more travels in Maine, friends and climbing Mt. Kathadin

Dear Friends,
I am feeling a bit deceived by Verizon. While my air card will work in Canada I have been advised that it will be very expensive. Somehow the salesman in FL forgot to mention that part. So I will not be using it in Canada but will be sending and receiving email when I can find hotspots along the way.. I have a Canada plan for it. I will be crossing the border Wed. or Thurs.

Also my friend Beth has commented on the Southern question I proposed early in my trip.

“As to the question about the cultural differences in the southern cities, I have experienced all 3 and I notice that in New Orleans,  blacks, historically and presently, are woven into the fiber of the culture from the food, jazz, cajun, zydeco and blues music, voodoo, etc.  Whereas Charleston and Savannah don't seem as "rooted" in black culture.  While this doesn't answer your "stronger slave presence" question, it's something to ponder.  Perhaps it's got something to do with small town mentality.  Savannah and Charleston each have roughly 120,000 people while New Orleans has close to 300,000.”

Another addendum to the bates College section. You will in the photos a picture of Mount David which right next to the campus. When I first arrived at bates as a freshman I was 5 days early, arrived at 11 pm with only a few dollars. So my first night at College I slept on Mt. David right next to that stone thingy. In the morning I went down to campus and introduced myself to the Dean of Students but he said I was too early to get into my room. I used my last money to phone my mother for an advance on my college money. So she wired me....wait for it.....$25.00! With that I had enough money to do laundry and for a Luiggi’s Pizza and a draft beer every day. I slept in a lounge the next night because of rain. Then amazingly the guy in charge of my dorm just happened to “bump into me” and he “snuck “ me into the dorm for the rest of the week. And I was off and running on my college experience! Thought you would all enjoy seeing Mt. David as much as I did seeing it again.

Be safe and tell everyone you love you love them. Until Next time.

Peace,
Allen

Sat July 19

When I was visiting Cecile I traded the book Assassination Vacation for Anywhere But Here by Mona Simpson. I think Cecile will enjoy that book. Anywhere But Here is a title I can relate to. Sometimes when I stay in one place too long I get really itchy feet.
When I woke this morning the closest book was The Perfect Storm so I picked it up. At. 9 I walked over to visit with Paul and Scott some more. Paul was on the porch so I sat and talked with him for a while. We went inside to meet the couple who were visiting. I can’t recall their names but they are both artists. They have a t-shirt company. THey showed us some of their designs on the computer. They are like woodcuts and they hand paint the backgrounds. Neat stuff. Paul made me a cup of tea that’s not really tea but a tea like substance that was the closest plant the Brits could find when they settled South Africa. THat made me think of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Arthur Dent’s struggles to get the beverage machine to make him a cup of tea. I enjoyed my beverage and a piece of raisin toast and we all had a laugh about the tea. We talked some and then I walked back to BEYOND and eased her back on the road and headed out.

Rockland and Brooksville, ME

I stopped on my way at a little place up the road which won the James Beard “best clam shack” award this year. I ordered a piece of haddock and watched some boys learning to paddle white water and flipping their canoes in the river. When my fish was ready I got back on the road and ate it on the way to Bangor, ME to visit my theater design professor. Robert looks great. He left Bates years ago and has worked for the State of Maine as an Engineer. Recently he has been involved in water and waste engineering projects in third world countries with Engineers Without Borders. He was in Darfur and is planning another trip soon. Unfortunately he will probably have to quit his state job in order to continue. He is trying to figure out how to make it work. He is very passionate about the projects over seas and I hope he is able to make it work. Good luck Robert!

He made us some burgers on the grill and we sat on the porch for burgers and beer. I gave him a tour of BEYOND and then he had to go so I decide to drive back to the coast and headed for Acadia National Park. I drove to the remote campsite past Southwest Harbor and rolled out of the sun into thick fog as I reached the campground. I found a very nice site and settled in with my book and watched the trees appear and disappear in the fog. I had some nuts for dinner and went to bed early.

Acadia National Park, ME

Up at 8 am and on the road. I stopped at the Lighthouse on the Southern Point and then headed into SouthWest Harbor. I found a market and bought some produce and cashed a travelers check. I was almost out of cash. There was an art show in the Park across the street so I looked at all the paintings. Mostly ME painters and some wonderful work. THe sky was clear and getting warm so I headed for Echo Pond for a swim. It was the perfect temp and I ended up reading a swimming all day.

Then I drove the long way into Bar Harbor. I biked around and bought a shirt on sale at the Patagonia Shop and some new shoes to replace the ones that were eating my heel. Then I drove out of town and stopped at a restaurant for dinner. I had some wonderful local mussels in a tomato chirizo sauce and a lobster. They were excellent with a glass on Pinot Grigio. After dinner I spoke to Elizabeth Garbee about her painting and drawing and to get her opinion on the new Batman movie. She gives it 2 thumbs up. Then I drove off the Island and stopped in the Park info parking lot for the night. Quite a few people came through trading cars and doing how knows what so I didn’t get much sleep.

I was up at 7:45 and at 8 the ranger came to work and unlocked the bathrooms. So I hit the head and then drove North into Bangor. I had the oil changed in BEYOND, mailed the Sourdough Bread starter form Cecile’s Mom (thanks Mom!) home, bought more soap and some groceries and turned on the Canada plan on my phone. It looked like rain again and there was a movie theater across the street. Batman was starting in 10 minutes so I saw it. Very good movie. Great production design and The Joker was excellent! The sun was out and I jumped in BEYOND and drove up 95 North to Millinocket. ME through pouring rain where I bought gas and drove in to Baxter State Park.

Again the travel gods had me in their pocket as I got the last campsite in the Park! IF you go reserve in advance. I was lucky because of all the rain and it was a Monday. As I pulled into the campground Mt. Katahdin cam out of the clouds for a moment. I checked in with the ranger and ran into a familiar face walking back. We chatted and he looked at BEYOND and later as I walked to the trail he invited me for a beer. His wife and I finally determined that he looked familiar because he and his wife own the North Freeport Country Store where Cecile and I got that great pizza! I love Maine. Very friendly people and not too crowded. It was great to have a beer with him. Then I walked on up the trail and happened upon so kids smoking dope by the stream. They looked scared until I told them i didn’t mind them smoking. They offered me some but I declined. I explained that I gave up smoking dope because to many people are killed and put in jail and so many kids are orphaned that I just can’t smoke it anymore. Thanks for offering. We talked awhile and when they left I took a quick stream bath. There were some people from Quebec with another Eurovan and I spoke to the for a while until the rain started hard. I ran back to my site. Dried off and made spaghetti sauce. Ate half, set my alarm from 5 am and crashed.

Katahdin Stream Campground Baxter State Park, ME

At 5 am the weather looked threatening so I went back to sleep and slept until 8. I was able to get another site from the ranger for Tues. night. I went for a hike to Katahdin Stream Falls and was joined by Thomas Slate from VA who had driven up to meet his son and a friends who were finishing a hike of the whole Appalachian trail. They were on the mountain finishing the last leg of a 2174 mile hike! They were on the Mountain and it was raining and there was thunder! I wished them luck! Thomas and I hiked to the falls 1.3 miles and the back in scattered rain showers, When we got back it poured rain and he drove to the other side of the mountain to meet his son. It thundered and rained on and off the rest of the day so I read and rested. I snacked for dinner and went to sleep early.

I woke up at 4:45 am and the weather looked great. I made a cup of miso and ate the homemade energy bar Thomas gave me as I drove to the other side of the Park to the Roaring Brook. I reached roaring Brook at 6:10 and the sky was clear and there were 30 people in the parking lot gearing up. I grabbed my gear signed the log with my intended route and put my foot in the path. I passed a couple of guys speaking french and some other people then was stopped 1/4 mile by people ahead of me because of a mother moose and her calf on the trail. Momma was standing right across the trail and her calf was right behind her. Momma was not afraid of us. She has probably seen too many people for her own good. She moved into the brush and the calf came out. It was very young. Then momma came back across the trial followed by baby. Finally they were clear of the trail and the french guys and I slipped past. You don’t want to aggravate a momma moose with a baby. She outweighs you by about 1000 pounds!

Soon I passed the french speaking guys again. After awhile I was passed by yoga dude. He was doing deep yoga breathing and I could hear him coming form way back! He must have slipped past the rangers because they try to discourage hikers who don’t have raincoat, flashlight, map, compass, warm sweater, food and water. He was wearing Berkiie sandals and carrying a water bottle in one hand. No pack! I hope he doesn’t twist an ankle! After yoga dude I had the mountain to myself all the way to the top of Mt. Pamola, elevation 4902 ft. The sky is clear and I can the whole bowl to the North and West of me. The next leg is the Knife Edge Trail. Very difficult hike, not for the timid or people with any fear of heights. The mountain is just piled rocks and the trail follows the top of the ridge and is between 3 and 1 ft wide. It’s 1.1 miles of rock hopping! The mountain falls thousands of feet on either side. You are walking in the sky. The scariest part was right at the start with a near vertical descent and the ascent of about 30 ft where I was feeling below where I could see for footholds and then reaching up for handholds on the way up the other side. It was nerve racking!

