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Practice Picture #1

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I was fooling around with the remote release on the camera so I will be sure it will work when I need it most to get that prize-winning picture!  So here’s practice picture #1. It’s of Covered bridge #44 which was restored or rebuilt just a few years ago. So there’s the bridge and there I am and I have the  sign.

It was really a neat place. When I decided to practice here I didn’t know there was a swimming hole with an old-fashioned rope swing under the bridge.

I tried to get a shot with these boys jumping from the rope with me holding the sign but once they knew I was taking their pictures they kept falling off or dragging their feet. We couldn’t get another clean shot no matter what we tried. Stage fright? 🙂

On the road again….

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I think those are the lyrics of a song but right now the rest of it escapes me. That one phrase kept running through my head off and on all afternoon. 

There’s something to be said for far away vacations where you have to catch a plane to get there. It gets you out of the house and on your way unless you want to miss your flight. I think I needed something like that today.

The morning started out ok. I did some last-minute housework, tossed in a last load of laundry, and ran the dishwasher. At that point I should have been just about ready to leave. The first delay was Rocky. Although I was prepared for his antics ( he does it every trip) it still takes up time. He gets in the suit case then on the suitcase then runs out the door and I have to chase him. He was especially persistent today for some reason.

Finally I got everything in the car. I had to drop off a pet bed at the tailor for a new zipper and I wanted to pick up another bag of dry cat food. The only other thing was to stop at the bank for my new debit card. That shouldn’t have taken more than 30 minutes tops for all 3 errands.

The first 2 went well but I ran into a snag at the bank. Thier machine was down so they couldn’t “pin” the card. Without a pin I couldn’t activate it and if I couldn’t activate it I couldn’t use it and that would mean no money for vacation.

The teller assisting me called the other branches to find one whose pin machine was working. So back to the car to drive to the Raynham Branch. I figured that was a good one because I planned to take RT 93 right through Boston and into New Hampshire. As I left the bank, pin activated and card in hand, I realized that all this extra running around had put me way behind. It was 1:30 and I needed to get some lunch before I tackled the drive. 

There was a Papa Gino’s right there so I popped in thinking it would be quick. It wasn’t so by the time I left there it was after  2:00. As I got into the car I happened to look at my rear view mirror. I hang the house keys on it so I don’t lose them. They weren’t there. My first thought was  to just go and deal with the missing keys when I got back but that’s not me. So I filled the gas tank ($46.00) and turned around to go home.

At the condo I rang bells until one of my neighbors let me in. I had a door key stashed so I could get into my unit but my neighbor wanted to visit. As I chatted with him and opened my door an orange streak shot out from the doorway. My neighbor said “man, he’s fast !” So much for getting in, grabbing my keys and getting out. By the time I finally picked up my keys and got back out to the car it was 3 pm . According to mapquest it was a 3 hour drive.

Which way to go…RT 93 through Boston? It’s rush hour now ..on a Friday! RT 128? Longer and still bottlenecks with the traffic out of Boston. Rt 495? It’s a bigger loop, longer mile-wise but there might not be as much traffic. So RT 495 it was.

At first I made pretty good time. I thought I might only be an extra 1/2 hour but almost as soon as that thought crossed my mind I saw brake lights. We slowed to a crawl  for the RT 90 (Mass Pike) exit. We picked up speed again after that exit but then we hit the exit for RT 290 around Worcester. Once again stop and go. Once past that exit we began to cruise again until we got to Lowell. In Lowell RT 3 merges with Rt 495 and by now we were in the heart of rush hour. From Lowell to New Hampshire line and then 2 exits further north all we did was crawl. It was over 100 degrees and there were cars on the side of the road with their hoods up..over heated? There was also a 3 car accident that slowed  traffic down. I began to wonder if I’d ever get to the mountains.

Finally I hit Concord, NH and from there on the traffic was pretty light so I was able to do the speed limit. I rolled into the Valley Inn parking lot at 7 pm, only and hour more than mapquest estimated. Not too bad but it sure felt like a lot longer than that.

