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Day 8 -- Avonlea

2010-07-29T14:04:00Z

We started Day 8 by going to one of those antigue photo places -- a mobbed one -- and having an old time photo taken as a cowboy and a saloon girl. Fun. And then we got ourselves back to Cavendish and into the village of Avonlea.

We each received an Anne Passport going in -- it's a wonder I didn't try to hand that to customs coming home -- and there was a Maritime music band there, three island gentlemen -- 2 Acadians by there own explanation, and a half Acadian -- and the music they made with spoons and one drum and a fiddle and an accordian was fun, astonishing and irresistible.

One of them asked me if I was french because, he said, I had Acadian features and could be mistaken for an islander. I took that as a huge compliment, adding in, of course, his charming gift for gab.

We went to school:

and listened to Miss Stacy teach

and as we were heading toward the fishing shanty were the mini concert was

who comes racing merrily down the street but

Anne and Diana. Oh my.

When I asked if I could get a picture with them, they were cheerful and friendly and said something like We are bosom friends, and I said I know. I have a Diana of my own, and Anne said You have a bosom friend, too? And I said Yes, and this picture's for her.

And it is.

The mini concert was funny and wonderful, and we grabbed a Maritme music CD from these guys on the way out.

And then we wandered and enjoyed

went into Rachel's house

and the church nearby

and then caught sight of this

and followed the road back to the pastures

where the animals were friendly and offered themselves up for much petting

This horse liked Stew much better than he liked me, nuzzling him and all. I found myself a lovely little donkey to pet and scratch, and now I want one. That's nothing new. I want every animal I see.

As you can see, the salt air and wind does wonders for my hair. I don't care. I love it there.

I really like goats, too.

And this little finster was so cute I almost passed out. I mean, look at that FACE.

There were more animals, piglets and chickens and turkeys and we visited all of them. Avonlea is fabulous.

The day wasn't over yet, so we headed out to the birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery which I would highly recommend because it is full of beautiful memoribilia and photographs.

This is the house she was born in, and here's a replica of her wedding dress:

This place is a wonderland and it pays beautiful tribute to her life.

You could spend a week here and still not see everything.

This is the room Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in.

It's an astonishing thing, standing there.

And a sadder thing, here.

And on the way back to the cabin, we encountered this beauty

Who was hot and tired and gracious enough to pause for photos

and then turned and trotted away from the road, thank goodness. Just beautiful.

Day 9 we go to the Dalvay-by-the-Sea, a lovely old hotel that was (somehow) used as The White Sands in Anne of Green Gables, and we're going to high tea. I've wanted to go to a high tea for ages, and it was better than I expected.

But that's for tomorrow.

Day 7 -- Kitchen Witch

2010-07-27T12:46:00Z

Day 7 dawned beautiful up on PEI so we decided to spend the day exploring on the Harley. We cruised down to Cornwall near Charlottetown, to Red Rock Harley Davidson and did some shopping:

and then wandered the outskirts of Charlottetown. A cruise ship had docked and the passengers were disembarking at the time, so the streets were mobbed and the traffic being directed by police. I had the map in my back pocket and kept checking it for ways out, and we ended up taking a brief tour and heading back out into the countryside in search of The Kitchen Witch, a tearoom I'd been keeping my eye on for a while.

Quick story.

About ten years ago, more or less, I'd been online searching out places on PEI, hoping to get up there on vacation and I found a real estate sale ad for The Kitchen Witch, a funky little store and tearoom on acreage for a very good price. I got hugely enthused and started showing it to my family and chattering about buying it and moving up there. I didn't get to, obviously, but I never forgot it and now, today, we were on our way out to find it.

And we did.

It had changed in the years since the original RE ad, according to the lovely woman from Texas who had purchased it. Someone else had bought it before her (that was back when I was wanting to) and let it go to some disrepair, and then sold it to her and her husband, and they were in the process of bringing it back to its former funky glory.

I love funky, offbeat places like this and so we went in and had delicious homemade fresh blueberry gelatos, and then I decided to have my tea leaves read because I've never done that before and so why not?

It was fun and interesting, and apparently I have three big, happy incidents to look forward to, one right after the other. There was more, of course, and it was fascinating watching the reader study and interpret the cup.

I asked the owner if there were any nice beaches around, unmanned ones since they were the least crowded, and she gave us perfect directions to this lovely place:

And so we got to spend another beautiful afternoon relaxing, sunning and beachcombing.

A lone jellyfish, riding the ripples.

This is the road we came in and out on. Flowers -- roses, primroses and Queen Anne's Lace -- lined the beautiful red dirt.

We found a nice restaurant, stopped for dinner and strolled the wharf.

Full, happy, and windblown, headed back to the cabin to relax, as tomorrow was Avonlea.

Yes, I would go back.

Hall of Fame

2010-07-26T13:36:00Z

I can't believe how far behind I am in posts. I just finished the brief, second half of Day 6 of the road trip up to PEI (the entry below this one) and so this post is kind of a compilation of stuff that's happened this week.

It was hot, hot, hot and so we took a leisurely bike ride to an amusement park and met some ducks along the way

and wandered through a historic carousel animal museum, which was really cool

Found a little chocolate shop and had a delightful and refreshing chocolate/peanut butter coolatta (or ice smoothie, whichever you prefer) and went on some rides. This was the one that reminded me how I'm so not a thrill seeker.

