Lightning Striking Again

Today started out with beautiful weather and is ending with a raging thunderstorm. Rick is here visiting and we picked him up at his hotel in N. Conway and drove north through Bartlett and past Mt. Washington to show off all the beautiful scenery. Our destination was the Flume Gorge in Franconia Notch State Park. This is one of the main attractions and we have been waiting all summer to get here. We were here about 20 years ago and remembered walking the beautiful trails and the water flowing through the gorge. Today we also saw many wildflowers, moss, ferns and lichens.

Along the paths and steps we enjoyed seeing the beautiful rocks and sounds of the falling water. After climbing to the top we walked along a wooded path and across a covered bridge.

I was intrigued by many trees growing out of rocks with their roots stretching to find dirt for sustenance.

Finally we passed giant glacial boulders weighing over 300 tons and back to the visitor center. We drove south to N. Woodstock and had a leisurely lunch at the Woodstock Inn. Drove back on the Kancamagus which is always a magnificent ride. After dropping Rick back at this hotel we went home to nap.

I found a few minutes to take Sirius to the dog park. He is getting very good at chasing balls and almost brings them back. Later Rick drove down to us and we did a quick tour of the campground. We went out for a light dinner and then to Tamworth for the last show of the season at the Barnstormers. We saw The Spitfire Grill, a small musical with a different style of music. As always the cast was extremely talented and we enjoyed the show. Only problem is you can never see it again the first time. It started to pour when we were at dinner and continued with thunder and lightning during the show and is still raining as we get ready for bed.

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

Summer is winding down and talk around the campground is about when school starts. We have our final work schedules through Labor Day. Weather has been beautiful and a bit chilly. I need to wear a jacket or polar fleece during the morning and evening hours. We work Friday through Tuesday and are off on Wednesday and Thursday. Work involves putting in hours in the store and also the recreation program. We have to wear khaki pants or shorts with the official KOA yellow shirt.

The store is small and chock full of food and stuff that campers need. We sell lots of candy and ice cream and also wood and ice. Outside is the campfire ring and gem mine where we spend lots of time. We also do a few campfires each week with singing and marshmallow roasting. On Saturday nights we go on several hayrides and sing with the kids.

This past week we returned to our lovely lake beach at White Lake State Park.

Poor Jeff was so tired and I snapped him taking a nap. I posted the photo on FaceBook and it took a few days until he saw it which is pretty funny.

We returned to the Barnstormers Theatre and saw an Agatha Christie play. As it started we looked at each other and realized we had recently seen this same play on Hilton Head and didn't care for it. This week we will see their last show of the season, a small musical The Spitfire Grill. Rick has arrived tonight and staying in N. Conway. We will pick him up tomorrow morning for a day of touring, eating and theatre.

Nothing much more going on. Just enjoying the beautiful scenery with mountains in every direction. We use any time off to drive around or sit outside and read. I am totally hooked on Candy Crush. At least it has cured me of playing Bejeweled Blitz. Started cleaning and throwing out newspapers and brochures that have been collecting. We need to be cleaned up and packed over the long weekend so we can pull out early on Tuesday morning.

Electric Slide

Some miscellaneous shots from the last few weeks. We spent an overnight in Manchester and Sirius made himself at home in the hotel room. He wasn't quite so sure about the elevator. Some of the kids during pirate week. Most Saturday nights we have a dance and Electric Slide and Cupid Shuffle are very popular. This past week we had a nature program from Squam Lake Nature Center. The third photo shows a kestrel.

Last week we went to lunch at The Other Store in Tamworth. They make soup and sandwiches for lunch and we sat outside with Sirius on their lovely deck. That night we saw the show Moon Over Buffalo at The Barnstormers and it was wonderful as always.

Jeff and I took a walk on the trails at the campground. Sirius turns out to be a good hiker with lots of energy.

I led a nature walk with some of the kids and we found this rare "Ghost" flower. It has no chlorophyll and feeds off a tree and nearby fungi. Cannot wait until they bloom.

Here is Jeff calling Candy Bar Bingo. Everyone has a great time and the lucky winners go home with all the candy bars.

Margaritaville

We have some groups here celebrating pirate week. One fun loving group are parrot heads, Jimmy Buffet fans. The have decorations and palm trees on their sites and very nice people with excellent costumes.

We also have some friendly firemen and a large group with kids. Everyone was excited about our cardboard board races. Teams were given a large piece of cardboard and a roll of duct tape and told to create a floating masterpiece. First was judging of best design.

The beach was packed with entrants and boats of all shapes and sizes. Then it was into the water for the racing competition.

