Herrick's Cove

Last night, I decided to take my kayak over to the river. The Connecticut River is basically in my back yard, so I drove over to Herrick's Cove from the Vermont side. I put my kayak in and poked around for about an hour. It was already 7:00, so it would be getting dusky in an hour. There appeared to be some weather to the north. I wasn't worried about it, because weather here usually goes west to east. The most amazing thing I saw was a small group of four Mute Swans flying over! I have never seen them flying before. HUGE! When I got home I looked them up in my bird book. They aren't even really known to be this far inland, or in NH. Mostly on the coast, from Mass. southward.

The next thing was kinda creepy. I like to paddle near the shore to look for treasures. I got more than a bargained for when I found bones! The photo is of a spine. No, not human. I beached my boat and walked around in the mud. The silty mud was really oozy and black. I could see ribs and vertebrae scattered downstream. I looked for the head but couldn't find one. Then....I found a black garbage bag. YUCK! The rest of the animal someone had tossed into the river. I stuck my hand into the water, without being able to see because it was all stirred up. I felt around for what might be a skull. I found hooves! I picked one up and recognized it as a deer. I pawed around the other bones, all brown from the water. I found a couple that appeared to have been sawed. The only reason someone would throw a deer carcass in a plastic bag, and then into the river, would be bceause they poached it.

The unfortunate part of all of this discovery? The smell. My hands stunk. I must have washed my hands a million times before I lost that nasty smell.

Herrick's Cove is a great spot to picnic, or launch a canoe/kayak. The current this time of year isn't hard to deal with either.
You can get to this place via Rte 5, north of Bellows Falls, VT. A truly peaceful, and painterly place loaded with rich wildlife to watch.

Some Beach

In stark contrast to today, yesterday was a spectacular day for the beach. I rode my motorcycle over to Hampton. Though not my first choice of beaches, it was the first beach I arrived at. I would prefer Ogunquit, Me. or Caladesi Island, FL. Those are my favorites so far. Hampton Beach was a flurry of activity as it usually is during the summer. I happened upon a sand sculpture contest. I was amazed at the detail in the sculptures.

I rolled out my grass mat, amidst a sea of people....another reason I don't usually go to Hampton. I walked down to the water, and was pleasantly surprised that the temperature wasn't numbing. Very close, however. There were people swimming, but most were waist deep. I spent about an hour and a half soaking up the sun, then I decided it was time to head back. To the west, the cumulonimbus clouds were building and I feared that I'd run into rain. I road Rte 27 all the way back to Concord, then Rte 9 into Keene, and home. I did hit rain intermittently, and I was wishing I'd worn my full face helmet instead of the little "brain bucket" I had on. As the rain hit my sunburned face, it felt like I was getting sandblasted. I wondered if my face would show the weathering? Hopefully not, but my nose was beat red! All in all, a great day to be riding and beaching.

Bike Week- Laconia

Yesterday was the perfect day to ride up to Laconia for a taste of the biker lifestyle, and mentality. Sunny, and in the 80's. For just a few hours, you can be whoever you want to be, with no inhibitions. I thought I had seen it all, but every time I go up there, I see something new. I rolled into Tilton, and up to a traffic light. There were several bikes ahead of me. I rolled up next to the last bike. It was my neighbor, Scott! Yikes! What are the chances? So he invited me to ride the rest of the way with his friends. We parked for free at his aunt's house, which is a short walk from the Weirs! Perfect. We all stuck together for a while, to the Roadhouse. Had a couple beers, and listened to a great band. I did some serious people watching. Man! There were cop biker clubs, the "....pigs", the "Road Dawgs", the Red Knights(fireguys). You name it, they were there, even the Hells Angels had a booth set up.
There was a woman(in the photo) serving beer, and making a living, wearing a full body fishnet stocking! I'll tell you what, she had guys ogling all over her. They were putting dollar bills in her "net". It was comical to watch these men. There were women selling "opportunities" to be photographed. Yes sir, have your picture taken with "a girl" for $10. People were paying! I was astounded. How can guys be so primitive? It was a non-stop laugh riot being up there. Paintbrushed flying skulls, crosses, naughty, no raunchy t-shirts, patches to sew on your new leather vest. I even saw a chopper made to look like a naked woman, with a man riding her....I mean "it", from behind. I did a double-take on that one. I heard someone say, "did you get a picture of that Honey?". Another LOL moment.