Fun summer day, and then we finished the week by heading up to the 2010 Induction Ceremonies (Andre Dawson, Whitey Herzog and more) at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown because this year they were including John Fogerty's 'Centerfield' and we wanted to see it happen.

It was really great to see John Fogerty in person, hear him sing and be in the same place as 50 Hall of Fame members, including Tom Seaver, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ozzie Smith, Gary Carter, Pete Rose and (obviously) way more names than I can remember.

The crowd puzzled me though, big time. I mean, if this was a dream-come-true moment for kids and baseball fans alike, if this was the ultimate of the ultimate, then why in the world were 99% of the people there in the wide open field sitting down the whole time? It's like they were glued to their camp chairs, or they were watching it from their living rooms in their Barcaloungers. I don't get it. It was televised on MLB and what were the cameras going to show, a bunch of people sitting there eating and that's it? We were standing at the fenceline and caught crap for it, which I thought was really weird because it was an exciting EVENT, and at exciting EVENTS it would seem like standing up and clapping and taking pictures would be a good thing.

Ah well, what do I know, anyway. But it was really astonishing that some lady sitting back on the grass actually got up to tell two short, little kids standing next to us to sit down so she could see. Uh...this might have been those kids' dream...and she did manage to hoist herself up to tell them to sit down -- so of course then they couldn't see at all -- but now she could, so that was all right. Really bizarre.

This world is getting funky on me. Concerts have gone from really cool, anything goes music affairs to rock to, to some kind of strange, sanitized stuff yourself with nachos and giant cheeseburgers and bring all the kiddies and stay seated like it's a family picnic thing, instead of a CONCERT. Why are you complaining that people are standing up and dancing in front of you? It's a CONCERT. The main event is not to settle in and EAT, it's the music. I wouldn't care if the courtesy was extended in both directions -- I stand up and dance, you stay seated and eat, and we both enjoy the show our own way -- but it isn't, and that's just not right.

Maybe I'll start a revolution.

Ahhhh. Anyway.

John Fogerty did great.

Recognize anyone?

We headed into the Hall of Fame and it's amazing, full to the brim of memorabilia.

And a cow. Is this my new lot in life? Cows? All of a sudden they seem to be cropping up everywhere. (Ha, get it?)

John F's bat guitar and notes on Centerfield.

How bout them Mets?

I was a big fan in the Keith Hernandez, Daryl Strawberry, Mookie Wilson, Dwight Gooden, Lenny Dykstra, Gary Carter, etc days and now I'm thinking about coming back. Seriously.

When we left the HOF we strolled around, got a watermelon ice and giant pretzels, and enjoyed. On the way home we passed this glorious field of sunflowers

Great day.

Day 6 - Part 2

2010-07-26T13:22:00Z

Once we left Green Gables, we headed over to the site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's grandparents' house, where she grew up.

They had a small museum and a very nice dog

and the grounds were gorgeous.

LMM's grandparents' house isn't standing anymore but the foundation still exists
as do all the paths she walked to get to the post office and to get home.

It was beautiful, and a peaceful, satisfying way to end the day. We still have Avonlea, which was a joy, and more.

Out and About

2010-07-25T11:20:00Z

This is not the second half of Day 6 yet because we've been out galavanting again and I've fallen behind.

It was so beautiful that we took the bike out for the day, went to lunch and then down to an amusement park in the woods, a funky place that reminded me very much -- especially the Haunted Mansion -- of Seaside, down at the Jersey shore, in the 70s.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of thrill rides and I haven't been back on a rollercoaster since I almost fell out of one way back in 8th grade, but I did go on this aerial tram ride up and down a mountain -- after drinkng a delicious chocolate and peanut butter icy coolatta, and then a fresh lemonade (think curdling here, kids) -- and confirmed that yes, I am still not a fan of dangling great heights for no good reason.

But it was still fun, and a great day.

We also headed to a county fair but it was so bloody hot when we got there that we didn't even go in. No, instead we went into a giant Chinese buffet restaurant and indulged in the AC.

Today there's other mischief afoot. See you soon!

Day 6 -- Green Gables!

2010-07-23T03:14:00Z

Before I begin the first half of the Day 6, which was an amazing day the way dream-come-true days are -- I just want to say that last night there was a very large bear not two feet outside on open window, with his head in a garbage can. He and my bf came face-to-face with only a screen in between. Happily, the bear trotted off without incident and didn't come back.

Yet.

Anyhow, Day 6 was cloudy and sprinkly but who cares? We were finally headed to Cavendish, to Green Gables.

Just saying it blows me away. Green Gables. And I was not the only one lost in a happy fictional world. One day at lunch a group of Japanese tourists were at the table behind us. They all ordered lobster dinners, and the interpreter spoke for them. What made this most delightful was that they had an Anne with them att he table, a live girl dressed as Anne who sat and ate lobster and everyone was beaming and it was totally bizarre but totally understandable at the same time. If I got my info right, Anne of Green Gables has been translated into 17 languages -- Ha! as an author, I can only dream -- and the island gets over a million Anne fans a year. Even though we all know that Anne is a fictional character, it's still like she's as real as can be and everything about her makes you smile.

Any oh my, those tourists were smiling.

