Roger comes to New England.

Roger came for a visit after Dollywood.  Roger is from Minnesota. We went off to see our New England Roots in Plimoth Massachusetts.

It was a cold and bleak day the beginning of November.

Very few tourists. So after visiting with the potters shop

for me and the wood joiner for Roger, we went down into the village to talk to the locals.

It is fun to talk to and listen to the people from 1627. The reenactors there are in first person, so you cannot get them to break out of their roles. This is fun and yet frustrating if you want to know something about what they are doing, you may not get an answer you will understand. 

We got over to the Mayflower just before closing to get a tour above and below decks. Roger is decended from Thomas Rogers I believe who was on the original Mayflower.  His family wandered out west to Minnesota, and mine from Boston, stayed here in New England.

We saw the big trees in Connectciut. Cathedral in the Pines was an old strip of forest in Cornwall CT not too far from me. Most people don't realize our old trees were all torn down for firewood and houses. The "old" trees you see are a mere hundred year old or so. The Pines in Cornwall are only 200 years old but some stand 140' tall.  In 1989, a rare tornado blew through and took down most of the tall pines. Before the Plimoth settlers, most of our land was primeval forests. Think of it, dense forests of trees as large as these last two really old trees still standing in Connecticut, Granby Oak and Pinchot Sycamore in Simsbury. While the Pinchot Sycamore is the biggest at 300+ years, the Granby Oak is older by 100 years.

Cathedral in the Pines

Pinchot Sycamore

Granby Oak

But then, read about the oldest tree found in Sweden... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416104320.htm