Finally on top of the ridge it was and hour of carefully placing my feet and and and 300 more feet of elevation. Finally I reach Baxter Peak 5200 ft at 10:20 am. Four hours. Not bad for a middle aged guy from Florida! I pulled out my granola bars and gorp while watching the clouds begin to roll over the Knife Edge. I could see other hikers appearing and disappearing in the clouds all around on different trails. Soon there were about 20 people on the peak. I got up to leave and there was a hiker I saw in Crawford Notch at the bottom of the Webster Cliff trail. He was finishing his last mountain and looking for a way home. He came up the other side of the mountain but I said I would give him a ride to Millinocket or 95 if he was at the gatehouse when I left the Park. I wished him happy, safe down and headed down the Saddle Trail which was like a super highway. Lots of people and the terrain was very much stomped to death.

At the Saddle trail I decided not to go down yet. It was early and I still had more than half of my water so I took the Saddle trail around the back side of Hamelin. This was a trail less traveled and was beautiful. I walked with an older couple to a spring the rangers said was safe to drink untreated. When I was younger you could drink from most high streams but now many of them have Giardia and other bacteria that can make you sick so you have to boil, chemically treat or filter the water before consuming. To this point I have carried all my water. The spring was clear and cold and I got an ice cream headache from it, but it tasted great! It was at about 4200 feet. Then I walked up the Hamelin Ridge Trail and over the top and down the ridge into the bowl. It was steep on the way down but the trail was not as tough as the way up. It was a great trail and I could see Baxter Peak almost whole way down. It was great to see it come in and out of the clouds.

Climbing Mt. Katahdin

Eventually I dropped below tree line and the trail got less steep and hooked up with the Chimney Pond Trail. I hiked with a family I had seen of top of Baxter Peak and stopped at mountain pond for a swim with some of their kids. It was cold, but it felt great after the climb. Then I hiked the rest of the way back to Roaring Falls with them. I was tired by the time I finished at 4:15 pm. 10 hours on the mountain, but what a great day! I threw of my pack, put on clean clothes and drove out of the park. My hiker buddy wasn’t at the gate so I drove into Millinocket and did some internet business before I crossed the border. Then I got back on 95 and drove 55 miles to the border. Only 1 3 car wait but the customs woman asked me a ton of questions. Many more than i have ever encounter before. I must have looked tired or something! Finally she let me through, YEAH! And I am in Canada. I drive another 40 minutes into New Brunswick to the Mactaquac Provincial Park. Got a campsite. Heated noodles for the rest of sauce. Ate it and collapsed for the night.
Good night!

I have loaded pics of Kathadin including a panorama of 6 shots of the Kathadin Bowl.

http://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd

On into Maine, My alma mater and visiting friends

Wed. July 16
I didn’t sleep very well last night. Don’t know why. Maybe because I was so excited about hiking on the Appalachian Trail. When I was 15 and 16 I went to Camp Merrowvista in New Hampshire. It was an adventure camp. I also worked there on the maintenance staff for a couple of summers. We hiked, biked and canoed all around New England and even paddled in Labrador. When I was 16 we hiked all the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire. One of the many memorable trails was the Webster Cliff Trail that heads up into the Presidential Mountains. So 30 years later I am putting my foot back in the That same trail. It lives up to my memories of being very steep and rocky but beautiful. I started at 9:15 and was soon panting my way up the side of Webster Mt. Lots of switch backs and rocky steps. I set a good pace but soon slow down and breathing hard! The trail is very close to vertical and in places I am pulling myself up with my hands. I pass a trail work crew and praise them for their work on the trail. THey say they have been on this 2 mile section all summer and are almost done. I believe it. Finally I reach the shoulder of the mountain and I am standing on a rock shelf looking straight down at BEYOND. She is at about 375 ft and I about 2000 ft .

The trail continues right along Webster Cliff with more steep rock faces and often a 2000 ft drop to my right. I am still puffing and sweating and finally I reach the top of Webster Mt. at 3910 ft. I have hiked 3.1 miles so I stop for a well deserved break and talk to some other hikers that have come up a different route. Then I head for Mt. Jackson which is 1.3 miles further. The trail is much easier and many more people travel this one. It drops some into a notch and then gets very rocky and steep getting to the top. I make it and am now at 4052 ft. I take a lunch break. A can of portuguese tuna salad, garlic pepper flat bread (dented can store) sharp cheddar and lots of water. I eat my lunch and look up at Mt. Washington. I remember hiking up Washington in August and being bused back down because it was snowing to hard and they closed the mountain. Yes, there is a road and a cog railway to the top at 6288 ft. THe highest point on the East Coast. THe worst weather in New England. I can see the weather towers on the top. I have hiked it at least 3 times and have no plans to hike it again. I hate getting to the top and seeing all the tourists in the gifts shop! It’s a great hike though. Especially up Tuckerman’s Ravine on the other side. Crazy people hike up and ski down Tuckermans in the winter! Not me.

I am carrying twice as much water as my last hike and glad of it. It’s only about 1:00 when I finish lunch and I decide to hike on to Mizpah Spring Hut which is another 1.7 miles. I can see from my map that the altitude stays about the same. It very rocky again getting off the top of Jackson but then levels out and I am flying along on boards over alpine marshes and I have been smelling the spruce trees all day. The blueberries aren’t ripe yet this high but there are lots of flowers blooming and the mosses are brilliant green against the darker green of the trees.

Soon I am at the hut and take a break and eat the peach i have saved from my lunch. I take some pics and talk to RD, one of the hut people who is cleaning up after lunch. You can reserve a bed and buy meals in the huts. I’ve never stayed in one. Maybe when I am old! RD and the other folks get a chuckle out of MR. NIGHT and we take some photos. The huts use solar now but still have the propane lights I remember. I forgot to ask RD if they still carry all the food, supplies and propane tanks up by backpack. I will never forget pass a hut man carrying 2 propane tanks on a frame pack! He said the secret was not to stop for long and don’t sit. he was leaning against a rock for a minute. Just do it! It’s now about 2:30 and the hut says it’s 5 hours and 7.1 miles back to where I started. Including going back down Webster Cliff.

I top off my water bottles and head back. I have plenty of day light and take it a bit slower on the steep parts. My body is in the groove and I am moving on the flats. Soon I am back on top of Mt. Jackson and have a conversation with some folks who have been to St. Pete. Then back to Mt. Webster where I chat with some different folks about traveling. I am starting to feel fatigued now. So I take my time going back down along the cliff. I trip once and catch myself but I was pretty close to the edge. Gulp. Slow down some more and watch the ravens flying below me when the trail is level. (not often) Soon I am back at the rock ledge where I can see BEYOND waiting with my dinner! The shadows are getting long but I lie down and rest for 15 min. and do my back exercises again as I am feeling stiff. They really help. I get up and see three guys with lots of military gear and full packs come up the cliff. They are headed for Mizpah Hut. I tell them about the trail ahead and wish them luck. They have just about enough time to get there by dark. If they push it on the flats. Hope they have flashlights!

I head down the last 2 miles and see they same trail crew still working. They have moved about 15 ft up the trail! I test out their new rocks steps and head down. Slowly picking my steps as I am tired and my legs are aching. Down like this is the hardest on your body. I have a couple of scares where my feet slip or my shoes get caught on each other in a narrow spot. So I slow down more. I can hear the highway and it’s finally less steep and at last there is my friend the Saco River again. It’s not very deep but can’t hear anyone so I rip off my clothes and there is just enough water to float. AHHH! I am not really worried about being seen because I am under the bridge playing nekkid troll! WHen I am shivering I get dressed and walk back to BEYOND. It’s 6:30 so I made good time. 14 miles today. I have a couple of blisters and sore toes but not too bad. I feel tired but good. I get in BEYOND, fill my water bottle and head north.

Webster Cliff Trail, Presdential Mts, NH

I find Sugarloaf Campground and pull into the first site. I pull my bike down and ride to the pay station. My legs feel better than I expected. I ride to the john. First flush toilets in NH but no sinks. You just never know what each campground has! Then back to rend to my feet. I sterilize a needle and drain 2 blisters on my right foot. Antibiotic and bandage. Then I cook the organic home raised steak and fresh green beans I bought at the farm store. It tasted great. One of the most tender steaks I have ever eaten. I even tasted a Kobe beef steak at Bern’s once. This is almost as good. I drink an Ipswitch Summer Ale each some lemon poppy seed bread for dessert and then off to bed and I fall asleep to more rain.

It’s raining hard this morning so I read some Pelican Brief and go back to sleep. When there is a break in the rain I walk to the john and then make hot chocolate and eat blueberries raspberries and cantaloupe for breakfast. I read some more then pack up and head out at noon. I drive North and east over to Gorham through scattered rainstorms. I stop at a Quiklube and borrow their air hose and blow out my refrigerator line. Was not able to get it going yesterday. It lights and I drive to the supermarket for supplies. especially paper towels. I ran out last night and cleanup got messy! I drove on into Berlin, NH which is the biggest town around. SOme big paper and lumber mills. I am in the North woods now. I am getting internet so I do the email and look for a bookstore. Closest one is back in Gorham. I google movie theaters as the new Batman movie is opening today. Berlin has a theater. I look at GoogleMap and drive over but the theater is closed and for sale. Oh well. It was a nice thought on a rainy day. I am getting low on gas and have seen it as high as $4.27 here in the mountains. I see $4.07 and fill up. I ask about a swimming pool or YMCA where I can take a shower. They point back to Gorham. So I turn around and head back I see Moosebrook campsite just outside town so I pull in there as it’s 5 pm. THey have a campsite and showers! Hotdog!

