Tea for Two

we spent the morning in Wolfesboro, NH and then continued the journey that got rained out yesterday. We drove into the country to Frsnklin and visited a lovely English garden called Tarbin Gardens. Five acres of wild, beautiful gardens, with roosters crowing, Scottish Highland cattle, peacocks, Pygmy and dwarf Nigerian goats and parrots. it was noisy with the animals but then we had a lovely English cream tea out in the garden at a tablemunder an umbrella and beside a fountain. the tiered tray of pastries was filled with homemade scones with black currant jelly and Devon cream, Eccles cakes, chocolate cake, linzer cookies and poppyseed cakes. the teapot had a handmade crocheted cost. all the food was baked by the owner of the garden. it was a delicious and lovely afternoon. In the early evening we went down to
Meredith for dinner by the lake and then onto Weirs Beach for a last night.

What time is it?

it's time to eat @a diner. so far we have eaten @ 3 classic aluminum diners. diners and Dunkin Doughnuts seem to be all over New England. the food has been great and the coffee mugs are heavy and indestructible. today we awoke to a temperature in the 60s. It was wonderful to feel cool, ESP. Since we know how hot it is at home. we visited Castle in the Clouds, the arts and craft style home of Robert and Olive Plant. he made his $$$ building and then selling what was the largest shoe factory in the world. He brought Italian stone cutters to the mountain and they cut every stone with 5 sides to make them strong. it was such labor intensive work that in one day a stone cutter could only cut and place 3 stones. on the drive back to the motel it began to storm and when we got got back to our cabin we were greeted with a pile of hail on our door step.

Happy Birthday, Kelly

today Kelly turns 27. Hard to believe so many years have gone by. while she is camping in a very rustic cabin in Vermont, bob and I have stayed in a wide range of accommodations. there are so many cottages in this part of the U.S. You never see them in such numbers farther south or west. we stayed in one "executive cottage" that was a study in brown - wood panelling, rugs, bedspreads, with no a.c. Yuck. This was oOn the hottest days that were in the 90s. The "homemade breakfast" consisted tiny dry muffins and bagels that were just taken out tof the freezer. Bad Tripadvisor! Then we stayed at a lovely cottage with a.c., a jacuzzi, fabulous breakfast, and great pub. today it's back to the 1950s with this very camp-like setting on Lake Winnipesauki. yesterday we went to Glen Ellis Falls, another beautiful riparian (i sound like Hyacynth Bouquet, don't I?) setting with waterfalls, pools and giant rocks. bob took a zip line at Wildcat Mountain and then rode the gondola to the top with me. Tonight was turkey dinner at Hart's Turkey Farm Restaurant after we toured the American Police Motorcycles Museum. the APMM turns out to be a museum full of old Indian and Harley Davidsons because those are the cycles that policemen have used most. oh, also there was a Vespa that police used in the 60s. That was a surprise. we stopped there specifically to take photos for Mark, who has a 46 Indian. I'll post pics of me on a 1948 Indian police motorcycle. Hart's is a family restaurant in Meredith NH that has been in business since 1954. they serve a ton of turkey a day! the place was packed on a Monday so that claim may be true. tomorrow we go to Castle in the Clouds.

Shelburne Farm

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Rivers and Rocks

I've never been one to swim in rivers but New England has changed my mind about that. here in the Green Mountains and the White Mountains the rivers are just made for wading in and cooling off. They are pellucid (a term learned at one of the park exhibits -it's an old word meaning "crystal clear,"), they have pools in among huge smooth rounded rocks, there are waterfalls of every size and often the rivers are running through hemlock forests so you have the fragrance of hemlock, cedar and pine trees. add in the cooling-really chilly water and you have the perfect antidote to a hot summer day. we stopped at Lower Falls and Diana's Bath here in N. Conway. I love the pools where you can just sit and enjoy the sensations very much like sitting in a Japanese Rock garden but with cool clear water instead of sand. of course the slippery rocks and waterfalls are also engaging to daredevils who i know are just one reckless slip away from a concussion. Viva la difference.