I saw this, and I swear my heart started pounding.

The visitor center was great. They had portraits of Lucy Maud Montgomery and a scrapbook and a short film.

and then, most thrillingly, it was thru the doors and out to the Green Gables property, which began with a big barn with a buggy, tack, a milking room, hay and all the normal farm equipment for their time period.

I know, I know. Animals, even fake ones, draw me in. The last time I went to Disney/Universal, there was a Triceratops in a stable recovering from a wound, and the glee I felt posing for a picture with it was totally bizarre. (Especially since Ankylasauruses are my favorite, along with Brontasauruses. Sp?) So, here's Anne's Jersey cow.

In this room they had photos and info on life back then -- did you know Lucy MM was orphaned at age 21 months? -- of Anne's cow, which had been a gift from Matthew.

(And yes, yes I know, the lines of reality are blurred here but just go with me, people.)

In the back of the room I spotted some familiar faces. They were making and handing out homemade vanilla ice cream which was, without doubt, the richest and best I've ever had. And here's where, for one minute in time, I got to stand between Anne, Diana, Ruby or Josie (I never asked) and Miss Stacy. **blissful sigh**

And then it was outside, and there it was.

There were other people there, of course, but it didn't feel like it. There is magic in this air. It's true.

Standing in the front doorway, looking out at the gardens, which are gorgeous.

There are woods (Haunted Woods) and big, beautiful green rolling fields. We went inside the house, but the only picture I'm going to post is of Anne's room because you need to see the rest for yourself.

We lingered as long as possible and then stepped out and decided to take a stroll.

The Lover's Lane trail was marked with signs like these:

It was hushed and beautiful.

We came out here:

And there it was. A windy poplar.

We went back to the little bakery/coffee chop on site, and got coffee and pastries (yum) and then wandered into the gift shop (of course) where I indulged myself. The journey was from from over though, because next we were off to the site of Lucy Maud Montgomery's home in Cavendish, which was her grandparents' farm where she grew up.

I have to split Day 6. Be back soon.

Day 5 -- Evangeline

2010-07-21T14:00:48Z

Okay, now where did I leave off?

The first night in the cabin was good, and the next morning we were up and out and in search of breakfast. This is the seashell giraffe standing out in front of the PEI Toy Company up the road, and while I'm not a big fan of lawn ornaments, this is one I wouldn't mind hosting.

It was supposed to be a warm, cloudy, misty day so we left the bike back at the cabin and decided to head southwest to the Evangeline Trail, and the Acadie influence. Abrams Village was the target and the song in my head was this beauty .

And here's the fun part about PEI: wait a half hour and there's a good chance the weather will change, especially when the forecast says partly cloudy with spots of sun.

Well, we took a pretty good tour of the area but never did find Abrams Village. I don't know whether it was me or the way the roads were marked (in retrospect, it seems the signs were placed a good way before your turns, and then the turns not marked at all, so it wasn't uncommon for us to pass a little dirt road with no sign and me to go, about a half mile later when no big marked turn showed up, "Um, remember that little dirt road with the cow in the field? I think that might have been the turn." Sigh.)

But our exploring turned to gold because we ended up along bays and shoreline, and since the day had turned lovely, we decided to see if we could get closer to the water. One of the funky things about the shoreline is that there are tons of little red dirt roads leading to the water, only if you look at them really closely, you will see a tiny little PRIVATE under all the street names that only host houses. I, of course, missed the small print for the excitement of meandering down a Skylark Lane did not notice the PRIVATE at first and so we ended up in several peoples' front yards and had to turn around and start again. It's a very gracious island.

And then we found a public red dirt road that led down to the shore and with the exception of one other couple, had the beach to ourselves:

The water was pretty warm and colored red by the sand. We walked and climbed and beachcombed for hours, and had a blast.

There was a changing house there and bathrooms, and that's it. No foodstands, or boardwalk. No crowds. This is my favorite kind of beach.

Alas, no bathing suits either but we just rolled up our jeans and went out in the surf. We also found real mermaid hair:

And yeah, okay, if you put this stuff on a manatee I guess I can see how sailors in the olden days decided they were sea sirens because it undulated really beautifully.

This was the road out of the beach.

The scent, the breeze, the view. Sigh.

There were a fair amount of these little lighthouses around.

And lord have mercy, the happiest cows I've ever seen:

And why not? With the exception of being passed at 80 mph everywhere we went, this place is like a pretty, happy dream you don't want to wake up from. There are flowers EVERYWHERE, thousands of wild roses, primroses, the wild lupines, daisies, queen anne's lace, just everywhere. It is the most vividly-colored, tidiest place I can think of. The air is clean and smells of the ocean or french fries or flowers. The farms and houses are lovely. Everything is backlit by a wide open sky.

And we hadn't even gotten to Green Gables yet but that's coming. Oh my, yes.

Road Trip -- Day 4

2010-07-19T15:14:00Z

Day 4

The Bay of Fundy was gorgeous in the morning, with the beautiful german sherherd Kailey romping on the beach (her owners told us they got her from a Humane Society, which was doubly as wonderful) and the astounding sight of a big, fat, fuzzy bunny grazing her way across the motel lawn not six feet away:

Absolutely enchanting.

And then we found this lovely heart stone along the shore, which seemed like another good omen.