I find my site which is at the other end of the place from the showers. I read and listen to the rain pouring down. I bought fresh scallops so I make more pho with fresh veggies and the scallops. It tasted good. THe scallops are great. I am still working the spice combinations but getting there. THen I have lemon poppy seed cake for dessert. The rain has stopped so I get my bike off, load up my towel and shower kit and head for the showers. I have to ride up a pretty steep hill and it’s dark but I find the showers. I got in and it takes quarters. First one on this trip. I ran into these in California. I search my bag for my emergency quarters. Nothing. I search my bike bag. Plenty of tools but no quarters! CWAP! A guy walking by takes pity on me and gives me a quarter. I offer to to return it in the morning. He declines as he bikes and feels my pain. I thank him and get in line for the shower. One guy ran in while I was searching. I shave in the sink and talk to a couple of guys who are thinking about hiking Webster Cliff the next day. I give them the low down and then for a quarter i get 2.5 minutes on lovely hot water. It;’s been 6 days of creek baths or swims and boy does it feel good! I wash my self and my hair and luxuriate in the final time. Then I ride back though a dark misty night and get in bed with the Pelican Brief and soon the rain starts and puts me to sleep.

I am having trouble uploading pics so be patient with me. They will come.

Saturday July 19th

Very damp this morning so I go back to sleep. When I wake again the sun is shining so I go for a walk and check out the swimming area and the warming pond. Someone in the past designed this Park so the Mountain stream is diverted into a shallow still “warming pond” that then flows into the swimming area. The stream is channeled around the side. Pretty ingenious probably warms the water a few degrees! Anyway after breakfast of granola with blueberries and raspberries I get my suit on and go for a swim. THe water is pretty chilly but the sun soon comes out and I sit on a bench with my book and warm up. Soon some other folks show up and jump off the platform over the dam. I am in again and now the sun is out and I am luxuriating in the warmth.

I move BEYOND out of my campsite and into a parking spot. Grab some roasted soy nuts and an apple head back to to swim again. Soon it’s hot enough that I retreat to a picnic table under a tree and lie in the shade. I discover this tiny jumping spider is trying to climb on me. I keep deflecting him with my book but he keeps coming. When I finally think I have him discouraged he stands on the top of my book and lets out a thread which must have stuck on my forehead because all of a sudden he comes right at my eyes on a tightrope! I swat him off and drop him on the bench where I can watch him hunt flies from a safe distance! He is a very good hunter. He will creep up close and then jump on them! I doze off and wake suddenly thinking the spider is on my face! But it’s just a fly. Whew! There are more people coming so I pack up BEYOND and head North up RT.16 through Berlin again. This time the whole main street is blocked off for a motorcycle event. I can see lots of bikes and vendors tents. I detour around and find a signal where I can send some email. Pics are very slow to load so I do one set as I drive North. It finishes and I start a second set but lose my connection in Milan (pronounced my-lan) and drive North to the Mollidgewock State Park and camp right next to the Androscoggin River.

I realize that I camped here before when I was younger and we were on an 8 day canoe adventure where it basically rained the whole time. THis was out last campsite and it poured all night and I woke up in the morning to the sound of Danny Cohelo blowing bubbles as he snored. Our tent had flooded and we were so damp and tired we didn’t notice! We got up poured the water out of the tent threw it into a canoe and paddled like madmen for out take out point and hot showers! That was a hot shower I may never forget! Tonight was cloudy but the rain had stopped. There was a bunch off college kids staying there with big cheap rafts and they were floating down the river to the campsite drinking beer and having a great time. It was fun to watch them swimming there rafts over before they missed the campsite and went through the rapids below. I put some dried black bean ina bottle to soak at breakfast. They went into a little pressure cooker I bought. Don’t worry this is a modern safe one. Not like the old exploding model i have at home. Soon it was whistling away. When the beans were getting soft I added veggie broth, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, Texas Pete and some sautéed onions and peppers and ran it again. I ate some salad and then made a couple of bean, tomtit and lime juice burritos. They were pretty good. But the beans were bland and a little stiff so I added more cumin and chili powder heated it again and let it sit over night. In the morning I put them in the fridge. Off to read my book. I confess that I finished The Pelican Brief and I am reading Survival of the Fittest again. It’s a truly terrify thriller. It delves into eugenics (theories that non white and retarded people are not fit to live) scary stuff. I know I am such a book fiend! Good night!

Sunday July 21
I slept late today, ate granola and fruit for breakfast, then rode my bike around the campground and went for a swim in the Androscoggin River. I have canoed on this river in a couple of different places and it runs through Lewiston, ME where I attended college. it’s nice to see it again. Then I drove North to Errol, NH and the top of the hill where I finally got enough signal to call Tom’s house. I spoke to his wife Peggy because I got an email that another college friend of our Cecile and her family are visiting from Seattle and are headed to Maine. I want to meet up with them if possible. Peggy tells me the town where Cecile’s mother lives and will have them call me when they come through on Monday. THis give me the opportunity to visit the ice cream stand that guys with a food blog call the best in New England. It’s in Wayne, ME. I can also visit Bates College. I haven’t been back since I graduated in 1986. I am looking forward to seeing the campus. It’s very pretty. They run a summer dance festival that draws some big names. Maybe there will be a performance I can see.

Errol, NH and Rangley, ME

I drive North along the River to Lake Umbagog which was part of our rainy canoe trip. Also my father and I visited his friend Ed at his camp on this lake one time. Ed was my stepmother’s second husband and he passed away not long after my mother. I drive into Maine and stop at a secluded picnic site along side Lake Aziscohos also part of our canoe trip. It’s a gray day and smells of rain and wet spruce trees. I am feeling lonely today. I take a moment and think about all my family and friends who have passes over the years. It’s a beautiful spot. Sometimes I wish had a travel companion to share these trips. THe laughs and beauty. The mistakes and wet. It’s all part of the journey. Thanks to all of you out there staying in touch. It means a lot to me. I have lunch and shake off the blues. Sharp cheddar, flat bead, cantaloupe and soy nuts. Then I drive on. I stop at a timber road. (Most of Northern Maine is owned by the timber companies and there are gravel roads running through their woods. You have to be careful because the log trucks rule those roads and they drive fast! Sunday is pretty safe. There are two sings pointing up the road saying B-17 Memorial. One is sporting a US flag. I am curious so I head up the road and see nothing for 3 + miles. I reach an intersection and there are not signs for the memorial so I retreat.

I am listening to a Quebec radio station that is playing a mix of French pop and US 80’s disco funk. It’s an interesting mix. They are also taking phone calls but my french is not good enough to catch much. I can see on my map that there is Wilhem Reich Museum ahead in Rangley, ME so I head for it. The name sounds vaguely familiar but I can’t place it. The Property is called Orgonon. And the Museum is a stone house on the hill over looking a pond. I pays my $6 and meet a tour guide who ushers me into a small room where I watch a 30 minute movie about Reich. He was born in Austria studied under Freud, and left Europe because he clashed with the Nazi’s. He then went on to develop theories of orgone. An energy produced by al living things that is not electrical bu is measurable. This came out his studies of the sexual orgasm. He went on to make Orgone boxes which concentrated the orgone energy and began to use them to treat cancer. ( I realize that my old girlfriend Lori told me about Reich and his theories) He bought this property because his home in NYC was to hot and humid for collecting orgone.

He established Orgonon Research Institute and had up to 70 people researching orgone and bions here until he was denounced by a fellow scientist as a fraud and a accused of using his orgone boxes to concentrate sexual energy. The FDA and the courts shut him down and ordered all his books and orgone boxes destroyed. During this time he built a series of orgone collectors that he claimed could influence the weather. There was a drought and the Maine blueberry crop was in trouble. Reich was convinced to use his cloud-busting machine and contrary to weather forecasts for no rain, he was able to produce enough rain to save the crop. He went on to do more cloud-busting studies on Arizona but i saw no mention of the outcome. One of his associates moved some of his orgone boxes and books to NYC without his knowledge and he was sentenced to 2 years in prison where he died of a heart attack. His house is filled with scientific equipment and his paintings (colorful abstracts). If you have ever seen Kate Bush’s video for her song Cloud bursting the machine they use looks very similar to Reich’s Cloud buster. He is buried in a tomb here in the woods. There is a cloud buster next to his tomb. He was certainly a brilliant and energetic man and a victim of an alarmist reaction to his work. Who know what the Orgone Institute would have gone on to do. I leave it up to you to decide whether his theories are sound or not. You have to admire his convictions. Especially his statement to the court that science should not be judged by public courts but by fellow scientists and the scientific method. This didn’t influence the judge favorably. Orgone is a very interesting place.

On down the road into Rangely, ME and it’s raining again. Pretty hard and the light is fading. I am heading South now and am seriously watching out for moose. Lots of car-moose collisions up here. Neither party wins. I am so busy watching for moose that I almost hit 2 wild turkey crossing the road! That was close. I like turkey soup but I don’t have pot big enough to cook 2 turkeys! I can see clouds loving quickly and mist settling around the mountaintops. It’s very beautiful. Not town here until I reach Coos Canyon and there is a sign next to the Canyon for a campground. I pull in and stop in the first site. The rain is pounding down. I pop the top so I can stand and pull out the beans, salad chipotle salsa, cheese, cook some yellow rice and cranked out some really good burritos. THe beans are just right now. Soft but firm. Burritos, salad, Smuttynose IPA and Laurie Anderson’s Mister Heartbreak. Probably my favorite of her albums. THen on to a really interesting mix of tunes from Chris and I hear some Patrick in there as well. It’s great to have new tunes on a stormy night! Thanks guys. Some dishes are done and it’s a monsoon out there. I have the windows almost completely zipped because water is bouncing all over out there. Soon I crawl into bed with my book. Almost finished with Survival of the Fittest (2nd read)
I am dry, warm and cozy. BEYOND is just so cool! Stay dry my friends.

