We left the House on the Creek mostly packed, somewhat clean, and ventured forth to make our way to the House on the Cove. The Young Couple, who will occupy the House on the Creek for the next 18 months, are starting their move-in. We feel so blessed to have them be our caretakers during our extended adventure at the House on the Cove.
The drive north was largely uneventful. The first day we had downpours of rain, snow showers, and clouds. The second day we again had downpours of rain. At journey's end that day we had delectable sandwiches with Baby Bear and Boo Boo at the Deli After Dark in Dedham, MA: so good, so good! We then stayed near Baby Bear and Boo Boo for a day. Baby Bear became a member of her faith community; we went to worship with her and Boo Boo. It was a lovely service and the faith family seemed warm and welcoming. After worship, Baby Bear and Boo Boo prepared a feast - baked ham, maple and balsamic vinaigrette sweet potatoes, and green beans almondine with pineapple sorbet for dessert. Yum! Yum! The drive to the House on the Cove had some clouds, some rain, some sun, and National Public Radio all the way! The Cat was her amazing super-traveler again and seems content to have returned to her sun porch (despite it being just a tad chilly ...)
The boxes we mailed before we left have arrived, so we have much unpacking to do in the coming days. The file cabinet we purchased last year arrived over the winter and will be delivered later this week. I am hoping to get a microfiber mop for use on the floors. We had a quick trip to the remodeled grocery store in Bar Harbor - it seems quite nice and we will be back there again tomorrow to do a real shopping trip. The Cat has asked that we find her favorite - Barbara's Cheese Puffs - sometime soon, too.
The trees are beginning to bud, flowers should soon be pushing up through the ground, and the rain we are suppose to receive should help bring the May flowers. I am excited that we will get to see all of spring this year!
Showing posts with label trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trip. Show all posts
Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, May 27, 2010
She's a Traveler: Day Two of the Journey
The Cat is a Traveler! She explores hotel rooms thoroughly, peaks out the windows, and sniffs all the furniture. If she can get under the bed, she does. She listens carefully to noises from the hallway, and faithly reports the delivery of all papers under our door (a copy of the bill for the night's stay) when it arrives (yes, we have arisen early, thanked her, and gone back to sleep). In the car she settles into her carrier, and slumbers peacefully. Day Two: Mama Bear and The Cat listened to more PP&M, some really nice violin music and some Bach. It was also hot and sunny and we found more than a few areas where road/bridge maintenance was happening. I am glad to see the road work: people are working, infrastructure is being maintained. It does, however, slow the journey at times. We had a fabulous dinner at Vinny's in Somersville at day's end courtesy of Boo Boo and Baby Bear (thank you!)
Which route did we take? We went through Hartford on I-84.
Years ago, when we drove to Maine for vacation each year, we would leave the House on the Creek at 5 a.m. planning to stop for the night in the Boston, Massachusetts environs. Papa Bear, Mama Bear shared the driving (though Papa Bear prefered to drive or to be asleep when Mama Bear drove) and we always had two children (Baby Bear and a friend of Baby Bear's) in the back seat. We would drive, stopping for occasional breaks (meals, gasoline), We would arrive in Hartford, Connecticut, in late afternoon, and spend an hour or so stopped. An hour or so stopped in a car with two tired children. An hour or so stopped in a car with two tired children and a broiling sun or a torrential downpour. An hour or so stopped in a car with two tired children, miserable weather, and everyone getting a bit hungry and snacks and new toys/games depleted. An hour or so ... you get the idea. After one such experience, I spent some time looking at maps, and found we could avoid Hartford (and its traffic woes) by heading north on the Taconic Parkway and then taking the Mass Pike to Boston. It was longer distance-wise, but we kept moving, which seemed to make everyone happier, and, amazingly enough, did not consume more time: we arrived in Boston at the same time as we would have arrived traveling (and stopping on the highway) via Hartford. I vowed never to travel via Hartford again. (Never is such a long time ...)
Papa Bear, as I indicated in the post of yesterday, advocated for the Hartford route again this year. His thought was that since we would be there earlier in the day, we would have a different experience. And, to be fair, we kept moving right through Hartford. However, between the Taconic Parkway exit and Hartford, there was considerable road/bridge repair activity, and in some instances we seemed seldom to move more than a mile in a hour (or or such was the experience of Mama Bear, driving the standard transmission car with the misfunctioning air conditioner; Papa Bear may have had a different perception.) Did Mama Bear take the high ground and avoid mentioning the delay? Not on your life!! After all, what is the purpose of cell phones, especially when you are stopped and have a bluetooth headset? The call to Papa Bear, who was laughing as he answered, said, "I have two words. What are they?" Papa Bear responded, "Taconic Parkway." And we both laughed.
The exit from the Mass Pike to 95/US 1 South was amazing: I do not know that I have seen so many roads come together in one place that would require so many people to cross so many lanes in so many different directions (California freeways are better organized than this intersection, in my experience). The combination of locals who knew where they were going and moved with authority to get there and travelers who were trying to determine how to get where they needed to be and therefore moved somewhat tentatively only added to the intensity of the area. I am astonished that there are not hundreds of fender-benders or more serious accidents there each day.
