Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting photos from our trip to the north eastern United States. The posts are intended to be a little record of our travels for Ro and Sen to look back on when they are older (because I’m not going to kid myself into thinking I’ll have the time make a photo album for them!). In this first post, I’m sharing “Getting to NYC” which was our first major destination.
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As summer approached this year, Ro started drafting her summer list – a list of things she wanted to do while off on summer vacation. We’ve done this for the past few years and it has been a really good way to make the most of our summer days. You can read about this year’s lists here. Ro’s list was fairly modest, with the exception of one item: visit NYC.
We were fortunate to visit New York City three years ago. Ro was 7 at the time and so she remembers the visit well and very fondly. Since that visit Ro has had her heart set on returning to NYC. We haven’t had the money to make another trip, so this year Ro decided to make it happen for herself. Beginning in April she started gathering and selling previously loved books, toys and clothing and selling them to our local consignment shop. Then she held a bake sale and garage sale during a local community event. All in all she earned nearly $600, which was enough to make the trip, albeit by frugal means (meaning: train, AirBnB, and street food, which, by the way, did not reduce our enjoyment in any way!).
Our trip started with Matt driving us to the St. Albans train station in Vermont. With our departure time set for just before 9am and our home being 4 hours from the station, we decided to make the drive from Montreal, rather than Ottawa. We drove to Montreal the night before and visited friends and some of our favourite spots in Montreal.
Ready to get the trip started! Driving to Montreal to stay the night with our dear friend Amanda.
Our evening in Montreal was spent walking around the Mile End neighbourhood, finding murals, appreciating the local architecture, and playing ping pong at a night market.
The next morning, holding hands while waiting for our train to arrive in St. Albans, Vermont
Ready to draw!
The dining car on the train was a great spot for drawing.
While riding the train Sen asked if we would see Mickey Mouse in NYC, to which I replied “No, he lives in Florida.” Within half a block of walking out of the train station look who we met! Close enough!
Next post will cover the first half of our visit to New York City — stay tuned!
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Clothing details: Sen wears Wilding organic t-shirt available from Wilding; Organic harems from Wild Little Comfies; and Salt Water Sandals from Mini Mioche. Ro wears tunic and skirt from Kids on the Moon and Salt Water Sandals from Mini Mioche.
Drawing supplies: Super durable and eco-friendly pencil case made from upcycled carpet from elquiltro available on Etsy; Sustainable notebooks from Mohawk Paper; and pencils from Faber-Castell.