Keene NH

Posted on October 20, 2014October 20, 2014 by Dusty Roads

My friend Nancy, her children and I headed up to Keene, NH for the annual Pumpkin Festival. Who knew a bunch of immature, rowdy college kids would steal the limelight. We didn’t see any of it. We heard the sirens, saw lots of flashing lights and ambulances but nothing else. As we parked our car the lot attendant said they didn’t know what was going on but that they had heard there was an “incident”.

They said be careful and have a good time. So that’s what we did. I’ll save my remarks about idiot college kids for another post. It won’t be a pretty one.

It was quite a walk from the car to the center of Keene where the pumpkins lined the Main St. Keene holds the World Record for most number of lit jack-o-lanterns on display. In 2013 the total was 30,581. Kind of mind boggling. I don’t know if they won this year but there were Jack-o- lanterns everywhere.

Near the Ferris Wheel the was a “Dome” of pumpkins being set up.

There were wooden shelves set up along the center of Main street where more jack-o-lanterns perched.

They surrounded tress, made rows along the curbs and piled against fences and jersey barriers.

Almost anywhere you could imagine there were carved pumpkins. They were even in the trees.

It was packed! There were quite a few Halloween Characters around who posed for pictures with the kids. One of the first ones and one of the best ones was Batman. He even had his car. He patiently stood by waving to the crowd and posed for pictures. Very nicley done Batman!

While Alex was meeting and smoozing with the caped crusader Dawn was doing her version of pole dancing. She was more interested in the metal handrail in front of the large brick building than pumpkins or Batman.

I had promised to go on the Ferris Wheel with Dawn but when we got to it the kids were more interested in getting a pumpkin to carve. For a $5.00 donation you got to carve a pumpkin that got counted toward the total. At our first stop where we made our donation the pumpkins were pretty soggy so we moved on to another stand only to find the same thing there.

Along the way we marveled at the creativity of the carvers and Dawn and Alex signed a cardboard wall with their names.

Finally down near the craft fair and food Alex and I located some semi solid pumpkins, Dawn was getting her face painted. The man helping us explained that the pumpkins are all hollowed out by volunteers before the festival starts. They begin the process 2-3 days before the big date so the pumpkins begin to go downhill in a hurry.

The sun was setting as we put the finishing touches on our Jack-o-lanterns and began to work our way back to Main Street for the Pumpkin Tower. The pumpkins spell out words, I think of the sponsors of the event, but it’s a pretty amazing sight.

Did they win again? I don’t know. I googled it but couldn’t find 2014. The other burning question is….Pumpkin , Fruit or Vegetable?

(The answer is Fruit)

It was a Five Star Night

Posted on October 13, 2014October 13, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Or a two thumbs up or any other sign approval you can think of. It was just plain fun!

Edaville Railroad used to be a little engine that traveled around the cranberry bogs. The big deal was at Christmas when the bog was filled with holiday lights and a few rides led up to the train ride. Then a couple of years ago the owner announced he was selling out. Speculation was that a condo development was going in and the land that was home to the little railroad was needed for parking. Everyone was sad but then the real estate market crashed and now building a bunch of condos didn’t seem to be such a good idea. Suddenly an amusement park wasn’t so bad after all.

Almost immediately Edaville began to expand. It wasn’t the little Edaville Railroad any more. It was Edaville USA and one of the things that came to pass was Dinoland. Everybody loves dinosaurs so now there were dinos roaming the bog.

This year I noticed they had a big pumpkin spectacular called Pumpkins Aglow! I was hoping to get some nice pumpkin pictures so I planned to cough up the admission because I could use my tripod, something not allowed at Roger Williams Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular.

I was going to go alone but after a stop at Nancy’s house we decided to take the kids along. Oh my , what a great idea! Alex and Dawn had a fantastic time!

I expected it to be kind of tacky but it was not. It was very well done.

The kids wore costumes and the ride operators had costumes too and were handing out candy when you road their ride. Trick or Treat!

The rides are included in the admission price so although it seems expensive at first, it more than makes up for the initial investment. The kids can ride all night for free. Bumper cars, Ferris wheel, tilt a whirl, carousels, and of course the train.

But we had to see the dinos and that’s where Pumpkins Aglow was spread out. In the end I didn’t use a tripod. We went through twice , once at dusk and once at full dark. The dusk was better. You’ll see why in my next post!

The Big E

Posted on October 5, 2014October 5, 2014 by Dusty Roads

The elephant ride was in the past and we began working our way toward the big circus tent. It was loud and people were everywhere! Your senses are bombarded by noise, color, smells. Some smells were barnyard and others were mouth watering aromas as we passed food booths. It was lunchtime after all. T shirt stalls abounded and one of the buildings was crammed to the rafters with souvenirs! If you want to spend money it sure looks like we came to the right place.

We stopped to watch an automated calliope, very ornate. The kids were fascinated.

