Go East, Old People

Bear River at Bear River State Park

Many things have happened. We really are moving to Maine. In fact, we started the journey today. We have been busy with buying and selling a house, packing, dealing with the logistics of moving (Yay, John), packing packing packing. A van was delivered to our house 2 days ago. Then the guys we hired to load  it for us came yesterday. They left at 4p or so, and we cleaned until 7pm. After several nights of not-so-much sleep, we took off this morning. The car is bursting, since we not only need to make the trip, but will need to live in our house without our stuff for a couple of weeks. Did I mention logistics? Good Grief.

So! After spending the night at a friend's house (thank you guys!!!), we headed out at 8am this morning. I usually like to start a trip at 5am, but we were just too tired! We went through Idaho and Utah, and then stopped at Bear River State Park shortly after entering Wyoming. This is a favorite of ours, and we realized that we might never pass through it again. Like so many things about this move, it was bitter sweet. When you move this far when you're this old, being realistic about your chances of returning is part of the process.

Bear River State Park Proximity to Evanston WY

Bear River is one of those wide flat rivers, more typical of rivers in the mid-west than in the west. The state has done a terrific job with this park. There are a ton of picnic areas, and trails for hiking. Clean bathrooms. The stuff of life. We gave Jasper a long one, and sat down to a picnic of the odd assortment of foods that we ended up with. 

 

 

Grazing elk at the park. Check out those antlers. . .

This park is also such an asset to the city of Evanston. 

We ended up staying in Rock Springs Wyoming tonight. The lack of public land here is so glaring. It is also a morass of strip malls and hotels. I wanted to walk to the grocery store, which is quite close to the hotel, but it is both unsafe and unpleasant, so we did the American thing and got back in the car. Small sigh.

Our favorite Traveling Companion

Wyoming is also impressive for the lack of masks being worn. It is a high infection state, and yet. . . I was one of the only people in a crowded grocery store who was masked. This stand continues to perplex me. . and more than that, I actually felt vulnerable today. It would really be great if we can make it to our new home without becoming sick. (!) 

Big excitement tomorrow. We'll be staying in North Platt, Nebraska!

Weary Travelers All

Lake McConnaughy in Nebraska

 It has been weeks since I've written. Please forgive me. We have had some wonderful visits with old friends and John's sister since I last wrote, We are all healthy and we will be back in Boise tomorrow, if all goes according to plan. I'll keep my comments brief, since I'm on my battery, and most of my photos are hard-to-get-to. Today is Wednesday. We started our slow gallop across the country (from Fairfield, PA) on Sunday. Our last night is here in Green River, Wyoming. I will work backwards once I get home to a better computer setup, but wanted to touch base one last time from the road.

A hike in an Iowa State Park

A good friend of ours in Pennsylvania asked me if I considered myself a climate refugee. It didn't take a lot of thought for me to say "Yes. I do.". We are going back to a predicted 5 days of triple digit weather in Boise. The smoke has been visible from Maine through Wyoming, though much worse as we traveled West. Our trying to escape to Maine is likely futile, since they will also not be immune to drought, increasing heat, and even wildfire. It makes me so sad. And now disease is once again escalating as much of our populace remains ignorant and foolish. 

I am tired, and will make sure my outlook is better when I next write. Fear and sadness will not change things, but perhaps the closing lovely photos will at least bring smile. 

Rock Creek Park seen in Iowa

Jasper, by the way, has continued to be a hero and a bright light. He has tolerated long stretches in the car, and been joyous on walks. We joke that we are driving from walk to walk. We lucked out with a lovely day in Wyoming today. . . mid-80's, and we found a municipal park in Rawlins for a picnic, thorough dog-brushing, and some Frisbee throwing.

After the Frisbee chasing

Winding down in Belgrade

 

View from the Adirondack, 8:30a

One can't really develop a routine in 6 days, but we came close. John-the-elder and John-the-younger took off in the boat to fish at about 7am, I took Jasper for a walk, Sarah went for a run, and then I was back for coffee, the Idaho Statesman and a lake sit until the others got home. It always takes us a while to figure out how to vacation.

Yesterday, we headed to Freeport, home of L.L. Bean at noon or so to see the place, the town, and visit Wolf's Neck State Park for a walk. John-the-younger also wanted to see the ocean in these parts. Jasper lounged in a shaded car while we shopped and ate a little Ben and Jerry's, then we headed out to the park, which is a short drive from Booming Downtown Freeport. The weather started to turn about then, and by the time we were hiking, it was blowing rain and salt water. No crowds! And we had 2 umbrellas and wonderful views. Hard to complain.