Maple syrup

here in Vermont and New Hampshire they love their maple syrup. It goes in everything. I swear that last night's barbecue sauce was loaded with maple syrup. at pancake restaurants (of which there are many) the tabletop condiments are maple syrup, maple sugar and maple spread. back at the Swiss restaurant at Wayside Inn in Bethlehem Vt, chef Victor Hoffman makes a delicious maple nut salad dressing. He gave me the recipe. Here tis:
victor's maple nut dressing
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup Dijon mustard (with grains)
1/4 cup hazelnut oil (u can substitute peanut oil)
A little orange juice.

new England Surprise - a heat advisory

today Bob and I sat across from each other, our eyes locked, our hands clasped and we vowed to NEVER EVER book a room without air-conditioning-ever,ever, ever. Our cottage a.k.a. The sweat lodge, has two fans that are useless at pushing around the hot air in this building that was once a drive thru bank. To escape the heat we took the Cog train up to the top of Mt. Washington. the cog train was the first one built in the whole world! It was built in the late 1800s. Besides incredible views from the 6288 ft summit, there is a 40 degree temperature variation between the top and bottom of the mountain. the winds at the summit were blowing at 57 miles per hour with gusts even higher. one of the buildings on the summit is tethered to the ground with chains. We have seen a lot -highlights include watching the artists at Danforth pewter spin pewter to make cups and vases. we spent half a day at Shelburne Museum which had a fabulous exhibit of fashions, 3galleries of 3d paper art, and wonderful Denzler carousel animals. That museum definitely needed at least a whole day to browse. it also had the paddleboat ,the Ticonderoga, a lighthouse and an exhibition of circus photography. Another fAvorite visit was made before we dropped Kelly off at camp. we went to the Maple View Farm, an alpaca farm in Goshen Vermont. we got to pet a3 week old alpaca, take pictures of the babies and their mothers. we learned that alpacas essentially houstrain themselves. The alpaca yarn was the softest I have ever felt -although the thought of working with yarn ( as the sweat drips onto the iPad ) is more than I can bear.

VT or bust

No sooner had Paula taken the wheel, when she hit a big pothole on the NY Thruway and blew a run flat tire on the Mini. Here's a newsflash : Run flats really don't-and nobody but a Mini dealer has these cute little tires. So, Bob and Mini got towed to the nearest dealer, 52miles away in New Jersey. Stuck @ the New Paltz exit P and K met many lovely people, hit the diner 4times, visited an eBay consignment shop and P got a manicure -ove rthe SIX hours it took Bob and Mini to return. At hour five we starting to worry that he was not coming back. 15 and a half hrs later we finished our 7 hour drive in Brandon, VT
Pictures to be added later after i figure out how to do it on the ipad

4th of July

Concord Point Lighthouse in Havre de Grace, Maryland

Wedding @ Voodoo Donuts

Our last day in Portland was a trifecta of fun: first we went to the Rose Parade where there were lots of floats, horses, princesses and even llamas in the 2 hr parade. Then as we were driving to get donuts at Voodoo Donuts Bob spotted a naked bike rider. I only saw him in the mirror - which explains why it is called the "rear view" mirror. Then, after waiting in a long line for donuts we sat down at the only table to devour ours and preparations began for a wedding! We were invited to stay and celebrate Julie and Kevin's nuptials officiated by a "minister" in some kind of blue furry animal outfit. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Sunshine returns

Last night we sat in the lobby and had fondue and wine. It was so cozy. When we went to sleep last night the whole mountain was shrouded in fog. Then at 4 a.m. we could see a string of lights moving on the mountain. The snow plows were grooming the mountain for the skiers who would come today. The sky had cleared and stars were shining in the sky. When the sun rose it was a beautiful, crisp day on Mt. Hood and the skiers were arriving.