One last comment: years ago when were were canoeing, the beautiful Ms. B and the handsome Mr. S were driving with us to our put-in point one fine hot summer's day. We encountered a flurry of white puffs that briefly surrounded the car briefly. "What was that?" queried Ms. B. "Snow bugs," was the deadpan answer from Mr. S. (Ms. B and Mr. S. later married, despite having differing definitions of left and right while canoeing in the same boat; distinctions about left and right are, as you may be aware, important when sharing a canoe in a river and needing to negotiate small rapids - we typically encountered east coast class I and II with an occasional III rapids.) We all enjoyed the comments that ensued from the snow bugs statement and now, anytime we encounter these seeds/petals/I-do-not-really-know-what-they-are, we call them snow bugs and think of Ms. B and Mr. S. . On this journey of ours to Maine, we have been enveloped by snow bugs as we crossed the Shenandoah River in Virginia, at a place in Pennsylvania, and again in New York (we were in a non-construction zone so the cars were moving). I just love these fleeting yet fun moments when snow bugs surround us and then vanish.
Hope to arrive at the House on the Cove by evening. Planning a dinner-in tonight. Boo Boo and Baby Bear will visit this weekend, being supplies with them. Cool, delightful weather is forecast.
Which route did we take? We went through Hartford on I-84.
Years ago, when we drove to Maine for vacation each year, we would leave the House on the Creek at 5 a.m. planning to stop for the night in the Boston, Massachusetts environs. Papa Bear, Mama Bear shared the driving (though Papa Bear prefered to drive or to be asleep when Mama Bear drove) and we always had two children (Baby Bear and a friend of Baby Bear's) in the back seat. We would drive, stopping for occasional breaks (meals, gasoline), We would arrive in Hartford, Connecticut, in late afternoon, and spend an hour or so stopped. An hour or so stopped in a car with two tired children. An hour or so stopped in a car with two tired children and a broiling sun or a torrential downpour. An hour or so stopped in a car with two tired children, miserable weather, and everyone getting a bit hungry and snacks and new toys/games depleted. An hour or so ... you get the idea. After one such experience, I spent some time looking at maps, and found we could avoid Hartford (and its traffic woes) by heading north on the Taconic Parkway and then taking the Mass Pike to Boston. It was longer distance-wise, but we kept moving, which seemed to make everyone happier, and, amazingly enough, did not consume more time: we arrived in Boston at the same time as we would have arrived traveling (and stopping on the highway) via Hartford. I vowed never to travel via Hartford again. (Never is such a long time ...)
Papa Bear, as I indicated in the post of yesterday, advocated for the Hartford route again this year. His thought was that since we would be there earlier in the day, we would have a different experience. And, to be fair, we kept moving right through Hartford. However, between the Taconic Parkway exit and Hartford, there was considerable road/bridge repair activity, and in some instances we seemed seldom to move more than a mile in a hour (or or such was the experience of Mama Bear, driving the standard transmission car with the misfunctioning air conditioner; Papa Bear may have had a different perception.) Did Mama Bear take the high ground and avoid mentioning the delay? Not on your life!! After all, what is the purpose of cell phones, especially when you are stopped and have a bluetooth headset? The call to Papa Bear, who was laughing as he answered, said, "I have two words. What are they?" Papa Bear responded, "Taconic Parkway." And we both laughed.
The exit from the Mass Pike to 95/US 1 South was amazing: I do not know that I have seen so many roads come together in one place that would require so many people to cross so many lanes in so many different directions (California freeways are better organized than this intersection, in my experience). The combination of locals who knew where they were going and moved with authority to get there and travelers who were trying to determine how to get where they needed to be and therefore moved somewhat tentatively only added to the intensity of the area. I am astonished that there are not hundreds of fender-benders or more serious accidents there each day.
One last comment: years ago when were were canoeing, the beautiful Ms. B and the handsome Mr. S were driving with us to our put-in point one fine hot summer's day. We encountered a flurry of white puffs that briefly surrounded the car briefly. "What was that?" queried Ms. B. "Snow bugs," was the deadpan answer from Mr. S. (Ms. B and Mr. S. later married, despite having differing definitions of left and right while canoeing in the same boat; distinctions about left and right are, as you may be aware, important when sharing a canoe in a river and needing to negotiate small rapids - we typically encountered east coast class I and II with an occasional III rapids.) We all enjoyed the comments that ensued from the snow bugs statement and now, anytime we encounter these seeds/petals/I-do-not-really-know-what-they-are, we call them snow bugs and think of Ms. B and Mr. S. . On this journey of ours to Maine, we have been enveloped by snow bugs as we crossed the Shenandoah River in Virginia, at a place in Pennsylvania, and again in New York (we were in a non-construction zone so the cars were moving). I just love these fleeting yet fun moments when snow bugs surround us and then vanish.
