“On the Road”, Off the Road…Odds and Ends

You take a week off from writing...then two...then it's a month...then two, but now I am back...at least for this edition. Plus, this keeps my editor from reminding me, “You haven't written in awhile.”

One of the on the road, odds and ends of the summer was the decision to form a small Roadsters group. It turns out that among the usual suspects (see some of the Bunco Night activities) we have owners of three British sports cars...and a Miata (I know, not quite the same, but we are an open minded group...we would even let a Fiat join us). The object is to enjoy our sports cars together, not to be snobs...but sometimes we can't resist.

On a couple of occasions over the summer we got the group together for an outing—this usually means driving back roads and eating together. Our first outing had us meet at the Cimochowski's for a cook out and then on the road to Preston, CT for ice cream desserts.

We lined up the cars...

Nowak's Miata Swenson's MG Midget Bottieri's MGB Cimochowski's Triumph TR6

and headed down the road. There were many waves,flashing headlights and tooting horns along the way, and the cars turned a few heads when parked together at the ice cream stand. A great outing!



A few weeks later we decided to follow up with a trip to North Charlton, MA for a seafood dinner at a well known clam shack—not so much a shack now, but the food was great. And once again the cars all looked good lined up together...although some people wanted to know if the Miata was along as the chase car. Is this a commentary on the reliability of British sports cars or a dig at the Miata...hmmm.



If you have been a follower of the blog you will recall the minor adventure of putting the new dock in place at The Cottage. At the end of the lake swimming and boating year it was time to find out if it came out as easily as it went in...and it did!

We stacked all of the cedar plank sections onto a trailer to make moving them easier and then it was fairly simple to raise most of the legs and wheel the aluminum frame out of the water. Much easier than previous years and ready to go back in come Spring.

One other Fall item related to The Cottage was the decision to replace the power boat that had served us well for 23 years. Papa did some online research and through Craig's List found a possible replacement at Lake Mascoma—just up the road in Enfield, NH.

Scott and I reviewed the information online and then I was able to make a quick Saturday trip up to look at the boat before we made an offer. We now have a “new to us” boat that should last us another 20+ years...plus Papa went onto Craig's List again and sold the old boat within a week! What a successful Adventure!

In the early Spring Stephanie Gosselin contacted us about jointly bidding at a fund raising event. The item was a day of sailing around Providence / Newport on an old wooden boat and the day included a lobster bake on the beach. We won the auction and tried all Summer to find a time that worked for all of us—the Gosselins, the Greens and ourselves. Finally we were able to arrange for a mid-September sail and had a wonderful time sailing the upper reaches of Newport Bay and enjoying a day on or near the water.



Now Cheri and I have been back "on the road"—in Denver visiting Jess and PJ (and Maggie the Lab of course). We arrived late (as in after 11pm MT) on Thursday following an uneventful series of flights, and forgetting nothing except the key that Jess had mailed to us so we could get into her condo on arrival (she and PJ were at a concert that evening). Fortunately, the concert got out and they arrived before we did so Jess let us in...instead of us sitting on the curb with our luggage waiting for them.

Friday morning we got up to enjoy bagels and coffee together and then headed out to Fort Collins, CO and the New Belgian Brewery for a tour. It would seem that if you have once toured a brewery then there really isn't much to learn from touring another. On the contrary, there is a big difference if you take into account the ownership, the employees and the social consciousness of the company.

It is an outstanding tour filled with the history of the brewery, the founders, energy conservation processes, employee ownership, giving back to the community...and oh yah, beer samples...all for free. This company is the Ben and Jerry's of the micro-brewery world. There is even some fun along the tour with an opportunity to use the company slide to go from one level to another.  We had a great time and had a built in designated driver with Cheri not being a beer drinker (although she gamely tasted a couple of different samples).

Cheri drove us back to Denver (with Jess and PJ snoozing in the back seat...sunglasses on...heads back...light snoring...yah, they were asleep), and we stopped for an early dinner at the Bar D restaurant (known for their desserts). Dinner gave Cheri a time to sample a local lemon-drop martini (we seem to have a lot of pictures where she has one of these in her hand)...a nice dinner...and then some great desserts.



We made it back to Jess' early enough to play some cards...where I lost both times—and Cheri won both times...before heading to bed early so we could be well rested for a day of hiking on Saturday.

Saturday morning we were up and on our way to the Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Backpacks, water, snacks, and Maggie were all loaded into Jess' new Subaru Forrester and we were off.

Hiking in the Rockies is a little different than the White Mountains—here you start at 8,000 feet and climb up (the White Mountains top out at just over 6,200 feet). The air is a little thinner so you breathe a little deeper, but fortunately Cheri and I have been spinning enough that our leg muscles didn't bother us. We climbed along evergreen paths, aspen meadows (where many of the leaves have already fallen), and rocky outcroppings. Besides the thin air the views were also breath-taking.

It was a fabulous time and we were tired by the time we got back to Jess' place. She cooked an Alton Brown recipe for us Saturday evening and we settled into a little more card playing before settling into bed.

Let the Adventures continue...