There was the circus tent, my goal du jour!

But we were too late. The 12 o’clock show was full. The attendant recommended we come back at 3 pm for the 4 pm show so that was the plan. In the meantime we headed toward the food stalls for lunch.

Progress was slow as you can imagine. The kids wanted to try everything, even the giant slide.

We were looking for the Budweiser Clydesdale Horses but didn’t see them. The kids zeroed in on the bear exhibit. That turned out to be a favorite with the kids as they visited it a second time later in the day.

It was a hot day so we were all sweaty and thirsty by this time so lunch was under an umbrella at a corn dog stand and what corn dogs they were! Foot longs or larger and giant drinks. It was a welcome break.

We still had so much to see.

We Have Lift Off!

Posted on September 22, 2014September 22, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Thursday night was the kick off to the 42nd Adirondack Balloon Festival and all of the balloons were grounded by the weather, mostly the winds.

Friday seemed to be much more favorable so we headed to the airport about 4:30 pm for the afternoon launch. We had pre-paid parking which I highly recommend! Why? Because it gets you much closer to the airport proper and when you are carrying a chair and camera gear, less is certainly more. 🙂

You need to arrive early and for ballooners it’s almost like going to a football game and tailgating! There are food trucks and craft vendors. The kites always do well and there are always a bunch of them flying as we wait for the main event, the hot air balloons.

You never know if there is going to be a launch until right before they go up. All eyes watch the wind socks because wind gusts will put a kibosh on the launch every time. Safety First.

As I said, Friday night seemed to hold a lot of promise. The sky was clear and the wind sock was limp. Sandy and I lugged our chairs and I lugged my camera and we staked out a spot near one of the chase trucks. We could see a few balloons being spread out and one purple balloon was starting to inflate. There was a good turnout here already.

Getting around is crucial for the ballooners. They have to go to the pilot’s tent for updates and run around on all sorts of errands as the launch deadline approaches. One enterprising ballooner found a new way to get around quickly… A Segway!

Finally at just about 5 pm we began to hear the whoosh whoosh of the propane tanks firing and balloons began inflating all around us.

The first Balloon to take off was a really pretty purple-blue balloon that had a elongated shape, not the traditional balloon shape. The wind, what there was of it was pushing the balloon in our direction. Perfect positioning.

For some reason the balloon didn’t seem to be gaining altitude. As it passed over the airport terminal building toward the trees we all wonder if it would clear them. It did, but just barely, the bottom of the basket actually scraping the top branches.

Not too much farther on they seemed to give up the fight and down it came. So the first balloon up was also the first balloon down. We heard later that it may have had a leak.

But while our attention was fixed on the purple-blue balloon and it’s troubles, the other ballooners were hard at work.

I Was Just Thinking

Posted on August 19, 2014August 19, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I still haven’t felt up to going out and about much which is a big reason I haven’t posted much this summer. I think in addition to “feeling poorly” that I’ve also been a little “down in the dumps”. I’ve been lazy. But I admit I perked up when my last two posts of Buddy got some attention. I thought sure I’d neglected things for so long that no one would be paying any attention.

That got me thinking about things that have been in the news lately. First of all was the Robin Williams Suicide. So so sad. Of course it brought out all of the well meaning people who want to use Robin’s death as a call to arms to prevent other suicides. I guess if it helps save someone else then that’s ok. But I feel more for the man and all the demons he has battled. I think his recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s may have been the last straw. He just didn’t have it in him to keep fighting. RIP Robin Williams. You have earned a rest.

And what’s up with Ferguson, Missouri? I missed the beginning of this disaster. I just turned on the news one night and thought I was watching riots in a 3rd world country, not right here in the good old US of A. Are we back to the Civil Rights days? I gather that a white police officer shot and killed a black teenager. The police officer is on paid suspension while his world is exploding. No matter what I read I can’t get a handle on what happened here. A call for a sick person and a call for a robbery. Someone says Brown (the teenager) attacked the officer but another account says the officer was in his cruiser when he fired the first shot. The teenager was unarmed. He was shot 6 times. It sounds terrible. It is tragic. But haven’t we gotten past the riots and looting? Black or white, that doesn’t help anyone.

Is the Market Basket saga news to anyone besides people in Massachusetts and New Hampshire? A family owned business fired it CEO and almost all of the employees of it’s chain of grocery stores (Market Basket) walk off the job. The chain is losing tens of thousands of dollars while this dispute rages but the rift in the family is so bitter that they can’t come to any agreement. I think they are in the 5th week of this battle. The ousted CEO has offered to buy the chain of stores but no one can come to an agreement and the strike goes on. I don’t know the inner dynamics but from the outside looking in it seems we have a case of biting the nose off to spite the face. No matter what, the family is not going to let the ousted cousin win. They’d rather bankrupt the business.

What a sad, sad state of affairs. 🙁