And then I found a souvenir shop -- yes, I am a very thorough tourist -- and got to say hey to a very tall pirate.

So we headed out because today we were supposed to get to Prince Edward Island, and our camping cabin in the New Glasgow Highlands. Now, I've never been tent-camping but I've spent many a week RVing and I like having walls around me when I need them, so this seemed a good compromise. The cabins were tucked into the woods and had decks and picnic tables and electricity and wi-fi but no running water which meant no bathrooms. All the water-sports were supposed to take place at the main shower house/bathrooms. This I'd done before RVing and didn't seem like a trial to me, except for the terrible visions I had of getting up in the middle of the night and wandering around in the dark, trying to find the bathroom without my lenses in and only half-awake. There are supposedly no bears or moose on PEI, only foxes, an occasional coyote and other small wildlife but in the middle of the night, anything with teeth would look huge and menacing, I'm sure.

Anyhow, we took off and if there's one thing I can say about New Brunswick -- besides that it's gorgeous -- is that they have more pine trees just along this one road than I've ever seen or even imagines, in my life. Trillions, and I'm not kidding. Uncountable trillions. Gave me hope for the future.

And speaking of hope, we were still on high alert for moose.

But again, no dice. What we did see, however, were flowers in huge, beautiful drifts, more than I could ever imagine.

And what I liked best was that no one was fussing, calling the Queen Anne's Lace weeds and trying mow them down.

And then we came to The Confederation Bridge, long, high, astonishing and easy

Excited? Me? OMG, yes.

And maybe this is real and maybe it isn't but I will say this: for the entire week we were on PEI, the colors were more vivid -- the grass greener, the sky bluer the red roads true. Because of the potatoes, the air in places is scented with french fries and most strangely -- which delighted me in its charming weirdness -- the cows are very pretty. Relaxed. Clean. Hanging out. They are the most laid back, unstressed, happy looking cows I've ever seen. They lay around soaking up sun and smiling small, knowing, cow smiles, and I swear to you we actually saw several of them romping. Yes. Romping cows. This place is not called the gentle island for nothing.

I almost fell out of the car seeing this in person.

We found the camp cabin and were really pleasantly surprised because the place was spotless, becautifully laid out and each cabin was pretty private, so we off-loaded the bike and unloaded the truck.

We found out there was a huge country music concert -- Summerfest -- in Cavendish that weekend bringing in 40,000 - 50,000 concert-goers so we decided to put off heading up there until the weekend concert was over and most of the fans had left. Instead, we took the bike out for a ride and ended up having dinner at one of my most favorite places ever, the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company.

This place is gorgeous, fabulous and has the best selection of island preserves ever, including blueberry and raspberry with champagne, and lemon-ginger with amaretto. (Both of which I bought, and more. WAY more.) Not to mention their bone china mugs and tea sets and teas and local crafts. Plus, they're on a river and the view out the giant windows is stellar whie you eat:

And they've created a huge, gorgeous Garden of Hope with a cottage specifically set up for terminally ill people to come and stay and refresh their souls. I cannot tell you how joyful it felt to be there amidst the sculptures, rolling lawns and cottage garden fulls of flowers.

After dinner and exploring on the bike, we headed back to the cabin, uncorked a bottle of wine to celebrate and hung out playing the guitar, listening to the crows feed their babies and learning the rhythm of the camp as dusk turned to darkness.

It was so good to be there.

And Away We Go! Days 1, 2, 3

2010-07-18T03:53:00Z

Sorry to take so long between posts but it's been a really fun and exciting couple of weeks. We got it together and went on a road trip to a place I've been dreaming of for about 20 years, and just never managed to get to.

You see, it all started with Lucy Maud Montgomery, Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworh, Schuyler Grant and their spectacular Anne of Green Gables.

Yes, I am an Anne fan. Just thinking about her makes me smile. And watching this version of Anne makes me cry. Alot.

Happy tears. You gotta love 'em.

DAY 1

So anyway, we'd planned to take about two weeks and make the road trip up as relaxed and enjoyable as possible, so we stuck the Harley in the back of the truck (the roads up in PEI seem made for beautiful bike rides), packed the backseat with everything you could possibly imagine, found a wonderful pet-sitter, planned a route and armed with cameras, video camera, coolers filled with fun food and tunes cranking, we hit the road Tuesday morning, July 6th. (I have video clips of a bunch of stuff but have to figure out how to convert them, so...)

It was a blast. The weather was gorgeous, and we took scenic routes out of PA, drove up through NY (where we stopped and had blueberry muffins and cold drinks on a picnic table in the shade), into Vermont

and pulled off onto a very secondary road along a lovely river to get out and stretch and relax in the shade along the river for a while.

It was gorgeous and spirits were really high. The Green Mountains were (dare I say?) awesome and we stopped at a look-out store high up on Hogshead Mountain (I think it was HH), ravaged their maple syrup collection and left with delicious vanilla and strawberry milkshakes.

We made it to Concord, NH that first day and the ride was great, although the highway we took to get in suddenly ended and was riddled with road work (the whole east coast is riddled with road work, apparently, and we caught quite a bit of it) so it was an er, challenge finding the first hotel. We did though, and hallelujah, ordered take-out salads and lovely breadsticks from the room and just lounged out and planned Day Two's course.

