VaCaTiOn...part two!!!

we headed to jackson new hampshire on august 19. we stayed at the wildcat inn and had a groovy little suite right above the main dining area. it was a very pretty, comfy, and private set of rooms...we were very happy with our lodgings! the tavern downstairs made for a easy place to grab a beer or a bite. on the last night we were there, the tavern had live music billed as "edgy rock". it turned out to be a guy & a guitar...he played stuff that appealed to us (beatles, red hot chili peppers, etc), but edgy might have been too strong a word to describe the fellow's sound. there wasn't exactly a full house...six people at best. this might have been due to the freakish tornado warnings in the area that evening (that's another story!)...but whatever the reason for the low turn out, we felt a $20 tip was the right thing to do.
our main focus during our stay was looking at houses...drove by 12...visited 6...put an offer on 1...the same one as before!
we also enjoyed a drive up the mount washington auto road on a picture perfect day. it felt so good to take this excursion and the views were amazing! being on top of the mountain brought back so many cherished memories from our climb up the mountain back in 2000. as we were leaving, i noticed something colorful among the gray granite that warranted further investigation. it turned out to be a small make-shift shrine that was adorned with painted rocks. i was moved by the display and wanted to share in the spirit of it. i found a small rock, grabbed a purple marker from the car and made my own contribution to the shrine.
i love new hampshire!

VaCaTiOn...part one!!!

we hit the road after work on friday 8/14/2009...stopped in fishkill new york for some sleep...then back on the road making it to bar harbor maine on saturday. we stayed at the quimby inn, shopped at some favorite "home grown" stores, had pizza & brew at "rosalie's", had breakfast at "two cats", visited cadillac mountain in acadia national park, took a whale/puffin cruise, walked along the shore path, hiked around jordan pond and had popovers at the jordan house...mmmm...popovers!!!

some of the memorable things include:

• the traffic cone brigade (put the cones down, then pick the cones up, then put the cones down, then pick the cones up, and on and on...) in pennsylvania...the highway going up was all about traffic cones, but there wasn't really any road work!!!
• seeing rock doves being rock doves...really climbing a vertical rockface...really!!!
• saw a moose's back in a marsh/pond area that we drove past
• saw porcupines...but they happened to be in the form of roadside "gut bundles"...
• had a bat fly around while having a pizza at "rosalie's"...a fellow patron calmly took his scarf and gently tossed it over the frantic bat...carefully, thoughtfully took the bat out the door and opened the scarf to release the bat...then the bat immediately flew in front of an oncoming truck, gaining loft in just the nick of time...such drama!!!
• beers at "carmen verandah"...nasty place!!! won't go back!!! dirty, filthy, grungy, icky place!!!
• it was hot in new england...in the 90's...can you believe it!!!
• we saw a cormorant up close while we hiked around jordan pond...very cool!!!
• mmm...popovers...served by "borat" at the jordan pond house..."take one popover, we don't leave the basket with the guests...you each take one!" (popover nazi...just like the soup nazi!)

what a nice day!

mike & i headed out kind of early for a saturday. mike drove to leesburg and ran home on the w. & o. d. rail trail while i walked to leesburg on the w. & o. d. rail trail, picked up the car and drove home. the distance from point "a" to point "b" is just over 7 miles.
mike & i crossed paths in the vicinity of the luck stone quarry. the quarry is a nice place to take a break and watch man vs. rock in action. some of the perks of today's adventure included a close up, eye-to-eye encounter with a gold finch...crossing paths with a loooooong black "eraser"...and some awesome colors exhibiting themselves as wildflowers along the way.
today was a good one!

isn't she pretty...

ugh!!!!!!!

blah...blah...blah...

happy independence day!!!!!

mike & i loaded up the car with our bikes, bob yak trailer & camping gear. we headed to cumberland (maryland) on friday morning and pedaled off on our trusty bikes down the c & o canal towpath. the first mile marker we came to was 184. this is actually the terminus of the trail...we started at the end and road toward the beginning. kinda backwards, huh!
the weather was great...no...BETTER than great...it was PERFECT! surprisingly, we didn't see many people on the trail...but everyone we saw seemed happy and that made for a nice "trail vibe".
throughout the day we pedaled past old lock houses and canal locks (both wet & dry), a gang of geese, a fema trailer outpost and an old cemetery that happened to have a freshly shed snake skin laying around in the grass. mike took a tumble and left an "ass print" in some thorn bushes along the edge of the trail.
we road all the way to old town (maryland) at about the 166.7 mile point, but we set up camp at the pigmans ferry hiker/biker site that is a short distance from mile marker 169. our neighbors were a herd of cows that decided to walk single file past our campsite...they looked at us...had a bit of a moo fest...then went along their merry way. i was happy that there was a fence between us & them!
it was nice to relax around the camp fire...stretched out and laid back against a couple of large logs...sipping on the beers that we managed to keep cold somehow...sweet!
next morning, we brewed some coffee (mmmmm!), packed up and headed back to cumberland. we got a real good look at a green heron...fly-hopping from one vantage point to the next while hunting for a snack in the canal waters. speaking of snacks, we stopped for a rest & a bite at the largest swamp white oak in maryland. it was an awesome tree...so beautiful!
we finally made it back to cumberland...good tired, good dirty and good thirsty! we had a celebratory beer at an outdoor pub that catered to the bicycle set...it was a nice place to cool down. after that, we loaded up the car and had a pleasant drive home...it was a perfect weekend!!!!!

reemplazar boton!

mikeeeee is back home from his biz trip and all is good! we had some nice deck time tonight...the weather is , as goldie locks would say, just right! i must recommend the pisgah pale ale served in a frosted pilsner glass for your beer drinking pleasure. a nice evening, indeed...

woohoo...bike weather!!!!!

today was a perfect day to take my new bicycle out for a spin. mike has a new bike too!!! santa brought them to us for christmas...and the weather has been too brutal to do anything other than look at them until today. we headed to the c & o towpath by way of great falls. the trail was crowded there...i guess that was to be expected considering the amazingly beautiful weather...but it has been a couple of years since i was last at that section of the trail and it was nice to see it again.

we rode a total of 10 miles...starting at mile post 14, riding to mile post 19, then turning back to repeat the same stretch in reverse. we saw mallard ducks in areas of the canal that had water...and a huge bird nest across the river in a very tall tree...most likely belonging to an osprey or bald eagle. i heard some small little birds chirping a bit and some woodpeckers calling out in the distance a couple of times...but i never saw them.

when we returned home, we captured a little time on the deck. the air was getting cool, but we bundled up a bit and sat outside, propped our feet up and toasted the day with a refreshing beer. the sun hadn't set, but the full moon had risen and looked a lot like a gigantic pearl. it was a beautiful day and i love being outside!!!

the ride felt good and i know i will sleep well tonight.