I am up at 6 am this morning after a deep sleep. I take a walk down by the canyon and the water is really high and booming through the canyon. THe rocks are very slippery and I almost slide in once. That would be the end of me. I find a few ripe blueberries and the head back for granola , fruit and hot chocolate for bkfst. Then I do some writing and watch other campers walking by and realize that there are hot showers here. YESSS! I am off like a shot for a hot shower. IT feels great and when i finish the sun is out. It’s almost 9 am so I pack up and when the office opens I pay and then am out of there. I turn of the pavement and take a dirt road over the mountain to Mt. Blue and then south past Saddleback Mt. I was going to hike SB but I couldn’t find the trailhead and there were dark clouds up at the peak. I head on to Wayne, Maine. Hilton send me a foodblog from two guys who tried lots of handmade ice cream in NEw England and there fav is...... envelope please.... TUBBY”S in Wayne, Maine! So I am on an ice cream hunt. There it is and they give samples! I try raspberry chocolate, Coffee chocolate and chocolate chip. I settle on Coffee chocolate and it is really good! Heavenly! Thanks Hilton!

Wayne and Monmouth, ME

That takes care of lunch and I drive off to a Disc Golf Course I found on the internet and play 18 holes. It’s at the Beaver Brook Campground in Monmouth, ME. Lots of trees, rocks and bug! Not very long throws but lots of trees in the way. I did okay. Then I discovered they have a book exchange! Cool. After looking at all the titles I trade The Pelican Brief for a John Irving and The Perfect Storm. I was in Gloucester, MA so why not! I head south and then spot the Theater at Monmouth. I was up there when I was in college. It is a really cool little theater build by a shipbuilder. It’s tiny but very ornate. Ipull in a show my portfolio and resume. They seem interested. Fingers crossed! I drive into Lewiston, ME and Bates College where I went to school. I pull in and it’s starts to pour again. Dang! It’s really raining hard so I go for a drive around Lewiston. It looks about the same. I go looking for The Station which was a bar I used to frequent. It’s now a hairstylist. The Blue Goose Tavern is still there and Luiggi’s Pizza. I go to the Goose for a couple of beers and then a pizza at Luiggi’s. They still put luncheon meat on all their pizzas! I thought about going to see the new Batman movie, but it was hours before the next showing and I was tired. So I drove up to the campus and parked in the admissions lot. Nobody came to hassle me so I slept.



In the morning the rain had slowed to a drizzle so I walked over to the Library and researched some theater design ideas. I had seen book at Monmouth theater that was a whole book of textures. They didn’t have it at the Library but we found the Title and ISBN number so I can order it. Then I walked over to the theater and it was open so I walked around and they were hanging lights for a Bates Dance Festival concert. I found one of my professors in his office and we had a great conversation. He reminded me about a documentary film I made about the process of putting together a show. He want to know if I had a copy. He wanted to show it in one of his classes. I don’t have a copy and had completely forgotten the project. We reminisced and then he gave me a tour of the building. THey have added another theater and changed a lot around. It was interesting to see that they are still hand drawing all their designs. No computers yet. I think it is good to have a foundation in doing it by hand. But the industry is moving rapidly towards computers. They may be at a disadvantage in the working world. We talked about bringing me up to design a show. That would be great!

I ran into Professor Kuritz and he loved my photos of Uncle Bends written and acted by Bob Devin Jones and designed by me. He is interested in bring Bob and I up to direct and design a show in the spring. THat would be great. So Maybe I can come up a few times to do shows. Then I walked over to see the new Olin Arts Center. It is a neat building. Lots of good studio and music space. I was also able to visit with Marcy the modern dance professor. She started the dance program and the dance festival. She has retired now so I went to her house and we had a great talk. She looks great. Her husband has had brain tumors removed and can have a conversation but is not moving very well. It was great to see them both. She sent me over to see the New Dance studio they dedicated to her and a painting of her. It is a great setup with a lot more space then when I was choreographing dance pieces. I took a shower while I was there and then drove south to Bradbury Mt. State Park for the night. It is right near Durham where my friend Cecile is supposed to be. I leave her a message on her phone that I am near. Where are they? I make some more burritos, salad and I am drinking some Vermont beer tonight. I can’t remember the name but it was good! Then off to sleep.

In the morning I am up and after cereal, nuts and tea I take my bike out on the mountain bike trails. They have a lot of trails and some of them are really tough! I ride for about an hour, including on IMBA trail that really tested my abilities. I made it through with out falling but was feeling all the pounding in my back so I return to camp and did some stretching and called Cecile again. Still no answer so I packed up BEYOND and pumped up that leaky tire again! Then I drove into Durham and was on the internet trying to find Cecile’s parent address when my phone beep and there were two messages. One from Bob Devin Jones about the show and one from Cecile. Yeah! SO I call her, get directions and roll out there. It’s Cecile, her husband Mike,son Percy, daughter Bridget and her parents. THey live in Seattle and are visiting her parents summer home. It’s great to see Cecile and company and to meet her parents.

We catch-up and then all jump in two cars and drive into Lisbon Falls, ME ( home of the Moxie Festival, Moxie is America’s first soda. It has a strong very unique taste) to a glass studio and Insect Museum. It is in an old church and is a run by an amazing guy. He seems to have boundless energy and make all kinds of things out of glass. Including glass box dioramas of insect, shells, butterflies, scorpions you name he has boxed it! Some of them are amazing. He also has a collection of live insects, scorpions, Tarantulas. We had a great time looking at all of his stuff. Then we went to a park along the Androscggin River for a picnic and Percy and Bridget went swimming. It started to rain so we went back to the house and Percy, Cecile and I drove back to Bradbury Mt. State Park and hiked up a rainy Bradbury Mt. (.6 miles) then walked one of the trails and discussed movies and work. Cecile has a PHD in Biology and works for a small drug company as a project manager. We think we saw some bobcat tracks! Then to a country store (no lettuce) and back to the house where between all our supplies we rustled up oriental chicken,rice and lilly buds, fruit salad, Merlot and homemade rhubarb pie for dessert! YUM. We talked and then Cecile father gave a show with dancing stick puppets. They are a dying art form from Applachia that I haven’t seen in years. It was great to see him perform them so well and being so enthusiastic about them. He makes his own puppets and they are cool. Then everyone crashed. The rain poured down on BEYOND all night like and woke me a few times it was coming down so hard!

Waffles and tea for breakfast. Cecile's Father and I try to load a back-up program on his Mac and are partially successful then give up. The rain has slowed so Cecile, Mike the kids and I drive to Runaround Pond where Mike, Percy and I swim and Cecile and Bridget hike. THen we all look for frogs and I find a frisbee and Cecile finds just one frog. Usually there are lots of frogs according to Percy but we only find one and throw some ‘bee. The rain starts again so we head to the country store and order pizza, a hero, beer chips, root beer and ginger beer. We head to the house and all feast and then nap as the rain continues. We have leftovers for dinner and then look at vids on the computer before calling it a night.
More rain tonight. I have never seen this much rain in Maine. Reminds me of florida summer rains without the thunder.

Lewiston and Durham, ME

In the morning it’s tea and cereal and the well all head in different directions. I drive North on Route 1 along the coast and then stop at Rockland, ME and get on the internet to find a phone number for another college friend. Eva. She and her husband and two kids have lived on Matincus Island for about 19 years now. The ferry only goes out once a week in the summer. Her number is unlisted. GRR! But I know that there are only 100 full-time families on the island so I start calling all the island numbers I can find. Finally the power company picks up. I know Eva and her family run the power company and the guy gave me her number. It’s busy, busy but finally rings and her son ( I met him once when they came to St. Pete for the International Folk Festival.) Her remembered and amazingly she is on the mainland and I call her cell and leave a message. I hang around for an hour and then am driving out of town when it rings and it’s Eva. We meet at the ferry docks and talk about 20 minutes. She rarely comes to the mainland so it was meant to be.

She talked about her writing for local papers and magazines, running the power company, selling baked goods and hauling trash and freight to earn money. You have to be multitalented to survive on the islands. Her daughter is attending Exeter on full scholarship and her son is interested in theater design( how cool!) After 20 minutes Eva had to finish her errands. She can’t miss the ferry or she is stuck on the Mainland for a week. Or longer if the weather is bad! It’s very different way of life but they are doing well and are healthy and happy. It’s really great to see her. Maybe if I get a show in Maine I can spend a week on the Island with them. Something to plan for a another trip. I drive on up the coast through the tourist traffic. Past Bucksport and head south for Brooksville, ME. My college pottery professor has a shop in Brooksville, ME and after ending up in Castine, ME (the tourist bureau back in Rockland gave me wrong directions) I finally find the studio and there is Paul. He is surprised to see me. I left him a message that I was in the area but then lost his phone number. I meet his partner Scott.

