Camp visits

Our dear friends the Sussmans left today after a week here. They sure got lucky about the week as we've enjoyed sunny 80 degree days with minimal humidity for the most part. As a result, the lake is down four feet from our arrival and has probably warmed up ten degrees. It's truly a pleasure when the sun is out. It was an active week on all fronts. The loons had their chick last Thursday and announced to great fanfare the event. After a couple of days staying close to the cove, last night we all watched them out front feeding with the little one between them. A great experience for children and adults alike. The Coaticook ice cream factory was visited with much enthusiasm, as was the gorge. And a visit to April's Maple, Serge and Donna's new venture, proved to be a valuable source of ice cream cones with special maple add ons. Two dinners at Quimby's -- the lobster bake at the rock and then Sunday prime rib were everything they could be. Tasty, good company and someone else preparing and cleaning up after dinner! Saturday the girls went riding over near Stewartstown and got to ride Lippit Morgans, who were just beautiful. Add in lots of swimming, kayaking, and canoeing and it rounds out a great week.

A week of firsts

It's been a week of firsts -- mostly for Dinah but also for us. Since arriving Friday afternoon, D has had her first swim (did fine), her first kayak ride (ditto), and today her first speedboat ride in the Boston Whaler (mine, too). Also today she jumped off the dock to swim out to us of her own accord! This from lady who didn't want to dip her toes in the water on Friday. Big steps for the little dachshund that could.

And now D is exploring another first -- cleaning off the top of the picnic table from lunch. She has taken to being tied up in the front yard with great enjoyment and runs about chasing balls and exploring. Well on her way to being a country dog. We knew she had it in her. I've also found some dachshund raincoats and parkas from a company called Noodle that look promising to help her acclimate. One thing she doesn't appreciate about the north country are the omnipresent flies who have bitten up her belly. They have focused on my feet but I share her sentiments.

In addition to sleeping nine hours a night, I've had a nap each day and it's beginning to have its effect. The nightmare of the past month is beginning to recede. Alan and Anil went to Chambly on Sunday to have lunch at the Unibroue restaurant (another first), which is almost as far as Montreal, so that was quite a drive. And then yesterday Alan took Anil to the Manchester airport and that was an all day affair as well. As a result, this is his first nap day. The lake is lapping so likely tomorrow will be an inside day; glad we took advantage of today's sun for a swim and a boat ride.

Lake still quite high and they aren't releasing any more water. We need it to go down another two inches to have a beach. More rain will take us the other way. But the lake is warming, definitely. Sometimes you take what mother nature gives you. :-)

Leaving Atlanta

Greetings from rainy Vermont. After a harrowing month of packing, selling, and saying goodbye, we finally hit the road Tuesday, July 2nd. Alan drove the Mountaineer pulling a U-Haul and Anil and I traded shifts in the Subaru. Our final days in Atlanta were so filled with details of things to be accomplished that I didn't even really feel much emotion pulling away from 1245 Briar Hills Dr. Now that we're safely at Camp, it's starting to hit me though...

But I am moving ahead of myself. Last days in Atlanta we cleaned, we packed, we threw out, we conquered. Our going away party was June 14th, the yard sale June 15th, AKF came June 17th, our final house party was June 22nd, the movers came June 24th, the movers delivered in New Hampshire June 25th, the junk guys came June 25th to cart of all of the outside debris, Kudzu antiques came the 26th to take the barrister's bookcase, the card table, the marble topped dresser, and the jigsaw table. We moved to Barb's the 24th-26th and then stayed at Anil's for the duration, leaving a confused LB home to guard the house. Had our final "haven't they moved yet?!" party at the Purple Corkscrew on the 28th, final clean out of the attic and basement on the 29th, spent the 30th attempting to rent a U-Haul which involved electrical work on the car (Chamblee-Tucker....again). Spent the 1st getting all of the last items out of the house and into said U-Haul. Again, we couldn't have done it without our friends.

And finally at about 11am on the 2nd, we pulled out of dodge. Phew. Did I mention we were tired? It was almost a relief to simply have to drive -- no decisions, just drive. Quickly discovered that the electrical work on the car wasn't done right and the trailer had no right turn signal. And it was just about the oldest model of U-Haul that I've ever seen.

{pause} yay, first hummingbird of the year just drank from the feeder I put up this afternoon!{/pause}

Stopped for lunch somewhere in South Carolina and just after lunch, the rain began. And it poured. I mean, really poured. The water was just gushing off the overpasses. The road was full of traffic, including trucks and it was just not pleasant. I had made a reservation in Roanoke, thinking that it wasn't far enough but we barely made it there. Coasted into the parking lot on fumes....Fortunately, it turned out to be a really nice hotel. Clean, spacious rooms and friendly staff. Great dog walk area and on-site restaurant with a bar. Food was ok, too. All in all I would recommend the Holiday Inn Valley Views.

Next day dawned cloudy and misty. We hit the road about 9:30am and drove uneventfully to Mt. Airy, PA, where we stayed at the Poconos Comfort Inn. OK room, although they perfumed the pet rooms most unpleasantly and even in Anil's room, there was a periodic misting that kept him up wondering what it was. I stayed with the guys while Alan and Anil got dinner (Dinah whines when left alone we discovered). All in all, I was proud of them, LB in particular. He stayed quiet in the car and adjusted to the hotel rooms quite nicely.

July 4th dawned sunny, hot, and humid. The first part of the drive through PA was lovely and easy -- little traffic and gorgeous rolling hills. But some fast, fast drivers -- easily doing 100 mph. That continued throughout the day which we thought was weird since we were expecting a heavy police presence on the holiday. I will have to say that only in VA did we see many cops. Connecticut was hard driving. Heavy traffic and older roads. It was a relief to get on I-91 and head north into MA. Stopped for a bite in Deerfield and then continued on. At the I-91-89 split, Alan and Anil headed to Wilder to the storage unit to unload the trailer and I went up to Lyme, NH where LB was scheduled to stay for the summer at Tiger Tail Lodge, a special boarding operation for cats only. TTL lived up to its reputation and he was soon ensconced into his own cat cubicle with four levels and a view down the mountain. It was hard to leave him but I think it will be much less stressful than moving four times in two months. And I almost immediately felt the relief of only having one animal to care for.

Miss Dinah D and I then checked into our last hotel, the Chieftain Motor Inn. The boys successfully returned the U-Haul and then picked up rotisserie chicken at the Coop and we spent the 4th watching fireworks over the Connecticut River. Very civilized. Up the next morning, we scooted up I-91, stopping only in West Glover for a Parker Pie lunch. Two hours later we were pulling up to Papelousu just in time for Suzy's birthday dinner. The lake is *high* -- no beach whatsoever.

Tried using Picasa to upload a picture set but it didn't seem to have a bulk upload. So, Flickr to the rescue. Really like what they are doing there.