster House the next day. Here's a picture of me after eating at Uncle Bubba's... nuff said.

When my food coma finally wore off we went to the beach. I had never seen the Atlantic Ocean so I was really excited. Once I was close to the Pacific but someone chose not to go, so I can't really say I've been there...

Chris was surprised to find Santa sunning himself on the beach that day. He was kind enough to let us take a picture. Now we all know what he does on his "off time". I told him I wanted a passport for Christmas so I wouldn't have to ride in the luggage anymore. He said he would see what he could do but since I am a chicken and all the rules may be a little fuzzy, we'll see come Christmas morning.

I got a little sun bathing in myself, although it was pointless with the SPF 85 Riza slathered all over me. I was worried she was just buttering me up after all the chicken we had a Paula's but she assured me she would not eat a chicken that had been out of the country.

After we left Savannah, we headed to Stone Mountain. It was beautiful there. We got to see, of course, the Stone Mountain, and a granite quarry. The campground was great I played checkers with the kids, and swam in the pool. No pictures of the pool, you do not want to see this in a speedo!
What's this guy looking at anyway?

Tonight we are still in Georgia, but right on the border of Tennessee, so we went into Chattanooga for BBQ at Sugar's Ribs. I don't know why everyone thinks it's so funny to take pictures of me with cooking chicken, it's a little unsettling, as well as rude. I would never find a cannibal colony in Africa and take picture of Sven smiling next to them, it's just not right. The food was delish anyway. We are going to Ruby Falls tomorrow, hopefully hundreds of feet under the earth it will be cooler.