DAY 2

The next morning we had the WORST coffee in the world, so we packed ourselves up and headed straight for the nearest Dunkin Donuts. That revived out spirits, and so we headed across NH, where we started seeing moose:

and other funky and interesting things:

and stopped to check out this really interesting bridge and I cannot remember whether that baby was in NH or Maine, so.

We stopped at a little store and bought bananas and muffins and were taking the scenic route up the coast of Maine and coming into the state low, so I thought we'd be driving right along the ocean -- wrong -- and while the traffic was thick, the scenery was still interesting. Camden was gorgeous, the houses weathered by the sun and wind, and the cottage gardens full of flowers were to die for. We drove and drove and watched for live moose (none) but oh, it was just beautiful anyway. The fresh salt scent of the sea, the pines, the breeze...

We decided to spend our second night out in Acadia, and people, this is one breathtaking park. I would go back there in a heartbeat because there was no way to do and see everything in the time we had. But we tried! We took the Park Loop road and made it up Cadillac Mountain

and it's a shame the Cat Ferry doesn't run from here anymore, because when we first began planning this trip we were going to take the car ferry up to Nova Scotia. Ah well, it sits in dock.

Frenchman's Bay was so beautiful. The whole park was beautiful.

Boulders and stone surfaces everywhere, and I'm wearing wedge-heeled sandals. Inappropriate footwear is my lot in life. .

There's a wildlife sanctuary up here too, that I found out about too late, darn it but the animals are given lifetime homes and their interaction with strangers is very limited. I really wanted to make a reservation and get in there but PEI was calling and I wanted that more. (And this gives me a concrete reason to go back.)

So, we went into Bar Harbor and wandered around down on the dock by the water and I made do with this lovely guy.

Then we went out to have a Maine lobster dinner, and this was an experience in itself.

I kicked this one off with a lovely watermelon frozen dacquiri because I was a little iffy about what came next. I've never eaten a whole lobster before -- I hate to know that a live being is dying just for me -- and while the tail and claws were good, I'll never do it again. I am just not someone who can blithely crack a body in half and set its upper torso on the table to stare at me while I devour its appendages and tail. But I gave it a shot -- even the bib -- and laughed through dinner because it was fun being tourists.

Downtown Bar Harbor was mobbed and so we explored a bit but it had been a long day full of sea air and excitement, so we headed back to our motel, a charming little vintage place, for coffee and some R&R because tomorrow was going to be a blast.

We were headed up into New Brunswick, Canada to the Bay of Fundy.

DAY 3

We left Acadia the next morning and headed up Route 1 for the Canadian border. We were going to cross into New Brunswick at Calais, and had all of our documents ready. (Or so we thought.) Funny, how there was almost no traffic after Ellsworth, and although the day started out misty and foggy, it got hot and gorgeous pretty fast.

We were still keeping a sharp eye out for moose but they must have been laying low because we remained moose-less.

The scenery was breathtaking,

And then we found ourselves in Calais, Maine, at the border, in a small line of cars waiting to go through.

And that was when the amnesia set in, although I didn't know it until we pulled up and the customs agent gave us the cool eyeball, took our passports and said, "Where are you from?"

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Huh? Where was I from? My mind was skittering around like a trapped rat, knowing I knew the answer but all of a sudden I couldn't decide which one: Pennsylvania? New Jersey? Milltown? Somerset? East Brunswick? I was from all of those places; which one did she want to know about? Happily, Stew remembered where we were from without issue, and I seized and echoed his answer. Whew. Until the next question, which stumped me all over again, not to mention the pawing frantically through the glovebox searching for the car registration which we both knew was in there but for some reason, I could not manage to find until she gave up in disgust at my idiocy, handed back the passports and waved us through. THEN I found all the paperwork without issue.

I don't know what happens to me at customs. When they give me that skeptical eyeball. I always have the urge to confess everything I've ever done that was even remotely shady, including the eraser stub I swallowed in second grade which, technically, belonged to my grade school and might have been considered stealing. Bizarre.

The drive up got gorgeous again but my oh my, the folks on that road were speedy. There we were poking along at 70 and being whipped past like we were chugging along in an Edsel. Astonishing. The good part was that they seemed used to passing sightseers like us, so there was no malice, just matter-of-fact zooming at 85 or so. Sigh.

We hit fog and perked up at the moose crossing signs

but there was nary a moose to be found. We did see a beautiful bald eagle back at customs while we were waitingin line though, and that seemed like a good omen.

Then the fog cleared and it got gorgeous.

And we got to the Bay of Fundy, and after seeing the park -- another place I could stay for a longer time -- decided to stay in quaint little Alma, in a motel right on the bay.

This is not the bay, obviously, just a shot I thought was pretty. I have about 900 pictures so I'm trying to weed through and not put anyone to sleep with them.

This is the bay with the tide out, so we tossed our gear into the room, met a gorgeous dog on the way across the lawn

and headed out onto the naked ocean bed. It was really cool -- the wind gusted so hard it made us stagger -- and warm and sunny and all I could think about was the tide coming back in and catching us too far out to make it back to land safely and drowning, because OF COURSE people told us stories of imbecelic tourists who just walked and walked out farther and farther, ignoring the inevitable return of the tide, and drowning. Yikes.

So of course we walked out there.

