Yes, of course there are more!
I took far fewer than my normal number of pictures on this trip. Why? A good part of the reason was the haze and the very quiet ocean, neither of which provide a good background for interesting shots. And I suspect that another reason is that at the beginning and end of my trip that I was traveling on roads that my bike and my camera traverse regularly - and my camera eye is always on the lookout for something different. That said, there are more (and different) photos in my photo galleries.
Photos from this trip can be seen in the gallery Feeding an addiction - May 2007.
If you share my fascination with the mute swans, my photos from a visit with these great white birds from earlier this month can be seen in the gallery Mute swans roaming, May 2007.
Enjoy!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Rover's thoughts - bark!
It's my turn to write now! And I really don't bark much - talking like a human works much better. At least people understand what I am saying if I use their language.
I tried to help Denise by keeping an eye out for photo opportunities, but the haze and quiet ocean kept our photo count much lower than usual.
It was really hot too - Denise's face was just caked with the white crust of dried sweat by the time that we finished our ride each day. We went through a lot of Gatorade on this trip, the strawberry kiwi flavor. I like that one. Oh, and I have to admit I wasn't happy when Denise told me that we weren't going to be carrying any chocolate with us because she thought that it would melt. I think she's probably right; she did bring some CLIF bars containing chocolate chips. Wow, they tasted good - but the whole bar was kind of melty. If she had listened to me and brought real chocolate, I think it would have been a mess. It would have tasted good though. The energy bars worked during our ride, and the hotel very nicely put out a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that answered my chocolate craving.
Let's see, what else happened on our ride? The mute swans didn't want to pose, but the sea gulls always do, so we did get some bird pictures. I'm afraid that Denise is thinking about getting a bigger lens for her camera so that we can make the birds come a little closer to us. I ride in the rack trunk along with the big camera, and while adding another lens to that space will take away some of my room to wander, I think that I will still be comfortable riding there. I'll still be happy riding there, as long as I have easy access to the food AND the cameras. After all, I need to be able to take some pictures while we are rolling down the road. (Besides, she'll probably take a long time to make a decision on a big lens, won't she?)
That road along the coast is very popular with cyclists. There were a lot of people out on bikes. And on our way home we saw a couple of groups that looked like club (or team) rides. One group of cyclists was bad from a standpoint of sharing the road, and one was really good. It just goes to show that it really is possible to follow the rules of the road and still share the road. The New Hampshire vehicle code allows cyclists to ride two abreast. The "not nice" group was coming toward us, riding two abreast. And they were not paying attention to the other traffic on the road. They were moving pretty quickly, but not as fast as the cars behind them. There was quite a line of stalled traffic. (Oh, and the road that we were on was pretty narrow, not wide enough for a car to swing out and pass this two-abreast group of cyclists without taking the entire oncoming lane.) The other group was heading in the same direction that we were. They let us know that they were passing, and quickly pulled in front of Denise & I, riding two abreast. Then one of them called "car back", and the group quickly merged into a single line to let the car pass before doubling up again. Nice. That just goes to show that it really is possible to share the road nicely.
I thought Denise should have bought that blue fish chair, but we weren't using the trailer on this trip so it would have been really hard to get it home. (And we really don't need any furniture...)
And the wind? Don't tell Denise that I stuck my head out for a while on our journey to the west; I just love the feeling of the wind in my ears!
I wonder where we're going to wander later this year... Denise has been talking about taking a trip in late August or early September, but she hasn't told me where. I don't think she's decided yet. Humans sometimes seem to take a really long time to make decisions, don't they?
I tried to help Denise by keeping an eye out for photo opportunities, but the haze and quiet ocean kept our photo count much lower than usual.
It was really hot too - Denise's face was just caked with the white crust of dried sweat by the time that we finished our ride each day. We went through a lot of Gatorade on this trip, the strawberry kiwi flavor. I like that one. Oh, and I have to admit I wasn't happy when Denise told me that we weren't going to be carrying any chocolate with us because she thought that it would melt. I think she's probably right; she did bring some CLIF bars containing chocolate chips. Wow, they tasted good - but the whole bar was kind of melty. If she had listened to me and brought real chocolate, I think it would have been a mess. It would have tasted good though. The energy bars worked during our ride, and the hotel very nicely put out a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that answered my chocolate craving.
Let's see, what else happened on our ride? The mute swans didn't want to pose, but the sea gulls always do, so we did get some bird pictures. I'm afraid that Denise is thinking about getting a bigger lens for her camera so that we can make the birds come a little closer to us. I ride in the rack trunk along with the big camera, and while adding another lens to that space will take away some of my room to wander, I think that I will still be comfortable riding there. I'll still be happy riding there, as long as I have easy access to the food AND the cameras. After all, I need to be able to take some pictures while we are rolling down the road. (Besides, she'll probably take a long time to make a decision on a big lens, won't she?)
That road along the coast is very popular with cyclists. There were a lot of people out on bikes. And on our way home we saw a couple of groups that looked like club (or team) rides. One group of cyclists was bad from a standpoint of sharing the road, and one was really good. It just goes to show that it really is possible to follow the rules of the road and still share the road. The New Hampshire vehicle code allows cyclists to ride two abreast. The "not nice" group was coming toward us, riding two abreast. And they were not paying attention to the other traffic on the road. They were moving pretty quickly, but not as fast as the cars behind them. There was quite a line of stalled traffic. (Oh, and the road that we were on was pretty narrow, not wide enough for a car to swing out and pass this two-abreast group of cyclists without taking the entire oncoming lane.) The other group was heading in the same direction that we were. They let us know that they were passing, and quickly pulled in front of Denise & I, riding two abreast. Then one of them called "car back", and the group quickly merged into a single line to let the car pass before doubling up again. Nice. That just goes to show that it really is possible to share the road nicely.
