On July 8th, George and I left for the cabin in the Northwoods of New Hampshire. Before we even arrived at the cabin, we had seen a fox, lots of hawks, and a mother loon with her baby in the bay. The drive up there goes through the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire, and the whole drive only takes six hours...the way we do it. I stopped off at the Outlet Mall and bought a new pair of Bass "vacation" flipflops. Yay! That evening was the first of six nights that we went looking for moose along the stretch of road between the cabin and Canada. We saw moose on all but the last night. There was a full moon on July 11th, which was also my birthday, and it was beautiful as the large golden moon rose slowly over the lake and the dark trees. That night I woke up at midnight and stepped onto the screened in porch and saw the moon reflecting over the lake, and I don't think I've ever seen a lovelier sight. The area is so peaceful it is very rejuvenating and inspiring.
The first day of our vacation we spent a lot of time loafing, unpacking, and most of the day was spent reading magazines and books. I always catch up on my New Yorkers and Vogues at the cabin. I found a Readers Digest collection of abridged books at the cabin, and read that too! It is fun sometimes to NOT read what you've planned to read! Sleeping at the cabin is wonderful, and the cool night air flows through the screens, and the night sounds are relaxing and peaceful. The second day we saw something truly amazing.
We were sitting in our camp chairs by the water's edge, with fishing poles and books in hand. This is your "casual" fishing, when you are really there for the relaxation more than the fish. Some people come with the intent and desire for catching fish, and some people come with the desire for relaxation...and that is us! There is another camp nearby, and I heard two dogs barking, and a splash in the water off the next dock. I didn't think much of it at the time, and just glanced over to see what I thought were a few ducks diving in to get away from the dogs.
What was actually happening was that a red-breasted merganzer, a duck that looks a lot like a loon but has a beautiful rust-colored crest on the back of her head. This bird was a LOT more colorful than any pictures I have seen, and of course that day, we did not have a camera handy. As I watched, I saw what I thought were about 8 ducklings, then 12, and then, in true amazement, I starting counting. This beautiful lady merganzer had 25!!!babies swimming along behind her. Later George said that she was doing "daycare", and it is true. Red-breasted merganzers actually take two broods into their nest, if another female leaves her nest. They share! Those 25 little ducklings following the mother quietly along ahead of us, across our line of sight, and to the other side of the lake to our right. We never saw them again. I quickly named her "Mrs. Mergansteiner", and we talked about her and her brood many times during the vacation.
The rest of the week was punctuated by lots of bird and moose sightings, and we enjoyed watching for the wild things wherever we went. Loons are our specialty, and we spent a lot of the time we were on the boat watching loons. Fishing was rather low on our list of priorities I'm afraid. George took a suet feeder and hung it in the huge pine by the cabin, and we enjoyed the upside-down antics of the red breasted nuthatches. He also left nuts out on the big rock, and on our steps, which were shared by the chipmunks and the crows.
We actually caught two fish. George caught a tiny small one, and threw it back quickly, and one day when he left to go to the cabin for a few minutes, I actually caught a 15" lake salmon. It was a beautiful fish, and by gently bringing it in, I was able to let it fall off the hook before it was hurt. I had a great time telling George my fish story when we got back.
After six relaxing days at the cabin, the next leg of our trip took us to Washington DC. It was hot in Boston the day we left, and I packed quickly and we got out of here, electing to stay a night in a motel rather than put up with the heat and humidity that was home. We love Michael and Michelle's new house, and enjoyed our visit with them. What a place! The nicest house I have ever seen! Since it was a weekday, they both had to go to work, so I stayed home in luxurious comfort one whole day while George went off to the Smithsonian air museum at Dulles. I needed a break, and I got it. Lovely.
From there we drove to Parkersburg, WV, and went to the Fenton Glass Factory. We spent a happy two hours there, going through the huge tent sale items, and also inside the gift shop. The factory had closed early because of the heat, so there was no factory tour that day. We have been there twice before, so it was not a great loss, although it is always fun to see them blowing the hot glass into such beautiful items. We bought five or six beautiful items, including a lily white glass basket and a black painted vase. George always picks lovely things too, and then we show each other what we bought when we get home. These new beauties are in the glass case in the livingroom that is the Fenton collection.
I loved Columbus and Dayton. We stayed at Microtel motels on this trip for the first time and I found them inexpensive, efficient, and very clean and quiet. In Dayton we stayed at a Comfort Inn with all the trimmings, and had a beautiful large room. We had great luck with motel rooms on this trip and had no complaints at all. The Air Force Museum is a wonder. After we had been there for a half hour, we went to see an IMAX movie called The History of Flight, and both of us had tears in our eyes afterward. We were just so darned happy to be there! I can't begin to even talk about all the wonderful things we saw there. I loved the IMAX movies, and both of us really enjoyed the awesome stories and the airplanes that bring to mind the bravery and professionalism on the part of soldiers and pilots in the wars: World War I & II, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm. What an amazing collection of airplanes, and of course, George knows as much about all of them as any guide, so I learned a lot. I have announced that we have to go back next year, because we hardly touched the surface of all that is there to see. Incredible! I walked until my legs would hardly go any more, and I had to ditch the sandals for a pair of good Nike walking shoes. This museum is housed in four huge hangars, and is very hard on the feet!
We enjoyed our long drive, but were happy to be home. We had four days where we drove 400+ miles (or about eight to ten hours) and that is enough sitting in a car for anybody. We ate our share of ice cream and fast food, and are ready for some healthy home cooking! I even had buffalo wings one night for dinner. Egad!
Home at last, we have our memories of a great two-part vacation, a challenge met (actually getting to Dayton and to the Museum has been a life-long goal for George), and a lot of really happy days!
Have a good day.
