Reality Check

You thought you were going to get to take a boat ride up the Connecticut River today, didn't you? Yeah, well, so much for that. Some days reality just pops up and slaps you in the face! And today is one of those days. The have-to out weighs want-to so guess what I'm doing? Yesterday I spent $7.50 to do two loads of laundry and they still didn't get dry. So last night I went to bed with clean clothes disseminated around the camper so they could "air dry." The humidity is high here so everything is still damp this morning. I'll spend a good part of the afternoon ironing/drying the clothes I washed yesterday.
Have I mentioned that it rains here a bit more (actually a LOT more) than it rains at home? And have I mentioned that that makes the grass grow around here pretty fast? And have I mentioned that the campground staff mows the grass OFTEN? And all that mowing leaves loose grass that gets tracked in to the camper. Ughhh. So, I have to just "suck it up!"
Guess what?!? I can still multi-task! I can hang from a ladder, wash windows, and talk to my sister on the phone all at the same time! Bless her heart, she was having a mid-life moment in the clothing department of Target. (Love ya sis) She needed some consoling.
Yes, reality hits hard sometimes. Dirty dishes, smelly laundry, filthy floors, windows too dirty to see out of, or--clean enough for the whole world to see into..., and aging. I admit, it is a lot more fun to simply ride through life just looking at the pretty sights along the way, but that's not reality, and that's not what is best. I praise God for reality that keeps me going back to His word for encouragement, and keeps me humble, and keeps me looking forward to the fun days that come along ever now and then.

We will take that boat ride soon, I promise. Until then, I'll see ya in the funny papers!

Toot-toot, Toot-toot, Off We Go

Rick grabs a little R&R whenever he can. Twelve hours a day, seven days a week starts to make him batty. (His word, not mine.) He never makes appointments on Sundays. That's a "catch up on paperwork day." Sometimes he works late into the night on Saturday just so we can have a little time to do something fun or go to church together on Sunday. So, to continue our 4th of July weekend between phone calls and writing estimates, we took a sightseeing trip through the Connecticut River Valley.

We drove from East Haddam to the train station in Essex. The train took us to Deep River where we boarded a riverboat that took us up the Connecticut River to East Haddam and then back. We got back on the train which returned us to Essex where we walked around for a little while and ate some ice cream. Then we drove back to East Haddam.

More pictures are coming in future posts, but for the sake of my sanity and so I can get something else done today, I'll stick to the train ride this time.
The train was first put into service in the early 1920s. Engine 103 was not the engine that tugged us up and down the tracks, but it looked much the same as the one that did. They are coal-burning steam engines.

I took this photo hanging myself out the window right AFTER we were told NOT to hang any body parts or children out of the windows. We weren't moving yet so I figured, what's the harm?

The engine and all the cars are the "real deal" (no replicas here) dating back to the 20s and 30s.

Now I'm not sure about this guy. He was one of the trainmen who checked our tickets to make sure we didn't ride in the wrong car. Something about his short pants didn't seem to fit with the whole 1920s thing.

Here the conductor was just about to call, "All Aboard!" I think he looked a little more classy with his vest and long pants.

We paid $5.00 extra to ride in the "Pala Ca." And for all my readers who know how to pronounce the letter "r" when it is at the end of a word, we rode in the Parlor Car, aka Pullman Car. The lady selling tickets at the depot had the New England accent and could not sound out her final rs. Poor thing.

We don't usually go first class. Actually I don't know that we've EVER gone first class, except maybe the time we rented a Chrysler Sebring convertible and drove to Key West with the top down and stayed at a Wyndham Resort. That was pretty classy. But this was first class 1920s style. The other cars had either wooden bench seats or padded bus type seats. I would have taken some pictures, but they wouldn't let us go from one car to another while the train was moving. I had already hung myself out the window, so I thought I shouldn't press my luck.

I tried to get some scenery shots out my Pala Ca window, but pretty much all you could see were trees. I caught a glimpse of a swan, a small water fall, and a few other interesting things, but we were whizzing along about 20 mph and the trees here are THICK.

Here are the only shots I got that were not blurry green blobs. You can get an idea of the tree population.

Hope you enjoyed the train ride. We did. It got Rick away from the computer and me out of the camper for a while. Watch for the riverboat ride coming to this blog soon!

Fourth of July in Connecticut

Stars and Stripes, Yankee Doodle, and gee the day was just Dandy! Rick did some paperwork in the morning and we took off for a drive in the afternoon. We drove a bit, and found a different public beach along Long Island Sound. If you're planning a vacation and want to head for a beach, I don't recommend anything we've seen along the sound. You understand that in my mind I'm comparing the beaches of Florida and Alabama with the beaches of Connecticut. And as far as playing in the water... The warm water of the Gulf vs. the cold water of the Atlantic, well it's a personal preference, but I'll take the Gulf.