This was so funny as many boats turned over or capsized while adults frantically plucked kids out of the wet cardboard vessels. Some boats were seaworthy and finished the race. Then we waited patiently to see who would be the last to float.

I was busy selling raffle tickets to benefit Camp KOA charity. We had a bicycle donated and  it was raffled off this evening.

Jeff decided to watch the festivities from a rowboat at our dock.

What a fun day and we capped it off with Jeff calling candy bar bingo. You guessed it, you play for candy bars and that is a sweet deal. Later we had our Saturday night dance and ice cream smorgasboard. Back at our campsite we had a roaring fire and enjoyed the beautiful night. Sirius waited patiently for us during the day. Here he is camped out on our bed.

A Pirate's Life For Me

It is pirate week at the campground and everyone is saying Aaarrrgggh! The title is that annoying song that is played nonstop in the DisneyWorld ride, Pirate's of the Caribbean. That is one of our favorite rides and so we are enjoying being pirates this week. We did an encore performance of our pirate skit on Friday night.

It was raining outside so we used our rec hall with its pretty fireplace. Jeff is making his best pirate face. Aaarrrgggh!

The Circle Game

Today is our day off and we slept deliciously late. Just before noon I took Sirius to the dog park where he played with a lab mix. They wore themselves out and really had fun. We decided to go to the theatre tonight so I got in the car and started a beautiful drive. First stop was the post office and then into Tamworth to the box office. Across the street from the theatre is a coffee shop and a weird place called "The Other Store." That is it for commerce in the tiny town and the store has hardware, sundries and a lunch counter with an outside deck with tables. I ordered a milkshake which they call a frappe and got an oatmeal raisin cookie to take back for Jeff.

As I drove out of town I decided to turn left and do some exploring. The two lane road is very pretty and there were some beautiful mountain vistas. I came upon a cemetery called Fowler's Field and stopped to take pictures.

The graves were very old and there were many tiny unmarked stones in different shapes. This interesting stone was for a fallen Civil War soldier who died in 1865. He was a hospital steward in a Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. It is nice that a flag had been placed at his grave recently.

Driving on there was beautiful mountain views and I saw this most picturesque church.

There was an historic marker on the road at the site of a defunct kennel. The buildings were falling down, but the history is impressive.

Moving on I realized I was making a huge circle and decided to use the GPS to get home rather than backtracking. I saw a sign for a dairy and decided to get off the "main road." Turning onto a packed dirt road I drove for a mile or so and then turned onto another dirt road. Then I saw a sign saying another 1/4 mile to the dairy. Talk about the middle of nowhere? There were about eight cars in their tiny lot and a small barn where you could visit two tiny calves and two sheep. Their building held only a few people and they sell pints of ice cream and fresh cheeses. Outside were a few picnic tables with people happily eating ice cream and enjoying the beautiful day.

This is the road leading back from the creamery. Heading home I took one last detour when I saw a sign for a covered bridge.

Crossing over the bridge I was on another packed dirt road and continued in a loop back to the main road. Along the way I saw the prettiest farm ever. At the top of a hill it sat in a clearing with a panoramic view of mountains as a backdrop. The fields were lush and cows grazing made it perfect. I smiled and continued on to what was my favorite sight of the day. On the road I saw a fence of large stones and realized it was another cemetery. I parked on the side of the road and trudged up the hill.

Here I found old graves back to the mid 1800's. Most of the stones had worn down so they could not be read and many were tiny unmarked stones like the last cemetery.

As I walked through the rusted gate I felt serene. The sunlight filtered through the trees and the gravestones were like silent sentinels. They had weathered many years of storms and snow and still stood to honor those buried below. This last photo is a grave from 1858. Many of the markers were thin slabs of rough stone.

Finally headed home with a short stop at a nearby jewelry/western shop. After a quick dinner Jeff and I headed to the theatre. Tonight we saw an excellent production of Steel Magnolias. It is amazing that this theatre turns out fabulous performances each week. They call it a miracle in the program and we agree.

We're Having a Party

Last week was an Oldies Theme and some folks dressed in poodle skirts and black leather jackets. We created a diner in our rec hall and served cheeseburgers and root beer floats. Lots of fun.

This week is pirate week and I wrote a short skit with the brave pirate John LaFoot and Little Kim who are large hand puppets. I costumed the moose puppet as a pirate and he was so funny. His hat covered one eye and his eye patch covered the other. Jeff and I had so much fun that we will do an encore performance this Friday night.

Jeff is showing his puppet to the kids after the show and one responsible young lady is allowed to hold Kim.

My Favorite Things

Just want to share a favorite photo that I use as my desktop. I took this in my back yard last year. We had six young gators who would lounge on the grass. Cute!