A New Hampshire Adventure, What’s Joe Got to Do With it?

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What’s Joe Got to Do With It?

My good friend Joe is 13 years younger than I am. He refuses to believe that I’m not as spry as I once was and cuts me no slack. I can’t wait until he’s my age and see how much his joints hurt! That being said, Joe is headed back to Sunny Florida. He was up in the Northeast for 2.5 months  on a job search. During that time he got a reminder of what the weather is like 8 months out of the year…cold, gray, snowy, rainy. But before he left he sent me another challenge. http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-hampshire/waterfall-roadtrip-nh/

The Ultimate New Hampshire Waterfall Roadtrip

Everyone knows that you need water to have waterfalls and what better time of the year in the Northeast than after the spring rains and snow melt? Saturday was a beautiful day with temps predicted to hit the 80’s. I looked at Joe’s Ultimate New Hampshire Waterfall challenge and decided I’d tackle at least part of it. Since its a 5 plus hour drive to even get to the White Mountains I knew I wouldn’t be able to get in more than 2 or 3 stops. I didn’t follow the stops as outlined in the article as I’ve been to some. I wanted the easiest stops since time was limited.

Lincoln, NH

I arrived in Lincoln, NH at just about noon. Although I wasn’t really hungry I knew my first stop would be Sabbaday Falls and I didn’t want to chance having my blood sugar drop after hiking up to the falls and back. (As a diabetic you have to be aware if these things)  For a cheap, quick stop I grabbed a cheeseburger at MacDonald’s. I know yuck.

Time to head up the Kancmagus Highway.

Finding Sabbaday Falls

Even though it has been 6 years since my New Hampshire vacation, the Kancamagus still felt  like an old friend. I recognized so many places along the way to the  Falls. As I drove the Kancamagus rose, eventually reaching an elevation of just under 3,000 feet at its highest point at Kancamagus Pass on the flank of Mt. Kancamagus near Lincoln, NH.

Sabbaday Falls is on the downside after you pass this high point. Coming from Lincoln you’ll see a sign for the Falls and Picnic Area on the right.

http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/p247808837

It’s a Nice Walk

The parking area was packed with cars and as I prepared to hike up to the falls I met lots of dogs  and their people, families and serious hikers. One photographer with his tripod over his shoulder charged past me in a big hurry. I’d soon see why.

 

 

 

Good Morning World! I’m Baaaack!

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Good Morning World!

What a beautiful morning. The sun is shining, temps are moderate, the air is fresh. It’s just a perfect spring morning and it’s Sunday. No work! (maybe) I’ve got some updates and housekeeping items to share today. There is more change on the breeze than the scent of flowers and grass.

What Is Going on with aroundustyroads?

Aroundustyroads.com is my baby blog. I wrote my first post on September 8, 2010. I was based on Blogspot at that time. A couple of years later I migrated to WordPress. That was a pretty smooth transition but I was still new and didn’t have a lot of content. What I had can be found by clicking on the archive link in the side panel.

7 Years Later

Its been 7 years and I hope my blogging skills have grown with experience. What hasn’t changed is the look and feel of aroundustyroads.com. Lately I’ve been hearing more and more about successful bloggers, even meeting one, and I realized that I, we, needed to make some changes if I want to move to the next level. These successful bloggers have been at it 2-5 years. I’ve been doing this for 7 years and being left in the dust! What’s up with that!?

 

The  Changes in the Works

The first thing I did was move again. Like moving from Blogspot to WordPress, I moved to Bluehost to give me more adaptability. For non geeks, that’s like moving your cell service from Verizon to Sprint or from a 2 bedroom ranch to a 6 bedroom colonial. It was more painful this time so I need your help. If you are not getting email alerts, please let me know. If anything else is not working for you like it did before. Let me know that too. Enter it in the comments so we can work on getting it fixed.

New Look

While the dust settles on the move, I’m looking into upgrading our look. Take a look at one blog I found and like: http://brittanyfromboston.com/. Or this very successful blog http://joshuaberman.net/ . I just have to learn how to make these changes.

Drum roll Please….

INTRODUCING

A new companion blog. downdustylanes.com  No it is not replacing aroundustyroads. I can’t give up my baby but in trying to find out how to change our look, I got a new website built for me. It’s gorgeous. I haven’t started using it yet but will make my first post there in May. It will help me learn my way around a more advanced website.

One Last Change

Because of the current work load at my job. I am going to reduce my posting schedule for a couple of months. I am going to try to post 3 times per week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. When things slow down at work  I’ll kick it back up.

Tell me what you think of all this. as the saying goes, inquiring minds what to know.

 

 

 

 

Its been a Long Week

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TGIF!

Sorry I’ve been missing posts. I’ve been worn out from work. My goal is to get back on track on Sunday. Saturday I hope (weather permitting) to explore a “waterfall trail” in New Hampshire. With all this rain they should be really full.But it won’t give me any time to write. Plus I have some news I’m really excited to share but you need some background before I do. So see you again on Sunday!


Thanks for your patience.

It’s a Matter of Dress

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Navy Dress Code hasn’t Changed!

When I was visiting the USS Constitution I was impressed by the way the sailors were dressed in period costume. But I was corrected. These may be vintage duds but the are still official Navy Uniforms.

The Pike and Sailcloth

http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/p1007424062/h88ab9989#h88ab9989

When you approach the entrance to the dry dock you are greeted by a crew member. The one who met me was carrying a Pike. I asked him what it was and he said it was a boarding pike. He immediately demonstrated how the sailors would crouch, bracing themselves and point the  tip of the pike toward the gunnel. When the enemy tried to board they threw themselves on the sharp point. As he went on to say, we didn’t have to kill anybody. They did it all themselves!

He explained that his pants are made of sailcloth so if a cannon ball ripped the sail they could cut a patch from the legs of the pants.

The 1813’s

The crew in those days referred to their dress code as the 1813’s. It’s a official Navy uniform  and its wear is still prescribed in the Navy uniform regulations. Prior to 1813 and during the War of 1812, the  enlisted crew served in whatever clothing they owned when they joined the service.

http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/p1007424062/h88ab9989#h88ab997c

The “uniform” evolved as crew members began to buy clothing that looked like other sailors eventually they all started looking alike, creating a “uniform” appearance.

There are many types of Navy Uniforms

My brother was in the Navy and over the years I got to see several uniforms. I know there are service dress uniforms,  worn for official functions not rising to the level of full or dinner dress. they are seasonal with white worn in summer and blue in winter. I’m partial to the white myself.

Service Dress Blues for male junior enlisted personnel are based on the standard Navy jumper in navy blue, colloquially referred to as “crackerjacks” because of the Navy-uniformed figure that adorns the Cracker Jack snack box.

Of course there are the Full Dress, Dinner Dress uniforms, Working uniforms, shipboard working uniforms and the list goes on. I think it would be a full time job to keep straight when to wear what uniform!

So that’s a wrap

I love the uniforms and I thought seeing these young men wear them with such pride, even through they could be mistaken for a costume, was very uplifting.

Nothing quite like a man in uniform!