All of the land you see is underwater when the tide comes in. And while we were out walking and beach combing, the waves kept coming in closer and closer.

It was vast, gorgeous and nerve-wracking, as drowning was not on my list of things to do.

Creeping closer.

Cool stone.

When the tide really started coming in, we left the sea bed and walked up on the dock, where, on our way in, these boats had been sitting on dry land. Now they were floating some.

We went out to eat at a lovely restaurant in town -- Alma is small and just right the way it is -- and later, when it got dark, went back out to the beach because there was a buoy out there and we heard talk of a whale hanging around it. We watched a fishing boat go out and search for it with the floodlights on, and Stew caught sight of it through the binoculars but I didn't see a thing. We also watched two young guys launch kayaks into the kind of rough waves in the almost-complete darkness, and I'm sitting there thinking This is not a bright thing to do at all. The first kid powered through the waves and got pretty far out. The second kid kept being pushed backwards, back on shore by the waves, and finally gave up in disgust or good sense. I'm with the second kid, who enjoyed the evening on dy land.

More coming. (Of course there is more, including a lovely giant rabbit.)

Let's See How It Goes

2010-07-09T10:32:00Z

Okay, so it's been a couple of days since I posted but I have a good reason this time: I'm working on a seriously delightful adventure and it's taking a fair amount of planning and brainpower. I've been dreaming of this one for oh, maybe twenty years or so now, but the time has never been right before.

I'm thinking 2010 may be the charm.

Summer Breeze

2010-07-05T12:22:00Z

Happy belated 4th of July, everyone. Hope it was a blast.

It's getting hot here -- high 90s hot -- so I'm saying a fond farewell to my garden peas and everyone else who wilts under these shimmering skies, and rooting for my tomatos and cukes now. This is my first year with a real garden here, and while the soil definitely needs building up, some of the plants are making it through with flying colors. Valiant.

I was sorry to miss the JKS Reunion on the 3rd, and am waiting (im)patiently to see the pictures. Next year, definitely.

We took a gorgeous little sportscar for a ride this weekend -- a convertible -- and yeah, it made me miss my old 'Vette. She was lovely, black with a cream-colored interior and t-tops, and driving her was so much fun. Something to think about. There are summer adventures rising all around us, and I think we're going to grab a few of them. I'm excited about that.

Hope your summer is beautiful so far.

Hey Muse, You Ready?

2010-07-01T03:31:00Z

Funny day.

The morning was spent mired in all sorts of tangled thoughts. Happily, they finally smoothed out.

The afternoon was spent restless and mulling. (You'd think I'd recognize the symptoms by now.)

Tonight, out of seemingly nowhere, came a flash of a new character, and a possible story.

I feel good about the little I know so far. Excited. Intrigued.

And then, while I was making notes and just sort of free-writing what I knew, the feral cats showed up so I gave them food, went back in about a half hour to see how they were doing, and got to watch a power-play dance between a young possum, an older possum and a skunk, all jockeying for what was left on the food plate.

No malice or fighting, just an interesting weave of animals.

The skunk was gorgeous.

But I Always Thought That I'd See You Again...

2010-06-29T12:53:00Z

James Taylor and Carole King in their Troubador concert last night.

It was wonderful.

I'm kind of at a loss for words, here, on how to explain how astonishing and grand it is to sit maybe 17 rows from the stage and see two artists you grew up listening to, people who know how to reach inside, find the questions and present them so magically.

I'm at a loss.

So, I will start at the beginning.

We set out early to do some shopping and have dinner before the concert. Saw this hawk and these cute sheep (nice view, huh?) on the ride there.

Dinner was fun. I had some absolutely lovely shrimp and crab tortellini with a smoked cheese and sundried tomato sauce, and we got zeppolis to go. (I really do have to find a decent zeppoli recipe. The best I ever had I bought in a brown paper bag down at a stand in Englishtown Market back in NJ, and ate them while wandering the auction in the dead of summer. YUM. Love Englishtown. Miss it, too. They have an excellent pickle stand, with barrels and barrels. What a delight.)

Anyway, this was my first time at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, and I like it. It's not too big and almost every seat is decent, even the nosebleed ones. We had good seats, down on the floor in front of the revolving stage. Maybe 17th row. And oh, when Carole King and James Taylor came out, did this crowd holler!

They were wonderful. Charming, funny, friendly, and good friends themselves.

So Far Away brought me and the girl in the row ahead of me to tears, although she was actually blotting her face with a tissue. I wasn't that far gone, but Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, with both of them singing, was a knock-out, as was Fire and Rain and You've Got a Friend. Right to the heart.

They took a 15 minute intermission which was cool, and reminded me of the old days. I loved it. We had a great time, and it looked like they did, too.

The tour merchandise is beautiful. We picked up a program full of photos and a mug, and now I'm hankering for the Troubador CD. If you get the chance to go to this concert, do it. Truly a wonderful evening.

Free Ride

2010-06-28T12:29:00Z

What a great weekend.

Saturday my boyfriend Stew and I went back up to Bethel, home of Woodstock, to see Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band which includes Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Richard Page, Wally Palmar, Rick Derringer and Gregg Bissonette. It was hot and muggy with a chance of t-storms as always, so we geared up not with umbrellas but for some weird, giddy reason, with Kit Kats, Raisinettes and these: (The fake blueberry and grape are pretty good.)