Wolf's Neck in the rain

It's hard to see from the images how hard the wind was blowing, but we found a sheltered spot and watched. And watched. It really was beautiful, in that stormy New England Coast way. John-the-elder and I have been here before when the kids were young. We remembered the view of the osprey nest. Yes. The osprey made several appearances in the stormy weather, along with a couple of cormorants (who were undeterred by the weather) and a fishing boat in the bay.

Wolf's Neck view

After the stroll in the rain, we headed to The Maine Beer Company, which was a brewery that Sarah and JTY had researched. Sarah had made reservations, and we had a great table in the absolutely fabulous HUGE brew house. We ordered some pizzas that were wood-fired and delicious. The brew house limits you to 90 minutes at a table, which was just about right.

Evening cast

The weather has been unsettled today, and we're all too aware that this is our last day. Checkout time tomorrow is 10a. When did check out times get this early? We have dinner tonight at The Village Inn and Tavern; a place that specializes in Duck dishes, and Sarah and I have vowed to go for one more swim, regardless of the weather.

Unsettled weather

The house inspection did not go as well as hoped, but for now, all we can do is wait until the sellers get a copy. We leave tomorrow to visit friends in Merrimack, New Hampshire. It's funny how being on the road seems so normal, now. It was soooo nice, though, to unpack for a week, and spend time with Sarah and John.

A Day on Long Pond

 

The view from the house

The bid for the house was accepted. So many details to attend to, but most managed by phone. What a relief. So we set about the work of enjoying our cabin on a lake. John left at 6a to go fishing, though apparently the fish didn't wake up until some time later. Jasper and I wandered down to the lake, coffee in hand (mine) to sit on the dock and soak up the ambience of a large glacial lake. 

Sitting on the upper dock

It was clear and utterly empty. Later in the day, a haze from the Western wild fires would hang over the area, but for this moment, it was clear, quiet, full of coffee and thoughts.

Truth be told, I woke up at 2am and thought "Are we nuts? What have we done?" But as I went over the details of the house, I couldn't find a wrong thing about it for us. We are climate refuges, but as the smoke told us today, there is really no escape. My only consolation now is that Maybe. . . Maybe. . . some percentage of the deniers will be slapping their foreheads and saying "Maybe this is real".

Fly fishing lessons

Tomorrow is the house inspection, so the kids can see it too. And verify our good judgement. Or not. This evening promises some rain, so we'll sit on the deck under a canopy, eat lobster roll and other assorted Maine Delights, finishing up with a Birthday Blueberry pie with Ice-cream (made from the little native blueberries. . . Vaccinium angustafolium. . . that grow here) to celebrate Sarah's birth. Another year.

I'll close with some images of the trees that grow in this part of the world. I didn't know I missed them until I saw them again.

The lake framed by Eastern White Pine

White Birch and Cedar

Belgrade Lakes. . . you can't exactly go home. . .

We arrived at our cottage on Long Pond in Belgrade Lakes on Saturday. Jasper took to the place right away, though to be fair, his bed seems to make every place home. A good thing, since we have been on the road for more than three weeks now.

I had lost heart regarding finding a new home. New Hampshire and Vermont came up empty. How does one explain when a place simply doesn't feel right?

The good news is that this was the real vacation time. Sarah and John-the-younger arrived at 7:30p or so, and we had dinner together, and fell into an easy rhythm. Then, on Sunday, we left them to their own devices with Jasper, and went house hunting with M, our newly found real estate agent. The first house we saw was spectacular, though not a waterfront property. We spent the rest of the day chasing down places that we had seen on Zillow. We were inevitably disappointed. But the memory of the first place kept us going, and by 7p, we bid M adieu, promising to get back to her regarding that first house after a nights sleep. And consideration. We found ourselves so excited about it. We drove through nearby Waterville, where Colby college lives, along with several other colleges and community colleges, reconsidered the solar panels and spectacular layout of that first place, and decided to submit a bid. We did this knowing that 2 bids had already been submitted. Long story short, our bid was accepted, and the wheels have been put into motion. What excitement. What terror. What. What have we done?

Still, it feels right, if overwhelming. And now we can spend some time enjoying this place on a huge lake, swim, eat, drink, be with our family. And make our plans. I have been remiss in documenting this place, and I will remedy that situation tomorrow.
 