Check in went smoothly. I have a unit on the 2nd floor. My windows overlook the parking lot but the unit is cute. It’s a 1 bedroom.

 There’s a refrigerator, stove and microwave. The AC is kind of questionable. When it kicked on it rattled so badly I didn’t know what it was. I suppose they don’t use AC much here in the mountains.  Waterville Valley is better know as a ski resort.

The bathroom is equipped with a whirlpool bath.  I used my point and shoot to take a few pictures of the interior.

 Tomorrow I’ll get out the DSLR and take some outdoor shots of the exterior so you can see it.

The desk clerk sent me to “The Village Square” for dinner.

 He recommended “Diamond’s Edge” restaurant. I wish I had brought my camera then.

 The Village square is a mall that is built around a “green”. There’s also a pond where you can swim and kayak and there were picnic tables where  people were eating pizzas. I can see why it’s called The Village Square. The Diamond Edge is on the 2nd floor of one of the buildings and looks out over the “square”. The restaurant is really pretty and I was afraid that I was under-dressed until the host greeted me. He was wearing shorts.

I was seated at a window table. And wonder of wonders, the window was wide open! I am so used to buildings where the windows are sealed shut that this alone made it a treat. The waitress’s name was  Amanda and she was excellent too. I didn’t have anything fancy. Some fish and chips (also excellent), a glass of Alice White Chardonnay and for dessert chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream on the side…and a cup of tea. I know I was very bad eating like that but it was very, very good. And I want to mention that I did not finish the lava cake. It was just too rich. It would have been perfect if it had been 1/2 the size. I’ll have to walk it off tomorrow.

I’m not sure which direction I’m going in tomorrow. I’m playing it by ear. I do expect to return to the “Town Square” to get some pictures. Maybe tomorrow would be a good day to check out the waterfall near the Kancamangus Highway. We’ll just have to see what the day brings for now, at least I’m here in the White Mountains. Finally! 🙂

Vacation!

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It’s official. I am on vacation from now until next Friday. A whole 7 days to pursue whatever I want to pursue.

I’m sure the posts will get more interesting now. You’ve all been very patient. Probably more patient than I have been. I hate being stuck at home. I like to be on the go especially in the summer because the good weather only lasts so long in New England and then we’re back into the cold and snow.

There isn’t much to report today. Just getting myself together. It’s hard to say goodbye to the kitties but maybe I should think of it as their vacation from me. Mapquest says I’m looking at a 3 1/2 hour drive. I don’t think I can check in before 4pm so I’ll do a last load of laundry and run a few errands before I head out.

Mount Washington Cog Railway Photo Contest

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A couple of updates  to start: The first is that I didn’t hear from the bank today. I was told they would call me to pick up my new card and set up my password. Maybe it didn’t come yet. Or…maybe they forgot to call. I think I’ll drop in on the way to work in the morning.

The second update is the dinner. As always my friends Diane and Joe served up a wonderful meal along with great conversation. Diane was the chef of the day and since its soooo hot we had chicken salad… very excellent chicken salad but the crowning glory was her desert. It was a lemon pie that was like a chiffon with whipped cream. It was so smooth and light. As I said in the beginning, a wonderful meal but it’s really the company I enjoy. Diane and Joe are both warm friendly people with lots of interesting things to talk about. Last night topics ranged from consignment shops and thrift stores to gyms, spas and workouts, to blogs and vacations and travel.  The evening just flew by.

I was even honored with a visit from Maxine, their very pretty cat with lovely green eyes. I wish I had a photo of her but Max is a bit photo shy and only approached me when the camera was out of reach. Still I’m just honored that she was willing to come out to “say hello” as she usually hides or sleeps most of the time when I am there. Maybe she’s mellowing as she ages.

Now to the main point of the blog. This morning I had a few minutes before work so I was checking prices on the places I want to go in New Hampshire. The Mount Washington Cog Railway is definitely high on my list.

The Price of an adult ticket is $62.00 (gulp!) but of all the places I’m planning to visit, that is the most expensive so I guess that’s not too bad. I’ve certainly spent more on tours and trips but I guess I think it’s expensive because it’s close to home. I don’t think twice about something like that when I travel like we did to Sedona

 or South Dakota.