So we're winding along some gorgeous backroad through the woods talking, laughing and eating candy, when there, sitting right on the edge of the road, is a big, fat, ginger-colored bunny. I mean, right there. I yell, "A rabbit! Wait, wait, a rabbit!" as we go by slowing, and the rabbit doesn't move, thank God, but now I'm freaked because someone is bound to hit it. Plus, it's a house rabbit, not a wild one.

The road is narrow but we find a place to turn around because I have to go back and get that rabbit, and try to find its owner. Stew parks and I jump out and trot back up the road toward the rabbit, parallelling it so it doesn't dart onto the pavement, using my "Hello, pretty bunny," voice. The rabbit gives me a sideways look but its ears are up and it's not panicking. I cross the road (after a truck and trailer barrel by at fifty, right past the rabbit) and get within three feet of it. That's when it turned and disappeared back down a tangled slope into the woods, and I couldn't get it. (What was I going to do with it if I did get it? Knock on doors, I guess. I don't know.)

So I turn to head back to the truck and there's two guys standing on a porch across the road watching this whole thing. I yell, "Do you know whose rabbit that is?" And one says No and the other says Yes. Sigh.  They say it's a wild rabbit. I say it's a domestic rabbit. They say yeah but the owner let it go a while ago, and now it's a wild rabbit.

Okay. I'm trumped. Back to the truck.

We get to Bethel Woods with enough time to re-visit the Museum, where Stew surprises me with a very funky and beautiful, semi-psychedelic bag (Jersey Girl Diane Barcelowsky's One World Sakroot bag) I'd admired in the gift shop which is going to be perfect for vacation.

So we wandered around, and took some more pics overlooking the original Woodstock concert site.



and there was a beautiful, exuberant little girl there in a bright blue tutu dancing and spinning around in the grass, just for the sheer joy of it.

The concert was great. Ringo was funny and chatty and personable. A delight. Edgar Winter was fabulous and Free Ride live, for me, was one of the highlights.

Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer.

My pictures aren't that great but the music was:



I won't tell you about the end, which was really cool, but be prepared to enjoy Free Ride, Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo, What I Like About You, Kyrie, Dream Weaver, even more, and of course, the best of Ringo. Fun, fun, fun.

Now, we hung out a little afterwards, eating french fries and getting yelled at by security (irritating and unnecessary), and then hung out another hour on the tailgate, laughing, eating licorice and watching the endless trillions of cars inch their way out. All in all, it took us almost FIVE HOURS from the end of the concert to actually walking back home into the door, including a detour round a mountain on some really deserted wooded roads, a quirky little convenience store stop where we brewed up a fresh pot of coffee and bought bananas, thirteen deer by the sides of the roads and one raccoon, passed the rabbit-spot where there was no body (YAY!) and finally got home to find five feral cats waiting patiently on the stoop for their dinner.

It was a blast.

Sunday was lovely, relaxed and lazy, so of course we had to cure that by going fishing down at the river. Now, I've never gone fishing at the river so I'm thinking you park the truck, get out, set up your beach chair and I read while he casts.

HA.

We drove through no man's land, through a corn field to a stand of underbrush and woods, sprayed citronella bug spray from head to toe, gathered our gear (mine was a beach chair, a book, a notebook, a camera, a bottle of the worst green tea with honey that I've ever tasted but it was cold so it was necessary, and a purse) and then hacked our way through the waist-high greenery down the steepest hill with the most treacherous dirt path I've ever slid down to get to the river bank, where we slogged through ankle-deep mud to get to a gorgeous river stone beach where I got to relax in the shade with my book and the video camera while he went waist-deep into the river to woo the fish. It was pretty, peaceful and soothing, the view was spectacular, herons and an eagle flew by, and the sound of the water flowing was lovely. It smelled like a hot, wet dog for a while because the water was low and the stones baking in the sun but I got used to it fast, so it was no big deal. Plus, there were the most enchanting little frogs no bigger than crickets hopping around the stones, and that was really cool.

It was fun. I'd do it again. We used to crash through woods, muck around in mud and scrabble down precipes all the time when we were kids, and it was good to do it again.

Even carrying a purse and a beach chair.

On the Road Again?

2010-06-22T22:35:00Z

Well, I see I've fallen behind again. I think it's because right after I wrote the former post that burbled about what an interesting day it had been so far, one of the cats went and vomited up a hairball into one of my shoes, and I figured it was a sign to quit while I was ahead.

Father's Day was lovely, though; one of my boyfriend's sons came for lunch and we had scallop and chicken and veggie shish-ke-bobs which were delicious, and it was just one of those smooth, fun, relaxed afternoons that feel so good. Monday was gorgeous and so we got on the bike and went adventuring and out to lunch, and looking at RVs.

Just looking for now. But oh, two of the best vacations of my life -- and that includes the adult vacations of flying around, cruises and Caribbean islands -- were the six week-long cross country RVing family vacations my parents took us on. The first time we went i was 13, and we went northwest from NJ to Colorado and Montana and Wyoming and up to visit my relatives in Saskatchewan, where I met my lovely cousin Sheila and we became fast friends. (We started writing to each other after that vacation, and are still at it all these years later.)