Rockland and Brooksville, ME

THey have living and working in a beautiful house overlooking a cove. It’s very peaceful. We talk and then Scott gives me permission to park on his sister’s land next door. It’s very gracious of him since I dropped in and there are no campgrounds nearby. They are expecting company so we chat a bit and then I move BEYOND and go for a swim in the cove. THe water is a great temperature and completely flat. I alternate between swimming and floating perfectly still. I lie on the water and watch the sun drop behind the trees and dark begin to creep into the cove as I sit on the rocks. Finally I make my way back up the hill and eat my last burrito ( finally) with some Keilbasa and salad. Then I look at plane flights and at maps my stepmother has sent me on how to find her property in Nova Scotia. I think I have it sussed out now! A couple of cars drive up the road past me. I am barely off the road as it’s damp from all the rain and I don’t want to get stuck! They pay me no mind so soon I am off to read. I finish Survival of the Fittest then sleep.

When I get a strong signal I will load more pics.

As always pics ca be seen at

http://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd

Hiking and touring in the White Mountains of NH

Sunday July 13th

I woke up wrapped in my blanket and sleeping bag as temp was in the low 60’s over night. Heavenly sleep! I made a cup of miso and seaweed and the drove to the Champney Falls trailhead at about 375 ft elevation and hiked up Chocorua Mt. Elevation 3675. After living at sea level for 2 years I was really feeling the altitude on the way up. I was breathing hard but my legs felt good. I am always amazed at how quickly my body falls into it hiking rhythm. Muscle Memory is an amazing thing. Pick a pace where I am breathing hard but my body is moving smoothly. Step around the rock whenever possible. Small steps up rather than large ones are more efficient. I was passing lots of people on the way up. Listening to the stream running off to the left and the birds calling in the trees. Look for ripe berries and flowers. The miles just flow by.

Soon you look out though the trees and you are seeing the mountains on the other side of the valley. The trees are getting smaller and pines are replacing the hardwoods. Soon you break out onto the shoulder of the mountain and you can see for miles over the low trees and all the blueberries are in flower and something like a mountain rhododendron with beautiful purple flowers and up above you is either a false peak or the top. You head for it and it’s a false peak but you are up above the tree line on bare rock and you can see the real peak. Another half mile. Your legs are aching now and you have to step carefully up the rock so as not to slip but the pain is good. Finally you make the top and throw down your pack. The wind is cool and you can see all the high peaks and Mt. Washington to the Northwest and another 3000 or so feet higher! They are tiny white flowers growing in the cracks of the rocks and lots of lichen. The clouds are moving and when the sun goes under you reach for another shirt as you shiver.

You take some pics as your sweat dries and then pull out snax. granola bars, almonds and chocolate. That and check your water see how much you drank on the way up. Drink a bit but save some for the way down. Listen to other folks talking about the different mountains. Everyone has stories. It’s been 30 years since I have been up this mountain but I remember it. Soon you start thinking about the next peak so you head back down to the shoulder of the mountain and then up to Middle Sister. There is an old stone structure on top that is bolted to the rock with cables. The roof is gone now but there is a solar panel and a weather measuring device in the middle. I have this peak to myself. I relax for awhile then head back down a different trail that joins up with the main trail below the shoulder. This one is much less traveled and has beautiful moss on the sides. Down is faster but harder on the body. You have to fight to control your speed. On the steep sections it’s more like a controlled fall. You are just aiming you feet and holding back. Keeping your knees bent and you body balanced. Down you go.

When the trail evens out you can slow up and let your legs un kink a bit before the next steep section. I took the loop trail to Champney Falls and lay on the rocks and listened to the falling water. I dozed off until some kids came to try and swim. I watched them almost slide down the slippery falls and then went down to a pool that was big enough for me to float in. It felt great. A couple of women were taking pics so I got them to take couple of me. Then they waded in to cool their piggies! It feel great to take off your boots and put your feet in the cool water. You can almost see steam! Then clothes back on and the final hike back to the road head. My shorts are almost dry by the time i get down and i have been careful not break a sweat on the final stretch. I reach BEYOND and pull out that full water bottle for a drink and a crisp apple. Life is good!

Mt. Chocorua, White Mountains, NH

I drove west on the Kancamagus Highway looking for a campsite but all the campgrounds are full. I go through Lincoln and out 118 a long way until I see another campground and Dave has room! $15 and a hot shower. I pull out all my veggies and some Vietnamese rice noodles and sauces and make up a veggie noodle soup topped with cilantro and Hoisin sauce. ( When I got to Tom’s house there was a care package waiting for me that was full of stuff to make Vietnamese food! Thanks Chris) It tastes great and I eat the whole pot! There is almost now one else around and this place is funny. dave has obviously invented this place on the fly. There is an airplane made of crates with a ceiling fan for a prop on top of a building made out of an old truck trailer. . A pond with a pool slide that comes out of the back of a wrecked boat. A grandstand with R, W &B bunting on top of another building that has a makeshift bar and tables.

Up the hill there is an ATV track with a control tower made from the back of a truck in the middle. This place must have been hopping on the 4th! It’s kind of spooky now as I am the only person around. I can see some other RV’s and smell some campfire smoke but no one else is moving. Oh and there a dog howling in the distance. It’s getting dark and a few mosquitos are out. I head for BEYOND and settle in to write some. As I head for bed a realize that there is a skunk around as I can smell him. I am careful now make any loud noises as I don’t need him getting scared and spraying BEYOND! I sleep down below and finish reading Assassination Vacation. It was a very enjoyable book. She is a funny writer and the book is full of historical information about Assignation and other historical places and events. I recommend it. Then off to sleep.

This morning I can still faintly smell polecat so I step very carefully out of BEYOND in case it’s sleep underneath. No sign so I make miso and seaweed as it’s almost chilly this morning. Maybe 65 F. Then I drive back into Lincoln to mail a letter and pickup an email from the Artistic Director of the Lynchburg Opera that he was unable to open all my pics and can I resend. So I do that and stop for a toasted sesame bagel with a schmear, and a blueberry raspberry scone. I eat the bagel and there is a phone message form the same guy to cal him. It’s too early so I drive North up Rt. 3 and eat the bagel. I stop in Franconia Notch State Park and pay $12 for a walk through the Flume. It is a narrow channel in the rock with a stream and boardwalk through it. Very spectacular. Lots of erratics (huge boulders left by melting glaciers) around some have trees that have grown around them.

The walk is about two miles and not too steep. There is one place where there is a very narrow channel in the rocks that you can just squeeze through. WHen I first got in I couldn’t see the guy ahead of me. I turned on my flashlight and looked at the tight spot. When it came to getting through I had to take off my little pack, get down on my hands and knees and squeeze under and then up. I made but I felt close to getting stuck! That was a squeeze. My legs are pretty sore from yesterday on the down hills, but the walk helps. The sky is gray so not too many people around. As I finish my walk the rain starts. I love rainy days here as all the greens pop out in the trees and the grasses. I drive North and eat my scone and stop in Twin Mountain, NH as the rain is heavy and call the guy from the opera. Then I speak with my father. He and my brother’s family are going sailing in the Bahamas before he meets me in Newfoundland. I get all the news about Winfree’s birthday party. When I check my email the Opera guy received my photos and is asking for more so I send the rest of my portfolio shots! Finger crossed!
It is still raining so I drive on to Crawford Notch and the Appalachian Mountain Club Building. I pull into a parking space and the rain is pouring. I am sleepy so I take a nap. When I wake it’s almost dark! So I cook some noodles and sauce and fall back to sleep. It rains hard through the night but I sleep well to the sound of the drops. Snug in my shell.

The Flume Franconia Notch State Park, NH

Monday July 14

Still raining this morning. THe mist is beautiful curling around the mountains and in the hollows. I drive until I find a little store and buy a blueberry muffin. Then I drove over the mountain on a seasonal road back to the Kancamagus and head east to the Ranger Station. I buy a topographical trail map so I can really see where I am going to be hiking and calculate the distance, terrain and elevation change before I get started. Also handy if I get lost by accident. With the mapI can find myself! Or at least where myself is! I find I have a strong internet signal so I send out the travelog and pics. I have been mostly out of range the last few days. Then I go into North Conway. It’s a real outdoorsy town. I quickly find an Eastern Mountain Sports and buy some lightweight hiking socks and some slippery pads for my shoes. My walking shoes have worn out the padding on my right heel and I get a blister every time I wear them. I tried Duct tape but it didn’t help much. I hope the slippery pad works. Otherwise I will need new shoes. These are in great shape except for that heel pad. If not I will try the socks. But I don’t really like to wear socks unless it’s cold.

THen I biked around North Conway looking for a used bookstore but the traffic was awful so I drove south to the town of Chocorua where I saw one on the way up. I find it but it’s closed on Monday. But he has dollar books on the front porch. I find two detective books a Kellerman (great murder writer, his wife too) And The Pelican Brief. I liked the movie so well see about the book. So I left $2 on the shelf and drove back to the Kancamagus. My back is aching today so I pull over next to the Saco RIver and start the Kellerman novel. I am also reading The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. It’s a great book about Newfoundland. I have read it many times and will probably read it again on Newfoundland. My friend Hilda in Ontario recommended The Day the World Came to Town as well but I haven’t found it yet. I will find it when I cross the border I expect. I read a while and nap.