I saw a girl walking along the shore, wearing her tiny little bikini, (the temperature was 74 degrees) and she had goose bumps. Big ones, from head to toe! I told Rick that maybe someone should tell these folks that you don't go to the beach half naked and get all wet when it is 74 and the wind is blowing. You've got to have the "mind over matter" thing down really well to call that a fun day at the beach!

The beach was not really crowded, but there were plenty of folks having a good time.This little guy was running around leaving his webbed footprints in the sand. The people were leaving their cigarette butts. We didn't hang around long.

Our afternoon drive took us on to New London, Fort Trumbull, and the Thames River.New London had some beautiful old buildings, but I didn't get any close-ups. We were pushed for time and the streets were so narrow I couldn't get far enough away from the buildings to get a good shot. One of those things you just have to experience.I'll let you look up Fort Trumbull and read the history for yourself. The visitor's center was closed so we didn't get to tour the fort, but we enjoyed walking around, seeing the view, and reading the markers anyway.This building was built in the 1700s--the oldest part of the fort still standing.Part of the fort we walked around. The walls were very thick to protect against attacks from the water.The "big guns" date back to the 1800s.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Thames River. It is no West Texas creek! I'm talkin' big river--and a couple of islands.There's enough river to handle this cruise ship. She's the Explorer of the Seas, part of the Royal Caribbean cruise line. Some of the locals told us she was on her way to Canada. A long way from the Caribbean! In this photo she was headed back out to sea after a stop in New London.Massive boat! I've never seen a cruise ship up close before now. The people on the decks looked like, well, like little specks. And God cares for--no, He loves so much He died for--each of those little specks. Huge forts, big guns, deep wide rivers, gigantic ships, and the freedom of man. It is for freedom He sets us free. I challenge you to keep a list of all the things you see around you that reminds you of your "independence" and your freedom.

Trying to post this has taken me most of the day because of slow connections. Saturday Rick worked all day but Sunday we had a little fun. I'll tell you about it later.

Until I Can Post My Pictures...

Well I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! We had a pretty nice weekend. That's why I've not posted in a few days. We were able to take a few hours off and do a little sightseeing.

I've got pictures and will be getting them organized and posted over the next few days. I'm trying to finish up my homework assignment (it was due on the first and I'm still not done) and I HAD to do a load of laundry today. I've had phone calls that have taken some of my time too. I'm not complaining mind you. I love visiting with family and friends so I don't mind the calls at all. But I can't talk and post at the same time. I find multi-tasking harder than it used to be. (Another downside of being part of the "over 40" crowd.)

Now, while you wait to read about our train ride, our boat trip, and our visit to the fort...

I can't believe someone has not commented on my "Lessons Learned the Hard Way." Am I the only dummy who has ever tried to put kiwi fruit in jell-o? And has no one else ever parked under a pecan tree? Gee whiz. I thought I'd get either some sympathy or some wise cracks, or maybe someone that would ask WHY you can't put kiwi in jell-0 or park under a pecan tree. Guess I'm in the corner wearing the pointy hat!

Stone Fences

So stately and picturesque, they are everywhere. Stone fences, one of my favorite New England specialties. They make me think of the poem by Robert Frost-- Mending Wall
by Robert Frost

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go. To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of outdoor game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors.' Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'

From The Poetry of Robert Frost by Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright 1916, 1923, 1928, 1930, 1934, 1939, 1947, 1949, © 1969 by Holt Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Copyright 1936, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1954, © 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962 by Robert Frost. Copyright © 1962, 1967, 1970 by Leslie Frost Ballantine.

More Little Cones

Okay, okay. So, some people collect stamps, some butterflies... I really don't collect pinecones, but I'm so fascinated by my newest find. In the picture above,the "Big Boy" in the back is the little fellow featured in my last post about cones. You remember? The one that was not much bigger than a quarter. I just thought it was a tiny little cone. Check out the itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny cones I found hanging on a tree today! They are barely a half of an inch tall.

I wish I had my BIG California cones to add to the picture, just for the WOW factor. If I was the least bit creative, I'd come up with something I could make using all my different sized cones. But, you know what they say; while God was passing out creativity, I was holding the door for everyone else. So, all these little cones are lying around on my table and a few are in a catch-all drawer. When I finally get tired of moving them around I'll probably toss them all.

But for now, they have made me smile as I worship the creator. And, because I have blogged three times about pinecones, you are starting to think that I need to get a life!

Newport RI

Newport is where the wealthy come to play and where poor rednecks like us come to look at their toys.
These pictures really don't do Newport Harbor justice. It was getting late in the day and the humidity was very high. There was a heavy haze in the air so it was hard to get good pictures. We walked through the "visitors" area of the Newport Yacht club. (Yes we were WAY out of our league.) As far as you could see, boats or yachts bobbed in the harbor. I'd love to see all these with sails unfurled!
REALLY BIG BOAT! (I zoomed in to get this shot.)

If we get to go back to Newport, I want to take ride around the harbor and look at the boats up close. There's something about the sea...