Winter wonderland

it's hard to believe that it is in the 90's at home in VA when we are surrounded by snow here at Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood. we decided to detour from our plans and spend the night at this huge old lodge built by the WPA in the 1930's. like the other WPA projects we have visited (the Hoover Dam for instance) it is a technical marvel full of artworks in the middle of a very hostile environment. New government projects would never spend the $$$ on mosaics, hooked rugs, wood carvings, paintings, decorative and functional ironworks. Everywhere you look you see the handiwork of people who probably are now gone. Even the stairposts are carved with a forest creature on top. We still haven't seen the sun today. maybe we read the Twilight series too many times - but during the drive up the mountain through the forests, I kept expecting the vampires to come charging through the forests and attack our car. This morning we stopped in Washoula and toured the Pendleton wool factory. we saw how the fleece comes in bales froTexas, how it gets dyed, carded, spun and then woven. And there was a store outlet at the end so we could save even more money. I'll post photos tomorrow. The laptop and the photo media reader are outside in the snow. None of us wants to brave the elements to go out of the cozy lodge.

Drive thru coffee stands

Cruising the coast

The sun never broke through the clouds and it was chilly enough to have a fire in the fireplace but we saw lots of beautiful sites driving along the coast. A visit to Tillamook Cheese factory, a drive thru a little roadside espresso shop (one of many along the road), roadside wildflowers, more tidal pools at low tide, and the inspirations for Japanese gardens.

Cannon Beach

From our hotel balcony, we see Haystack Rock. In the distance it just looks like a big rock jutting from the Pacific Ocean. But, when the tide goes out, you can get up close and see that there is a whole ecosystem on and surrounding the rock. On the rock there are many colonies of birds - including lots of seagulls, muirs, nesting puffins and eagles. In the tidal pools exposed at low tide, hundreds of sea stars, anemones, mussels, barnacles, hermit crabs, and tiny fish live. It is teeming with life that has adapted to living both under and above the ocean - as the tides change. Just fascinating - and so beautiful. After the tide started coming in we headed north to Seaside and then to Astoria to see where the Lewis and Clark Expedition came to its conclusion. Today it didn't rain - so one of the volunteers at the tidal pools told us Oregonians call a day without rain a "drought."

Portland Saturday

Silly us. We came to Portland for the Rose Festival so we decided to see their world acclaimed public rose garden. THERE ARE NO ROSES! well, not in bloom anyway. The spring has been especially cold and cloudy so the roses haven't burst into bloom yet. Then we detoured over to their Japanese Garden which claims to be the best Japanese Garden outside of Japan. It did not disappoint. The weather made the carpet of moss lush and thick over everything it covered. The day was sunny so we could even see Mt Hood (The gardens own Mt. Fuji) in the distance. A guide reported that it was only the third time this year that she could point out the mountain in the distance. No roses - but spectacular rhododendrons in all colors filled the garden. It was a magical oasis in a city that seems to be overwhelmed with homeless souls wandering around. When we headed into the city for the Saturday Market we saw many, many homeless men and teens in the park on the Willamette River. A highlight of the day (for me) was a trip to Powell's Book Store - a mecca for bibliophiles. I could have spent the whole day there but the majority ruled and we only spent an hour.

Portland, Oregon

We left the hot primordial soup-like environment of Washington,DC (temp 106 degrees, 99.9 percent humidity) and arrived in cool, crisp, clear Portland. Apparently it was Portland's first sunny clear day in months - so it was extra festive. The prior day, everyone he met told Bob they were going to move because they hadn't seen the sun in so long. Between cooling waterfalls, the Columbia Gorge, snow on the mountains, fields of wildflowers in bloom and a shop called "Voodoo Doughnuts" this town seems like a winner. Today we are off to the Rose Gardens, the Saturday Market and by then it will be 9 a.m. and we will start the day :) (an inside joke for anyone who knows the frenetic pace at which Bob travels).

Bermuda cruise April 2011

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