WHen I wake up I walk down to the river and find a pool near shore behind a rock and have a quick bath. Biodegradable soap of course! It feels great. Then I head west to the Covered Bridge campground. I have to drive across a covered bridge to get there. BEYOND is just short enough to get under the height barrier and across I go. I find a nice campsite and decide to make pasta sauce. Last night I used a jar of bruschetta sauce from the dented cans store with some pepperoni but it was way too salty. I only ate half and had the rest for lunch. So I break out onions, peppers, whole tomatoes, dried chanterelle mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, yellow squash, canned whole tomatoes, sun-dried tomato paste and my spice kit and go to town. I let it simmer while I cook bowtie pasta. Then I shred parmesan on top and it is food for the gods! I eat half with an Ipswitch Summer Ale and save half for later. THen of to read some more of my book. It’s titled Survival of the Fittest and is an excellent thriller. See you in the morning!

Tuesday
I am sure than many of you know that I am a book addict. One day I will start my own chapter of Reader’s Anonymouse. Well this book is really hard to put down. I made the mistake of picking it up again this morning and read until 11 am. THen I made hot chocolate and instant grits with cheddar cheese and pepper. There was one packet left over from camping with my nieces. Normally I am not much of a fan of “instant” food. But with a little cheese and love it was okay. The weather was beautiful verging on hot so I drove down to the Moat Mountain Trail and Hiked up South Moat Mt. Middle Moat and up to the shoulder of North Moat Mt. I saw some fresh bear scat (poo) on the way up and it was nice and purple so I knew there would be ripe blueberries. Never saw the bear and am okay with that. I have seen black bears before.

Then my feet reminded me that my journey was only half way done and they were getting sore. So I headed back and stopped on Middle Moat because it was covered in ripe blueberries. I ate all my gorp (trail mix) and filled it full of big juicy blueberries. And gave my feet a break then worked my way back down and drove to the Saco River for another plunge. It felt great to wash off the sweat. I hiked 10 miles from a starting elevation of 200 ft. South Moat was 2409 ft, Middle Moat about the same but I was close to 3000 on North Moat when I turned back. My dogs are tired. I have good hiking boots so my feet are in pretty good shape other than the blister from my other shoes. I know I saw steam when they hit the Saco River today! I am wiped out so I drove a couple of miles back to the same campground and find another site. I heat up the rest of the pasta and eat a cucumber while I am waiting for it. Then some blueberries and chocolate for dessert. I am writing in my log and thinking about my book! Soon I will let myself read some more. I will probably finish it tonight. Good day today.

Moat Mountains, White Mountains, NH

I did finish that book. I got up made tea, ate blueberries cleaned the van and went for a bike ride down to the covered bridge. It’s pretty cool. I discovered the boulder loop trail and decided to run up. Well it was very steep and bouldery. I made it all the way around and back to my campsite in time to check out but it was close. It was a good workout but I wish I had brought water! Then I moved down along the Saco River and lay in the river for a long ti me and sunned myself on the rocks and read The Shipping News. It’s a great book. I am really excited to ge to Newfoundland now! I drove into town and stopped at a farm store that had great produce and stocked up. Then I went looking for an auto parts store. I bought an air compressor that runs off the van as my tire is getting low again! GRR! Then I thought about a movie but was getting hungry so I downloaded my email and drove north to Crawford Notch State Park and found a campsite.

I made more pho with fresh veggies! Very tasty and had lemon poppy-seed cake for dessert! One of my favorites! Then off to read. I started The Pelican Brief. Then fell asleep. Tomorrow I am going hiking again! I have been listening to a lot of local radio. They have hippie radio up here. Lot’s of Grateful Dead. Also some good jazz. One station calls itself “music without boundaries” and plays a good mix. I have also been listening to a lot of U2 and the JUNO soundtrack.
Hope you al had a good week. My internet connection is very slow up here when I can get one at all. I have put up Pictures of MT. Chocorua but that’s it so far. As always pics are at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd

Dover, NH to Essex, MA and on to the White Mts.

Monday July 7

I was up at 6 this morning and drove southeast to Portsmouth, NH the home the Smuttynose Brewery which makes the Old Brown Dog beer that I love. I am going to send a list of all the excellent wines Steve Fortune shared with me. I biked around Portsmouth and walked their waterfront Park. They have a theater in the Park that is doing Beauty and the Beast. The set looks pretty cool. They have some very old cemeteries their and I took some photos of one of them. They have some great carving on the stones. One of which I copied on a wood carving years ago. it’s hanging in my studio. I love New England gravestones from the 1700’s that is my geek thing. Everyone has one. Now you know mine. I love all the death’s heads and skeletons they carved. They acknowledged death and carved their gravestone accordingly. People to day in our culture are very removed from death. THey also had some great flowers gardens and fountains in the Park. There was one guy working in the Park with a mohawk and kilt! I think our Parks employees should dress like him! Ha! Stevie show that photo to Joe Castro! Tell him he would look good in a kilt and mohawk!

Portsmouth, NH

Then I drove on down the coast through Rye and Salisbury to Massachusetts. Newburyport, and into Ipswich were I stopped at the world famous Clam box for fried clams. They were small bellies, I usually eat big belly clams but there were delicious. I always eat clams in Mass. Then I drove on in to Essex, MA where my friend Tom lives. Those of you who helped me celebrate my birthday met Tom. He and I were college roommates and have been fast friends ever since. His wife Peggy went Bates College as well. They have three children. Elliot, Lindsey and Jenny. It was great see them. Peggy was busy packing as she and the kids were headed for camp very close to where I spent July 4th. So I went for a swim with the girls in their little pool. We played Marco Polo and they told me about their year. They all play music and are a good artists. Then Peggy and I and the kids went out to Crane’s Beach. It is one the old Estate of the Crane family who made all those plumbing fixtures.

It’s a beautiful beach and the temperature was hot. There weren’t any green head flies and the water was pretty cold. So we swam and then spent about and hour battling the waves and building a huge sandcastle. It took all of us to keep it standing with the waves crashing in on a rising tide. Then we went grocery shopping, and I grilled some chicken for dinner. Then Lindsay played me a couple of great songs on the piano titled. Alone and Face in the Crowd. They were really great pieces and she played them very well. Then the kids went to bed and Tom and I had a Harpoon Ale and talked before bed.

In the morning we had cereal and the kids and Peggy were packing and I helped were I could and then we went down the street for ice cream and they left for camp. Tom and I had chicken and salsa sandwiches for lunch. He went back upstairs to work and I drove to Salem, MA to the Peabody Essex Museum. It is a great Museum. Well worth the trip. Salem has a lot of touristy stuff geared toward witches that I avoid with the exception of the historic cemeteries. Since it was hot I went to the Museum and looked at their collection of old ship models and nautical displays. Then I toured a new exhibit called Body Politics, Maori Tattoo Today about contemporary tattooing in the Maori culture in New Zealand. Tattooing is part of their culture that was banned by the British along with their language and religion.

Now many Maori of all ages are going to their families and getting permission for traditional tattooing of the face and body as a protest of the oppression they feel to this day. Now that is a great reason for a tattoo. The exhibit was a series of wonderful photos by a Dutch artist and a series of objects with traditional designs from the PEM collection. It was a very moving exhibit. Beautiful tattooing a very strong convictions for being tattooed and for which designs and symbols to wear. All part of a process of self realization and rediscovery of their traditional culture. Great exhibit. Then I viewed and display about Japanese kabuki theater that was cool. This Museum is full of objects from cultures around the world that were brought here on ships though out our history. Including a whole traditional country house form China that was brought in about 2003. It is also amazing. It toured it last summer but I sat and watch all the films and slide shows about China. They are great.

Then I heard a guard say that the governor of MA was on his way and I got out of the Museum just in time as the State Police, Press and politicos began to swarm! I drove back and made some beef tips marinated in garlic, soy sauce (thanks Chris) pepper and onion. I grilled those and served them with broccoli and a salad of fresh lettuces, raspberries from their garden and sunflowers seeds in balsamic vinaigrette. Tasty. We drank Harpoon IPA and then sampled some saki I brought from home. It was pretty good. We listed to music and then watched some of the animated movie Alice by Jan Svankmeyer. It’s a really cool puppet take on Alice in Wonderland. I recommend it if you have never seen it. Peter Tush has shown it at the Dali Museum as part of their FIlm series and other Svankmeyer films. Fascinating films. The saki hit hard and we turned off the movie and went to sleep.

Wednesday morning we had cereal with blueberries and tea. Then I went to Gloucester and bought propane for BEYOND and groceries and drove out to Good Harbor Beach. Parking was $20 so I drove down the road and parked at a nature park and rode back. The ride went right along the cliffs looking over the Atlantic and was wonderful. The temp is about 88 and the beach is full. I head right for the water and boy is it cold. It takes my breath away when I dive in! This is the coldest water yet. Much cold than the other day at Crane’s beach even though is the same ocean. Must have been the big rainstorm last night. I got out and walked down the beach and got to talking to Norma who works in Boston at a hospital and likes to travel. She enjoyed St. Petersburg. She introduced me to her friends and tried to find me a place to get a good lobster roll. THen I rode my bike back to BEYOND and stopped at a national chain bank and tried to cash a $50 travelers check but they wanted $10 service fee! Screw that!