Hope to arrive at the House on the Cove by evening. Planning a dinner-in tonight. Boo Boo and Baby Bear will visit this weekend, being supplies with them. Cool, delightful weather is forecast.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
We Depart ...
Mama Bear thought we would ship non-essentials via the United States Postal Service (USPS) and pack only essentials for transport. Papa Bear thought we would pack everything into the cars. We did it Papa Bear's way. So Departure Day morning was spent packing and lugging and loading into the cars. Mama Bear was told to get out all the suitcases and duffles. Papa Bear packed his clothes into a duffle and one suitcase. Mama Bear has her clothes in three suitcases, a duffle, and another small bag and a grocery-carrier bag of shoes and a second grocery-carrier bag of assorted other assorted, necessary "stuff." (And Mama Bear left items at the House on the Creek. Mama Bear needs to learn to pack. Or maybe to dress more simply.) We have boxes of books, art supplies, binoculars, etc. The Cat has her carrier, some food, some toys, her sleep-on items.
As we moved out, the Care Taker prepared to take possession of the House on the Creek. We did not have to attend an inauguration (as the United States Chief of State must do) nor did we have to visit the Queen (as the English Prime Minister must do) so I suspect our process was much easier than theirs. Still, much happens in this type of handoff and it has been interesting - all the house quirks we have accommodated had to be fixed or, at a minimum, shared. I am hoping for a somewhat rainy summer so that the lilacs at the House on the Creek can grow a bit (if there is grass, the deer will eat it instead of the other vegetation.)
The drive proved uneventful with little traffic, little construction and great driving weather (my opinion - clouds but no rain and not too hot). Mama Bear had advocated for taking a route through the mountains; Papa Bear wanted Interstate roads, so we did it his way. It proved to be shorter by an hour. As we were late leaving, that was a huge plus! Mama Bear and The Cat listened to Peter, Paul and Mary (PPM), the Beach Boys, and the Beatles. Papa Bear had a medley he had created from his CD collection with PPM, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sarah McLaughlin, James Galloway, Hubert Laws, Herbie Mann, Norah Jones, Faith Hill, The Fifth Dimension, Starland Vocal Band, Bonnie Rait, Celine Dion, Neville Brothers and others. (Mama Bear needs some more tunes and artists!) We had frequent stops to stretch our collective legs. The hotel was easy to find. The Cat, upon arrival, promptly went under the bed. After exploring there, she gradually moved out and sniffed the entire room from top to bottom (how she managed to jump into a six-inch opening mid-height in the television armoire, I do not know, but she did.) Her favorite spot seemed to be the wide ledge at the window where she could overlook happenings on the street below.
After a restful sleep, we will depart soon for our second day's journey. Papa Bear was over-perkied this morning by the CNN announcer, so he had to switch channels to get more news and less perky. Let us hope our journey today is as easy and uneventful as the first day. Mama Bear wants to take the Taconic Parkway to the Mass Pike; Papa Bear wants to take 84 through Hartford. Guess which way we will go!
As we moved out, the Care Taker prepared to take possession of the House on the Creek. We did not have to attend an inauguration (as the United States Chief of State must do) nor did we have to visit the Queen (as the English Prime Minister must do) so I suspect our process was much easier than theirs. Still, much happens in this type of handoff and it has been interesting - all the house quirks we have accommodated had to be fixed or, at a minimum, shared. I am hoping for a somewhat rainy summer so that the lilacs at the House on the Creek can grow a bit (if there is grass, the deer will eat it instead of the other vegetation.)
The drive proved uneventful with little traffic, little construction and great driving weather (my opinion - clouds but no rain and not too hot). Mama Bear had advocated for taking a route through the mountains; Papa Bear wanted Interstate roads, so we did it his way. It proved to be shorter by an hour. As we were late leaving, that was a huge plus! Mama Bear and The Cat listened to Peter, Paul and Mary (PPM), the Beach Boys, and the Beatles. Papa Bear had a medley he had created from his CD collection with PPM, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sarah McLaughlin, James Galloway, Hubert Laws, Herbie Mann, Norah Jones, Faith Hill, The Fifth Dimension, Starland Vocal Band, Bonnie Rait, Celine Dion, Neville Brothers and others. (Mama Bear needs some more tunes and artists!) We had frequent stops to stretch our collective legs. The hotel was easy to find. The Cat, upon arrival, promptly went under the bed. After exploring there, she gradually moved out and sniffed the entire room from top to bottom (how she managed to jump into a six-inch opening mid-height in the television armoire, I do not know, but she did.) Her favorite spot seemed to be the wide ledge at the window where she could overlook happenings on the street below.
After a restful sleep, we will depart soon for our second day's journey. Papa Bear was over-perkied this morning by the CNN announcer, so he had to switch channels to get more news and less perky. Let us hope our journey today is as easy and uneventful as the first day. Mama Bear wants to take the Taconic Parkway to the Mass Pike; Papa Bear wants to take 84 through Hartford. Guess which way we will go!
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