Our new solar home

We had 24 Sunpower solar panels installed on our house. The outlay for installation by Solar Energy World was $34,000 - however - 1/3 will be returned as a federal tax credit and a $2700 grant from the state of Maryland. Additionally there will be a tradable Solar Renewable Energy Crdeit generated that can be sold for approx $1000 per year over the next 10 to 15 years. The panels should provide about 40% of our energy needs. During the day it is very exciting to watch our electric meter run backwards!

Day 6 coming home

Quechee Gorge Vermont
The trip will be viewed backwards for the endpoint here in Quechee Gorge Vermont, just outside of Woodstock Vermont where we stayed one night. A nice little town that appears to be recovering well from the hurricane. Before Woodstock we stayed in a town called North Hero, Vermont on an island in Champlain. These islands are not small - all together they probably have the land mass of Long Island - who knew? Not many pictures from there as it rained the whole time. Before North Hero, we stayed at the Garnet Hill Lodge near Gore Mountain - a place I would highly recommend - and not just because Bobby stayed there,

Day 6

Quechee Gorge Vermont

Day 5

Moss Glen Falls in Vermont

Day 5

A falls on Route 100 in Vermont - Moss Glen Falls.
The entire stretch of highway is being rebuilt after the devastating floods from Irene. We crossed many new areas of contruction, including a brand new bridge. We also witnessed many houses and farms destroyed. The rivers now look like innocent little streams - who knew the devastation they could wreak.

Day 4

Miserable day but walked on Chazy Reef http://www.ilmpt.org/ilmpt/The_Chazy_Reef_on_Isle_La_Motte.html
Apparently one of the oldest known formations in the US - many pretty interesting fossils on an interesting island called the Isle of La Motte

Day 3

On the road to Lake Champlain