I dove to Gaybrook’s Garage and they tried to find the leak in my rear tire but it’s too slow so we all the tire pressure right and I went back to the house and made black bean salsa, did laundry, and watered Peggy’s garden. Then Tom drove us to a different town to meet his brother John for a game of disc golf. It was a good course and I did okay. Tom and John are both much better than I am but I had a few good holes. It was great fun until the end when John lost a Frisbee and I was walking across some rocks looking for his frisbee when I was stung on the ankle by a yellow jacket! Ouch, it hurt. I ran out of the rocks and they didn’t bother me anymore. Luckily I am not allergic to insect venom and the hurt was gone by morning. We went home and munch on bean dip and drank beer while I made us some fresh pasta and chicken with pesto and broccoli. We listened to much until bedtime and then crashed. I was sunburned from my time on the beach but I slept well.

Muselix and blueberries for brekkie and then off I wrote a card to Estill and Winfree then I did all my financial work on the computer. I made a salad for fresh lettuce and sugar snaps from the garden blueberries and smoked almonds and we ate the leftover steak and bean dip for lunch. We arranged to meet in Gloucester at 5:30 and I drove to a local bank and after a few calls to confirm my travelers checks authenticity they cash it, with no service charge. I drove to Gloucester and took a lighthouse boat tour ( it was $27 cash only!) that went out in the Atlantic and north up Cape Ann past about 6 lighthouses and the back down the Anisqaum River and into Gloucester harbor. It was 2.5 hours and we had great weather and saw lots of lighthouses and the original Humane Society House which was started to give aid to shipwrecked people! Cool! I also saw the spot where the first transatlantic cable hit the US from Britain. Also cool! After the boat ride I rode my bike out to Rocky Neck Artist Colony to meet Tom and we went to the Thursday Night on the Neck which their gallery tour. We picked a good place to meet because there was a large group of people singing sea chanties.

So I finished my letter to my nieces and the TOm showed and we looked in the galleries and saw some beautiful art. There was a fanciful wood and fabric airplane by a man from Essex who is a retired ship builder. It was fab. Then we wen into a restaurant and Tom ordered a dark and stormy. I thought it was going to be beer but instead it was ginger beer, dark rum and a slice of lime. After I got over the initial shock it was very tasty! I am going to have to remember them for a future party! I ate haddock and fries and Tom had a shrimp over noodles thing that looked tasty. THen we went to see a photographer and his work was wonderful. He shoots black and white film and lots of boats and the harbor. Tom purchased and wonderful photo he had seen before and wanted on the second viewing. It was old tilted pilings and their reflections in the water. And a sailboat in the background. It look a lot like calligraphy. Wonderful piece. Then as we were walking back a New Orleans style Jazz marching band came by with lots of peel following and dancing. It was really fun. We walked to the water and watched then sunset and took a shortcut through some ripe raspberry bushes (Tom almost had to drag me out as I was busy picking) We stopped for ice cream and both order Maine Moose Tracks which turned out to be raspberry and chocolate and was delicious!

Then he drove home to catch a phone call and I rode back to BEYOND and drove into Essex. As TOm was on a call I stopped at an English pub where I had tried to get a beer last summer and the owner sent me down the road because the place was full of flies. I went in and as there were no flies I waited a long time for a bartender and it was the owner and she got annoyed because I wanted draft beer and her taps were foaming. I got a draft of Old Thumper and I think it was old. There was another guy there and he had been on a long bike ride and had 2 flats in Gloucester and walked his bike about 7 miles to this pub because he knew the owner and was waiting for his brother to fetch him. He didn’t seem quite right and the owner was certainly upset that he was keeping her open late! I had my beer and left before things got weirder and drove home. Tom was still on his call so I took and shower. We had a final beer and talked some more. Then off to bed.

Essex and Gloucester, MA

In the morning after cereal I packed everything into BEYOND and then went to chlorinate the pool for Peggy and turned on the pump to circulate the chlorine and discovered the water level was too low so I found enough hoses to string together and started filling the pool. When the level was up to the intake to the pump I started only to discover the outlet form the pump was not connected to the pool! CWAP!! (As Crenshaw would have said) so I tuned it off before it drained all the water i just put in. Found a screwdriver, connected it and started the pump again. When I finally had a enough water in and the pump seemed to be working I left Tom a note and headed to the bank to cash a travelers check and mail my letter the drove North. Up Route 1 to Portsmouth, NH where I treated myself to Pizza Hut buffet for lunch. I bet some of you were wondering when i would break down and have Pizza Hut buffet! Well it was great they had beets on the salad bar and lots of hot ’zza. I ate my fill, gassed up Beyond and drove North on Rt. 16 up to the White Mountains and off on the Kancamagus Scenic Highway. After driving a while I found a campsite and took a nap that lasted until morning! guess I was tired.

More photos have been added.

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Tucketon, NJ to Dover, NH

Mon June 30

I have another errata to correct. I received and email from Meg, whom I met on the eastern shore to inform me that her name is really Susan. My apologies. Hence you shall be called Susan! She informed me that she kayaked some on Assateague but the bugs were ferocious so she and Jim cancelled the rest of the trip and are going to a Bluegrass festival instead. Sounds like a great plan!

This morning I woke up having slept very well and rode my bike around the Park before anyone else was stirring. It was great having it to myself. Very peaceful. There were a few flies after me so I kept moving. I rode on some trails through the pines and the trees were very green and there were rhododendrons and blueberry bushes in the under story. Are the bases of the trees and anywhere the earth was bare there were beautiful mosses growing! I was surprised to see them as the Pine Barrens were named because not much was supposed to grow here. Turns out to be a really cool eco system with a lot going on in small ways. Everything was wt this morning after the thunderstorm last night. I cut fruit and nuts for breakfast and headed north up Rt. 9. I passed through Atom’s River and headed for the coast.

New Jersey

I hit the coast at Spring Lake, NJ (thanks for the recommendation Teresa) It is a beautiful community right on the beach with some huge houses and a grand old beach hotel. See pic. I took a break and rode my bike and looked at all the grand old houses ad the grand new houses. then drove on up the beach. I started getting hungry and stopped a bicycle cop to ask about a good lunch and he recommended a pizza joint! I should have know by now! So I had a couple of great NJ Pizza slices! One with everything and another with tomatoes and ricotta! Very good Pizza! Huge slices. I am SO full!!. I drove on up the beach. And passed a building shaped like a large confection. Then another like a windmill.

I continued up to the very Northern tip of the coast to Sandy Hook. There is a National Park and a Fort there and I heard there is a nude beach but i never saw it. I biked around and explored the old fort remains and then went to the beach for a swim. After that i was planning for the morning a car ferry ride to Manhattan so I went to find the ferry terminal but discovered that there are no more car ferries into Manhattan. Oops! SO I revamped my plan and drove west a bit to Cheesequake State Park. I camped there for the night and made a plan to drive to Hoboken in the morning and take the person ferry over to 39th Street. I found a great site off to myself and drank a Youngs Oatmeal Stout and relaxed. As I was getting ready for bed the people nearby started shooting fireworks. Warming up for Independence Day. They didn’t last long and soon I drifted off.

I woke up at 4 am with my left foot hurting. It has been sore since the Outer Banks and I realized I must have stepped on glass or something walking on the road there. I thought it was just a stone bruise but now it needs attention. So I got out my first aid kit, sterilized a sewing needle wiped it and my heel down with alcohol and began to dig. The skin on my feet is so tough that I bent the needle in the process of getting through but was able to open up a small area and then out popped a small piece of glass. I wiped it all with alcohol and then Neosporin and a band-aid. It felt better already. Since I was completely awake I cut up some fruit and headed out. I reached the front gate of the park only to find it locked! My first encounter with a Park gate I could not get though. So I parked and ate my fruit and listened to a great Jazz station on the radio. At 7 am the first employee showed and I was free. I drove into Hoboken and found, parking space and was on the 8:30 ferry to Manhattan.

It was a beautiful day and 10 minutes later I was walking up 40th St. I cut over and up to 42nd. The theater district and then up Broadway all the way to Central Park. All the shops were opening and people headed for work and breakfast. It’s a great time to walk the Streets of NY. Central Park was beautiful with new grass everywhere and flowers blooming. Lots of bicyclists and runners. People out with their kids and dogs. I walked North to the American Museum of History. I arrived with 10 minutes before opening so I stretched and took pictures of the painted horses out front. This was my first time in this Museum and it was great. Lots of animals and lovely painted dioramas, minerals, antiquities, outer space and displays about different cultures from around the world. The mix of people was incredible. I counted at least 15 different languages being spoken around me as I toured the museum. What a great place.

When I emerged it was 1 pm and I need to head back so I walked downtown in the shade along the edge of the Park and across Columbus Circle. Just watching all the people. “Summer in the City, back of my neck getting hot and gritty” It was hot and all the benches are full of people chilling and eating lunch. I stopped into a shop for a falafel. It was great. They warmed the pita and then loaded it up with marinated cucumbers, baba ganoush (eggplant) tahini (sesame butter) and a thick hot sauce. It was heavenly! All those different flavors jumping around on m taste buds. I sat in the window and watched the people. I am a diehard people watcher and New York at lunch time is fascinating. All kinds of people. I walked back to the ferry and rode back across. Had a minor heart attack when it pulled into Weehawken but they assured me it would go the Hoboken next. Relief as I could have walked ot but I need to get upstate to meet my friend Carol. I got on the rode just after 3.