Rediscovering Boothbay Harbor

 

A wide creek through the woods

We're staying at a motel in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. This was a bit of a consolation prize, since I had tired of planning for a couple of weeks in February, and then tried to book a dog friendly place-with-kitchen to no avail when I finally got back to it. So I booked a motel. The old fashioned kind. I think this is an American invention, that started with the building of interstate highways across the country. Those must have been heady days. . a time when we, as Americans and as a country, could agree to spend significant funds on something that benefited us all. What a crazy idea. Anyway, motels let us back into a parking space, and unload completely into our own door in a room. Reasonably sized. . .king bed, not-king-refrigerator, microwave, standard tub for a standard shower in a standard bathroom. Very wonderful, really. 

Closeup of a water plant. . I know not what. . .

The amazing thing that we've discovered in this town that we were quite familiar with 25 years ago, is that there are a bunch of Preservation areas with trails to walk. In fact, one is across a small footbridge by our motel. It's called the Penny Lake Trail. I told John that I would love to live next to something like this in our next house, so that I can take off with Jasper on early mornings to walk in the cool of morning, complete with mist and frog and bird voices, and wander about on trails for an hour or so. Jasper, of course, gets lots of smells to fill his dreams, as well as ample time and place for his ablutions. 

The woods at Penny Lake

Fortuitously, we ran into a young man who maintains the trails on our second foray, which was called Pine Tree Preservation Area. He told us about the other trails in the area that he was hired to manage. He was handsome and physical. . . exactly the kind of guy I would have fallen for as a 20-something. Well-educated, as revealed by his speech, too. He told us about other trails in the area, so we walked the Linekin Trail today, which ended in a beautiful vista of one of the innumerable bays that define the coastline of Maine. What a place.

Orange and Purple fungi

But it wasn't just about the big stuff. We saw an abundance of plants and fungi. Here is a purple fungi that I asked a friend of mine to help me identify. She thinks it's a purple coral fungus. Beautiful and strange. The other, more conventional looking fungi was cool as well. 

Tomorrow we head for the endpoint of our Maine visit. . .Belgrade Lakes. We'll get to see Sarah and John-the-younger for a week. Lucky us. As usual.

The view from Limekin Trail

A new Mantra. . or Song

New Hampshire to Maine, with a foray into Vermont

 

Summer park, winter ice rink

We spent 3 days in Nashua New Hampshire. The drive there was really tough. . .navigating around New York City proved more challenging than the route around Chicago a couple of weeks ago. 

But Nashua was an interesting place. Our lodging was pretty dreadful. . . tiny, cramped, an advertised kitchen that didn't exist, as well as AC that didn't cool. Good WiFi and netflix access, though. And the town is pretty cool, in a rough-and-tumble way. We loved the fact that this large park we found to stroll with Jasper is actually an ice rink in the winter. That's how cold it gets, and remains! There were a bunch of nice dog friendly patios, and an absolutely wonderful bakery as well. On our way out of town, we discovered the river walk area in the city. There are huge old factories standing that are being converted to condos. Very old industrial buildings that speak of a pragmatic past.

. . . turned to living space

And walking space. . .

We spend one of our Nashua days driving 3 hours to Mt. Tabor Vermont to see a house that was ever-do-tantalizing on Zillow. It had some wonderful features, but turned out that it was a good thing we got to see it. It was in deepest darkest Vermont. . .beautiful, but close to. . . very little. Manchester, VT is a cute town. . .but a little too cute for us. It was great to drive through Vermont, though. It's not called the Green Mountain State for nothing.

However, we returned home to our not-so-great AirBnb absolutely exhausted, and ate what we could find for dinner. It was ok. All part of the learning curve.

AND! Today, we reached our destination state: Maine. I am hopeful that we will be able to find what we're looking for. We're in touch with a realtor named Marjorie, and will see some homes in South central Maine on Sunday. In the meantime, we had another wonderful dinner on a deck in Boothbay Harbor. These forays are tough on Jasper, so I'm SOOO glad that the weather is cooling so that he can wait in the car, instead of on a deck above large bodies of water. It really was lovely. The food was good.  . not great. . .my second lobster roll and a great glass of California Pinot Gris.

View from the deck

The place, Mine Oyster, offered beautiful views and inadequate staffing. But we had our patient heads on, adult beverages, and all the time in the world. How lucky are we? And then the rain came through. . once again beautiful, and again we were protected by an awning.

Some images. . . .

How the IPhone sees the rain

How I see a yacht