But as I was reviewing the web pages I spotted another Photo Contest.  At the end of the Season, a winning photo will be chosen and the photographer will receive a ride for two passengers in the cab of one of our new eco-friendly, biodiesel locomotives next year! Now that’s interesting and unlike a far away prize, I live close enough to be able to use it! So it looks like I have 2 photo contests to try now.

And lastly my travails with computers and money continue. Today as I went in to enter my time worked so I can have a paycheck waiting for me after vacation, the computer system locked me out. That was at 10:30 in the morning. When I left work at 9 pm  HR, payroll and IT were still working on it and I was still locked out. I have 1 more day of work before vacation so here’s hoping they get the problem resolved. At this point I can only shake my head and laugh. I have never in all my life, with all my ups and downs financially,  had so many little annoyances in such a short time in the money department. It feels like an obstacle course. As long as these money issues  stay small like this I can handle it!

Well, time to wrap up this post. Can’t wait to get back to the travel stuff! As you may have guessed , this is just “filler” til I have a chance to get “more places to go and things to see.” Thanks for hanging in with me during this interlude.

Cat Trees and other headaches

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The bank gave me my wake-up call. It seems that someone tried to put through a charge of  $85.00. It was a company that is marked on the bank’s security rolls as a fraudulent company. These people had tried to put through the charge 8 times and so far the bank had blocked it.

The security officer said that sooner or later it would slip through. Since I had never heard of the company and hadn’t ordered anything for $80 anywhere recently, they will have to cancel my card.

Why do things like this aways happen right before vacation?

Well the bank officer had a solution. She said she would Fedex my new card to my local branch and I could pick it up there. She said it should be there Wednesday.

So the bottom line is that it does not appear that I was “targeted” nor is there any relation to my blog. It’s all just a big coincidence.

I expect the bulk of my day will be taken up with more errands and housework although I have one project that I’ve been delaying that I want to to complete. The restoration of the CAT TREE.

Cat trees used to be fairly inexpensive but not anymore. A small one is easily in the $100-$200 range and can go up from there. My cats have a pretty good-sized cat tree that I got a few years ago for $45.00. The problem is that it’s been shredded to pieces. In many places it’s been scratched right down to the frame.

I have spent a couple of months looking for a replacement both in stores and online but anything in the $50.00 range is either way to fragile for my scratching fiend or very small.

 My solution is that I’m going to try to restore the cat tree. In theory it shouldn’t be a big job. In actuality I’ve found excuse after excuse to  avoid tackling the project but I think I  have everything  here just waiting so the time has come.

Well I just spent an hour trying to wrap the scratching post in sisal rope. I managed to get 1 post done..a small post. The staple gun won’t go through to the wood so I ended up strategically placing screws. I don’t want to use too many screws as that might hurt the cat. So I think I’ll wait and see if they use it and if so, will my amateur efforts hold up to kitty abuse.

I really don’t have time to spend another hour right now so that will have to do for starters. I need to run down to a local insurance agent to get an insurance stamp for the DMV so I can renew my auto registration. Of course the agency is charging a $15.00 administrative fee for the 2 minutes it will take to stamp the registration form. No such thing as Professional Courtesy anymore. It doesn’t matter that I am insured with a company they represent. I didn’t buy the policy through them so that gives them the right to charge a fee for doing nothing. Makes me think of that Southwest Airlines commercial where the SW employees are  jurors and another airline is “on trial” for charging administrative fees to change a ticket.  Oh well, I guess that’s the world we live in today. I’m becoming very cynical. It just seems that everything you do today has “hidden fees”. We’re being nickel and  dimed to death.

It probably wouldn’t bother me except that I’m trying to hang onto my funds so I can have a little extra cash for vacation and it feels like everything is conspiring against that goal. It also bothered me because the other agency that I have used in the past wouldn’t take a fee even when I offered. I didn’t go there because this new one was much closer. Next time I may go back to driving to RI for my insurance stamp.

Well that about wraps up the day. Heading off to visit some friends for dinner. Until tomorrow, have a good day!