New York

I had planned on 2:30 but traffic was moving nicely and I made 95 to the Palisades Parkway with no problems. Then onto 9W and as I was going over Bear Mountain the clouds were building. I hit the place where you can look out over an amazing view of the Hudson River Valley as the rain started and the was a rainbow below me over the valley! Just beautiful. I headed North through heavy rain and the sun on into Kingston, NY. Carol gets off work at 5 and I rolled in about 5:30. She is looking great and lives in a old part of town over looking the river with a bunch of cats. Henry J. Hudson and company! the sky was clear so she took me for a ride in her convertible. We drove down along the river to a small park and sat on a bench looking over the river and chatted until we were hungry then drove back to her neighborhood where we sat outside and ate pasta with Italian sausage in a red cream sauce and 3 bean chili and salad. Our waiter was falling all over himself to please me. We decided he had a crush on me or fishing for a huge tip! Dinner was good and we headed back to Carol’s apartment and had a glass of wine. Then I had a bath and we crashed.

We were up at 6 and had tea and Carol showed me this set of paintings of the moon that she did recently. They were really cool and a children’s book that she made of woodblock prints about cats years ago. She has scanned them into the computer and is cleaning them up n Photoshop and they re looking great. I want to see the finished product! We traded books White Boy Shuffle for Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. Just before 7 am she left for her job as a florist at the Mohunk Mountain Resort and I headed to meet up with an old friend near Boston. I crossed the Hudson over the Rinebeck Bridge and the mist was rising off the mountains. It was cool and clear and going to be beautiful. This is the summer weather I love. 60’s at night and low 80’s during the day. Splendid. So I headed east on 122 and drove on the smallest roads i could find across Connecticut passing just north of Litchfield where I was born. It’s lots of picturesque little one light towns, farms and low mountains. I was on a couple of roads that were narrow enough that I was the only car but kept my speed down as there wouldn’t be room to pass if I encountered truck coming the other way around a corner. I had gray fox trot across the road in front of me and lots of deer on either side. It was lunch time when I drove up to Mike Z’s house in Auburn, MA. I met Mike when I was the Technical Director for the Mayor’s Office of Special Events on Albany, NY. He owned a concert staging company. We have exchanged an occasional email but I haven’t seen him in about 15 years.

He is great and has sold his company but is working as a consultant designing concert staging and rigging systems and doing quite well. He showed me his house and pond and we went to an Italian place for lunch. Great eggplant parmagiana and a salad bar. I ate my fill and we talked about staging, design, old friends and the state of the world. It was great to see him. I had planned to camp at his house for the night but one of his clients had called him to work on a July 4th weekend job so I headed Northeast to Dover, NH where on of my stepmother’s son Steve lives with his family. I had made arrangements to celebrate Independence Day with them. When I confirmed pans with his wife Beth she gave me cell and said to come early If I could. SO I called and left messages on her cell and house that I would be arriving after 7 pm and headed out on the back roads. I love driving New England back roads. They are two lane and the curve around farms and down valleys and through mountain passes. They are old road with lots of character. Once you get used to them they are great to drive and even if the roads aren’t numbered you can guess with one goes they way you want. Even if you guess wrong there will b around crossing soon and it’s easy to get back on track.

The sky got dark and I was caught ina heavy hailstorm and had to pull over for 10 minutes until it eased into rain and I could see again. It rained off and on all the way until I pulled into Steve’s driveway at 7:30 pm. I was done with driving! They live in an old Farmhouse that has been a B&B but Beth runs a preschool there now. And Steve is a wine distributor. The parking area was empty so I pulled off to the side and took a walk around the house to stretch and a no one was home I pulled out a Rogue Morimoto Pilsner and read my email. There was one from Steve saying the key was under the mat and directions to their camp (New Englanese for vacation home). So I happily took a shower and then popped the top on BEYOND and had just turned out my light to sleep when Steve rolled in. So I got up and helped Steve put way the animals. They have ducks, chickens, quails, rabbits, cats, bobwhites, and hamsters. We got them all safely into the barn where the foxes can’t get them and Steve had a little dinner and some wine, made plans for the morning and then off to bed.

In the morning, Steve had to drive south of Boston to Foxboro, MA to pick up a load on wine, and I went along for the ride. We left about 7:30 and made good time. Got the wine loaded and labeled and headed for Nashua, NH to the state warehouse where we dropped if off. From there Steve’s clients will have it delivered. Then we headed for Portsmouth where he was doing a tasting and I had parked BEYOND. I bought some provisions and two headlight bulbs as Mike Z told me one of mine was out. Got that installed and headed for camp which is a house on the Great East Lake which straddles the ME, NH border. I arrived and had a sandwich and a SmuttyNose Old Brown Dog beer which is brewed in Porthmouth, NH and is one of my favorites. Then I went for a swim with their sons Chase 10 and Tucker 7 on the lake just below the house.

The weather is wonderful and the lake while warmer than the Atlantic was very refreshing. What a great place to be for Independence weekend. After swimming we played Uno and watched the movie Spiderwick Chronicles then I made a salad and roasted some marinated shrimp and corn on the grill for dinner and was confused about the kids eating with us so we had to throw some beef tips on the grill when Steve arrived and we all had dinner some excellent wine. Beth and the kids went to bed, Steve and I cleaned up and talked over another glass and then I headed out to BEYOND to sleep.

There are two small boys staring over my shoulders. It’s very odd! I am not used to writing with an audience. They are fascinated with the laptop. They have a PSP 3 that they play games on and can go on the internet. It’s a fascinating machine. This morning Steve made blueberry pancakes with the rest of my Delaware blueberries and bacon. Then his son Chase was getting into making a song with the Garageband program on my computer when Steve’s friend Bill and his sons Costas and Dimetruis showed up. We are headed to the Lake and spent all day swimming and working on the boats. Steve and Bill finally got the motor on the big speedboat working and after sandwiches for lunch they headed out into the Lake for a test run. It was a success and after some more tuning and swimming. We sat the kids down to watch the movie Hot Rod and made a dinner of grilled beef tips, mahi mahi, asparagus and fruit we shot off some fireworks then all piled into the boat and drove out into the middle of the Great East Lake with about 100 other boats and watched people setting off fireworks all around us. I had to yell out to a couple of boats that were about to run into us but other than that it was great fun. We made it back to the house and soon headed for bed.

Up at 8 today. It was really quiet last night. But for some reason I got up in the night and moved my van about 100 ft down the road. Now this is a tiny dirt road out on a spit on land with a few places were two cars can pass. So it was a little scary waking up in a different place from where I went to sleep! I always have been active dreamer but this is my first incident of sleep driveing. I guess I must have drunk too much good wine! So I moved my van back to were it was and headed into the house and we all had a laugh over my nocturnal adventures. Then Bill and his bunch headed home and we had eggs and bacon for breakfast. Then swam and went for a hike up Mt. Pickett to pick blueberries. It was a great walk about 700 ft to the top and the boys did great. When we got to the top the whole mountain was covered in ripe, fat, juicy blueberries. In about 20 minutes we had picked 5 pints on berries and headed back down. We checked each for ticks, as we found a few on our legs on the way up, and the trick is to catch h them before they bite as some of them carry Lyme’s disease. We declared ourselves tick-free and headed to the lake for a swim. Then some neighbors came by Kathy and Kos with their Lab puppy and visited while the boys played with the puppy.

Then we got in the boat and motored over to see some other friends of Steve’s. Terry and his family and friends welcomed us and insisted that we have some dinner. So we noshed on some burgers and excellent scallops and pasta salad and passed our wine around. After dinner we motored back home, changed into dry clothes, replenished our wine and Kathy and Kos picked us up on their boat and we went to the middle of the lake where a local community band has a concert every July 5th. They played some polkas, big band and patriotic music. Then we headed back and lots of people were shooting fireworks again and a rock band was playing at one house. We got back to our house and the neighbor and the end of the point was having a loud party with big fireworks. We watched the movie James and the Giant Peach and then went to bed. It was really noisy so I slept down below in BEYOND where it is much quieter. Good thing as there was lots of activity and loud music and fireworks into the night.

New Hampshire

In the morning I was happy to see that I was parked in the same place as I drank lots of wine yesterday as well. With out harvest from the day before Steve made blueberry pancakes again. They were wonderful! We decided on a mountain bike ride. It got a little too rocky for Tucker so we walked away and when the trail smoothed out rode the rest of the way. Then back to the house for more swimming and boating and soon we heard a woohooo from the house. It was Beth and soon she was on the beach and we were all in the water swimming. Steve tried to tune the idle on the big boat and took the boys knee-boarding and then we packed snacks and all went out on the motorboat. It didn’t run very well but we made it out to the middle of the lake and had a snack, played YATZE and watched a group of sunfish sailing around. Then we struggled to get the motor started and finally it caught and we didn’t stop until we were back home and docked. Frustrating motor. Then Beth and I swam across the Lake to the point and back and we put the water toys away and I shelled peas then we grilled some beef tips, and had asparagus and fresh peas from their garden.

Then we washed up. Packed up and Steve and the boys and I discovered that one of BEYOND’s tires was low again. GRRR! Steve and I got out the big bike pump and pumped a bunch of air into it and the boys were excited to ride in BEYOND back to their house in Dover, NH for the night. We put away the ducks, chickens, turkeys, bobwhites and other animals. Had a nice hot shower and off to bed. What a great way to celebrate Independence Day. Thanks Steve and Beth for a great weekend!
Hope all my friends and family out there had as much fun as I!
Peace to you all.
I have added map locations and titles to all the previously unlabeled photos and added new albums.

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