A Covered Bridge or Paying it Forward

~my view~

When the sun struck my neighbor's tree and I saw this view yesterday morning, I thought, "Today is the day!"

Allow me to back up just a bit...

~Great-Grandparents' Home~

Earlier in the fall, I received some photos from my dear blogging buddy Pamela Gordon who blogs at Playing with My Camera. She was going to be in Moncton, New Brunswick and so she drove by and took photos of my great-grandparents' home where Nan had grown up. I was so pleased. Pam had been worried that I would find the house too shabby. It is a bit overgrown since I last saw it, though that makes little difference. Would you believe that the last time I saw this bungalow it had been painted white? It was always a little brown bungalow with no white trim, well groomed plantings, and a proper English garden in the back. I'm actually delighted to see it brown again. Pam's gift touched me so...thank you, Pam!

 ~The Old Neighborhood~

The neighborhood minus a lot of trees that used to line the streets...true of many neighborhoods now, I suppose.

So what has all this to do with the remainder of my post? A lot! While I was still thinking of the Moncton house and Pam's gift, I learned from Sandy that her husband's family had hailed from my not-too-far corner and that, in fact, there was a covered bridge somewhere that was named for the family. Oh really? I wanted to put my Nancy Drew shoes on immediately, though you know how well the weather has cooperated this month (not at all). 

Peak foliage lasted for 2 minutes and 35 seconds on a rainy Wednesday afternoon last. We'll have to take leftovers, but that will be fine on such a pretty fair to middlin' day.

Past country homes and rock walls...

a view of the White Mountains in the distance looking west...

and Sebago Lake beyond looking south.

We had sketchy directions from the internet (we have no GPS) and, after wandering around in circles too many times, John suggested taking this picture because he was thinking it's a new bridge and perhaps something had happened to the covered bridge.

I dutifully snapped the shot and the one below showing the river flowing beneath...

~Stream as Autumn Wanes~

~PicMonkey Help~

Then we decided to ask. Just ask! A young clerk working at a convenience store said that she had never heard of Babb's Bridge, but she did know where the covered bridge was. How many could there be? She gave excellent directions even writing them down for us.

Getting closer!

And closer!

Eureka! A covered bridge with people already there looking around. Is it the bridge?

~Official!~

The way we'd come...

The way we'll go...

I might be tempted to wish that we had been there on a brighter autumn day, but we were just glad to be there at all.

Lovely reflections...

Something has his attention! See the canoers?

Sweet old shed...hope that it can be rescued...as we climbed the hill on the other side of the bridge. Yes, we did cross over in our vehicle.

This post is dedicated to Sandy Babb of Quill Cottage. Thank you for the fun, adventure-filled day, Sandy!