(As I'm writing this right now, hanging out on a lounge on the patio, a doe is grazing next to me not 20 feet way, enjoying all the lovely fresh clover. Bizarre.)

Anyhow, the second fabulous vacation -- and maybe the best, most fun of my life -- was the RV vacation we took when I was 18 and just out of high school. This time we went southwest, down to Texas and Arizona and Mexico, back up to Colorado to visit relatives and home across the midwest. My younger brother and I played a lot of games of pool and became great friends during that vacation, my little sister and I skirted authority and became partners in mischief and my parents were carefree, relaxed and wonderful, in 24/7 good moods and putting up with all of our misadventures with only occasional threats of grounding. I met interesting people, made some very interesting memories and wouldn't trade that vacation for the world.

This is why looking at RVs is dangerous. It makes me want to do it all again.

Uh-oh. I feel a restlessness coming on.

Summertime, and the Living is Easy...

2010-06-19T19:33:00Z

What a fun and interesting day so far.

It started early, with the sun beaming in the windows and since it feels like we haven't had much sun lately, that alone kicked off a good mood and an urge for adventure. Armed with bottles of Citrus Prickly Pear Fuzes and blueberry power bars, we headed down to the park where one of my boyfriend's sons was running in a 5k long distance race along the river. The weather was gorgeous and the morning sun beating on all the wild carrots blooming along the river bank made the air smell just like hot, fresly-ironed cotton.

Weird, I know, but true.

Anyhow, watching the runners take off and then return was fun, and while I admire people who run for the pure joy of it, I can honestly say that unless there's a dire emergency, or a monster or a maniac is chasing me, or the delight of spring has seized my spirits and I'm so enchanted that I can't help myself from romping around, chances are you will probably never see me run.

After the race we went out to breakfast at a little restaurant that has a marble rye that I loved so much the first time I ate it that I actually got the waitress to sell me a loaf. YUM. On the drive home, we spotted a very tall, very whirly dust devil that looked like a thin tornado funnel rising up about 200 feet in the air, and spinning away in a factory parking lot.

Bizarre.

So we came home, got the Harley and went off to explore the countryside. We cruised along enormous fields of flowers -- crownvetch, daisies, wild sweet peas, yellow, purple, pink, flowers everywhere (is bliss too strong a word, here?) -- and stopped in the shade along the river to hang out for a while. We took a beautiful, deserted backroad I love, saw a Kingfisher flying along the creek, stopped for ice cream (I had an apricot ice cream cone, another YUM) and came home sunkissed, wildblown and happily tired.

Now I want to go out and play in my garden for a while. And then we'll see what's next.

And Judy, thanks so much for the beautiful postcard. I'm so glad you had a wonderful time!

Have a wonderful Father's Day, everyone.

It's a Jungle Out There

2010-06-17T11:45:00Z

I am knee-deep in lettuce, and very pleasantly surprised about that because this is the first year for my garden here, and I wasn't really expecting very many of the vegetables to perform. I'd ordered up a stack of heirloom seeds back in January, started them all in paper cups, lost someof the seedlings along the way thanks to the cats, who bit their heads off whenever they felt like it, but still ended up with a fair assortment of hopeful, spindly little plants to put out in the garden when the weather warmed up.

And now we're enjoying the lettuce and the peas while the other seedlings get bigger by the second. If they keep growing like this, I'll be enveloped by a vegetable jungle come late July and be having tomatoes for breakfast. (Not a bad idea.) We'll see how it goes.

So, all is good. A library in Staten Island is kicking off their summer bookclub with Such a Pretty Girl -- hi, Paula Amore! -- vacation ideas are irresistible, I met back up with a good friend, am thinking about manuscript revisions, am percolating another new idea, and the summer shopping sales are not bad at all. We have concerts coming up and many an adventure pending, so there's much to look forward to.

Hope your June is a gorgeous one.

Calendar? What calendar?

2010-06-13T23:36:00Z

Today was a fabulous day, although I think I might have inadvertently caused some angst.

I thought it was Father's Day -- it usually falls on the Sunday before my brother's birthday, which would be today -- so I pretty much went around wishing the men I know a Happy FD. Wrong. It's next week, the 20th. Oops.

On the bright side, my boyfriend and I went out on the motorcycle for a lovely ride through the misty mountains, stopped for lunch and spent a great afternoon hanging out with friends. I met a lovely little dog who came up onto my lap to be adored for a while, a handsome cat and had an afternoon filled with fresh air, lots of laughter and good conversation.

So, happy Sunday.

Hey, Dad

2010-06-13T12:25:00Z

This one goes out to all the good men I know -- especially my own wonderful father. and boyfriend -- who make the world a better place just by being in it. Where would we be without their generous kindness and warm smiles, their strong hearts and helpful hands, their limitless encouragement, quirky humor, adventurous spirit, unfaltering love and hopes for the future?

It's my honor to know, and love you.

Happy Father's Day, guys. You're the best.

Filling the Well

2010-06-11T00:52:00Z

First off, today is my beloved sister's birthday! Happy, happy day, Sue. Wishing you all good things, always. xoxo

I've been refilling the well these days, which'll not only help me with rewrites but is always a pleasure, aiming my brain at whatever strikes its fancy and soaking up everything I can about it. Plus, I get to duck-sit again.

I am inspired. How are you guys doing?