So after I'd had enough people watching, ice cream eating, my two beers, and being a biker for a day, I rode happily along.
In total, 212 miles on my little beemer. I didn't see another bike like mine. Many, many Harleys, rice rockets, and a few English bikes, but no F 650 CS. After going up there and back, I have a feeling of accomplishment at having dared to ride into the mix as a woman, alone. Just goes to show that you CAN, if you think you can.

I was home by 8:30 p.m. A lovely day.

This Ever Happen to You?

In another life, when I was enforcing the traffic laws of NH, I used to get a kick out of those folks that would blatantly go through a red light right in front of me. The "alleged" offender would of course tell me the light was green, bla, bla, bla. They may or may not get a ticket from me. What they definitely would get, was a piece of advice, "Before you go through a red, orange, almost red light, look in the rearview mirror". You never know when the fuzz is right behind you.

Americade/Lake George NY

Another first for me. I rode my motorcycle to Lake George, NY for Americade. I had heard about what a great event Americade is, so I was curious. I rode up with seven tall guys, not one under six feet! I felt like a midget. I'm proud to say that I had quite a few compliments on my unusual BMW, a 2002 F650CS. After this year, no more will be built! I love mine, just enough pep and ginger to give the adrenaline rush. I stop just short of getting myself into trouble. How we all escaped speeding tickets yesterday I'll never know. I estimate that we did over 260 miles round trip. My ride was very comfortable, not something I could have done on my old 2000 Harley 883 Hugger.

I'm quite certain that to really appreciate Americade, one should go up for 2-3 days and get involved with the daily rides, sightseeing, and evening festivities. We barely scratched the surface walking through the vendor areas, and spending money we didn't have. I was amused watching "the boys" buying, and buying, each one seemed to need to try and outbuy the other. I didn't escape the buying frenzy. For me practicality ruled my purchase, not testosterone. A bought a great, Nolan helmet. My melon never felt more secure than in that brain bucket. The others bought boots, jackets, helmets, cargo nets, and even hard bags for their bikes. The hard bags were installed right there! I saw some lights I really liked but they didn't have the package available for installation right there. My headlight is very dim, and small so I want to install additional running lights for better visibility.

The photo is Ticonderoga Ferry, crossing Lake Champlain to Vermont. We had the little ferry boat all to ourselves.

FYI Still no sign of Izzy. I received a call from the local PD while I was in NY. They had found a black and tan dog with a green collar. Unfortunately the dog was a male. I fear the worst has become of Iz.

Scottish Games anyone?

Yesterday, I went off to Jaffrey, NH with my sister and her two kids, Nathan and Jenny to see what the heck Scottish Games are.
Most of the men, and some women who participate in these unusual antics wear "Kilts". Each kilt bears the colors of their ancestral clan. There was even a New Hampshire tartan(the words for "the clan colors"), which is purple and black. Among the games, men tossed heavy objects to see how far they could toss. These guys, some very big burly guys in skirts, tried their best to even toss a taber. The taber is a long pole, which appears to weigh quite a bit as a few guys lifted it up only to have it fall backwards behind them. At that moment, the toss is over. Next tosser please!

There were delicacies such as Haggis, and Bridies. I passed on both, and opted for the shortbread cookies. Cookies are always a safe bet. We watched an "in period dress" clan village live as they would have pre-1800 in Scotland. A woman was cooking up a fine porridge of smoked haddock! She was sure to tell us when they said, "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old", they meant it. The porridge stays in the pot, over a fire for as long as there is food in it. Stuff is added every day depending on what is around, like venison? quail? rabbit? and wild onions.

I could have stayed all day. The music and festivities were very entertaining. Never a shortage of things and people to watch.
I look forward to the Highland Games up in the White Mountains, I understand THEY are even better.

On a more somber note....I have still not found my dog. :-(