The whole point of getting up there, and of having a place in the country at all, is to get away from the stresses of city life, right? So the dress code is bound to be pretty relaxed, but there will be one. In the winter, so far at least, it's mostly jeans and sweaters. (In point of fact, we've owned the place for precisely nine days as I am drafting this.... and I made the 5 1/2 hour each way drive four times in seven days.)
I've decided to keep some clothes up there as permanent party: a Gore-Tex shell and fleece, and a pair of warm boots that are all left-overs from my time in the Army. These are good for beating around the property and doing chores. Some house slippers (actually a pair of Birkenstock Bostons), a 'mad-bomber' hat in waxed cotton and rabbit, and a sizable portion of my rapidly-becoming-vintage L.L. Bean collection including a flannel robe, a down vest, a ragg wool sweater, some lined chinos, a river driver's shirt, and a pair of Maine Hunting Shoes and boot socks. Almost all of these all arrived in my duffle bag on the trip up to formally close on the house.
The traveling load varies with the weather. Last weekend, when we had owned the place for all of three days, we hit an ice storm on untreated roads in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. So we spent the entirety of Friday night on the side of the road waiting for the salt & sand truck to do its work, advancing slowly as each section of the road was sanded. The hilly, nine-mile trip to the Delaware River crossing took about nine hours--we should have arrived at the cottage at 1130pm, we did arrive at about 930am. Luckily, we were well prepared for the weather because we had extra blankets and quilts we needed for the house stuffed into the wagon. But still, sheesh.
The previous trip, another two-nighter (one of which was the day I closed on the place) included temps ranging from 45F to -6F thanks to the Polar Vortex. (You can look it up. Go ahead, I'll wait....) But I had also well prepared, packing inter alia outerwear for both cold and wet, two pair of boots, more next-to-the-skin pieces than should be necessary, and (unnecessarily) sunglasses.
So the packing for this trip -- the weather predictions include temps ranging from 15-35F and the rare snow flurry -- is pretty basic: plan for cold and mostly dry conditions.
A Baxter State parka, a pair of cotton rollnecks and a sweatshirt, a couple of flannel shirts and an OCBD.
A couple pairs of jeans, a Norwegian fisherman's sweater and an Irish fisherman's sweater--black sheep variety--(there must be a joke here somewhere) a cashmere roll neck and some tan cords in case we go out somewhere.
A lighter down jacket that will likely become permanent party and a pair of Aussie boots (mine are Rossi rather than Blundstone; Rossi are the preferred brand in Western Australia) for trips to the barn and the hardware store. And, of course, lots of next-to-the-skin clothes.