Oh, I know, I shouldn't care about this stuff. But Denise is always conscious of taking enough of the road to be safe, but not so much to be in the way of others for a long chunk of time.Let's see, what did I like about this trip? I went rock climbing for the very first time, scaling a couple of towers along the rocky shore just past North Hampton Beach. Yes, they were human-made structures, but very cool. And I found it interesting that we didn't even notice them on our trip home; I believe that they were still there.
OK, I'm done with my somewhat political statement. Back to our trip...
I thought Denise should have bought that blue fish chair, but we weren't using the trailer on this trip so it would have been really hard to get it home. (And we really don't need any furniture...)
And the wind? Don't tell Denise that I stuck my head out for a while on our journey to the west; I just love the feeling of the wind in my ears!
I wonder where we're going to wander later this year... Denise has been talking about taking a trip in late August or early September, but she hasn't told me where. I don't think she's decided yet. Humans sometimes seem to take a really long time to make decisions, don't they?
--- Rover, happily (restlessly?) waiting for our next adventure!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
West wind rising...
...can you see it?
Repeat after me, the wind is my friend, the wind is my friend.
Today's sky was a much nicer shade of blue than yesterday's, and it was decorated with puffs of white clouds. I don't think that the temperatures jumped quite as high, but it was still hot enough to leave my face caked with dried sweat (again!) by the end of the day. The wind? There were a couple of sections of my route where the wind was definitely a factor. It helped push me down the coast, but as I headed to the west it did a good job of trying to stop me in my tracks. Note that I did say trying though. My bike and I continued on our roll towards home even though there were times when our forward speed dropped much lower than normal - even for normally slow-moving me - on absolutely flat terrain. Funny though, as I moved from route 110 and dropped down to the Merrimack River, the wind apparently decided to leave me for a while. Nice!
I took a minute before I left the hotel this morning to consult the local map that I had picked up yesterday. Ah, that was a good thing to do because it turns out that Portsmouth is a swirl of one-way streets. I knew I wanted to find Route 1B; I knew where the start of that road lived, but I didn't know that best way to get there from where I was. The tourist map that I picked up yesterday very nicely had arrows on the roads indicating their direction of travel. It was still somewhat of a circular route to 1B, but at least it was one circle and not multiples.
Taking Route 1B out of Portsmouth loops through New Castle to the east, crossing several bridges across sections of the Piscataqua River along the way. Yes, 1A all the way would have been slightly shorter, but I enjoy the views and the quiet road. I followed 1B as it looped back to the west, picked up 1A, then headed east once again before hitting the Atlantic Ocean and turning to the south. It was another quiet ocean day, tiny rolls of waves coming in to touch the shore. I really prefer the wild water days, but quiet water can be calming, can't it?
Oh look, there is a pair of ducks hiding along the edge of the water. I wonder if I can catch some pictures of them? (If you look at a map of the New Hampshire coast, you will see the ocean to the east of the road, and other waters to the west. It's the water to the west where I usually see ducks and the elusive mute swans. The sea gulls hang out near or in both bodies of water.) I rode past where I saw the ducks, "parked" my bike, grabbed my camera, and snuck back to see if the ducks wanted to pose for me. Success!
A bit further down the road, I passed Jenness Beach, then came to the sometimes home of the mute swans. There was a flock of sea gulls cavorting in the water, and two of the mute swans ventured towards the shore. They didn't come close enough for good pictures - although I did grab a picture of one trying to take off. I wish he had been closer. Uh oh! I sense a desire for a longer lens for my camera...
The first half of my ride was the section that hugged the coastline - I think about 24 miles (if I remember the numbers on my odometer before I turned to the west). Tell me, how long does it take to ride 24 miles? I left the hotel at 9, and I managed to spend almost three hours along the coast. No, I wasn't riding all of that time. I was riding, stopping, taking (a few) pictures, absorbing the sights around me. And I really believe that I would have been there even longer if it had been a wild water day. Don't take that as a complaint; for me touring isn't just riding, it's riding and absorbing my surroundings, stopping to look.
I briefly considered dropping down to Route 113 - south of the river - for the ride home, but I'm very glad I decided on a reverse journey for today. Reverse with the change of taking the section of road next to the river that I inadvertantly missed yesterday, that is! As planned (this time), I dropped from Route 110 to the road that hugs the northern edge of the river, hoping that the section that I inadvertantly missed yesterday wasn't too bad. There was a short section of road that was closed, but the concrete barriers closing the road sported an opening that was more than wide enough for a bicycle widened by panniers. I decided to give the closed road a try. It was paved, and the sections that the flooded river had torn away had actually been patched. Not a bad section of road, and not a car in sight.
From the bridge across the Merrimack, I climbed once more to pick up Route 113. Picture stops... a wood-worker's Adirondack chair variation - shaped like a fish - insisted I stop for a picture, and then I had to stop at that field of bright orange poppies once again. Since I wasn't carrying a computer with me, I had no idea if yesterday's photos were good ones, so I stopped to take some more! (See, didn't I tell you my camera is an addiction?)
Today's ride was almost a reverse of yesterday's skipping the two inadvertant detours that I took yesterday. In spite of the fact that this was essentially the same tour I took last year at this time - it was still different. I returned home with the same feeling as I did last year; I'll happily repeat this tour again sometime in the future.
Repeat after me, the wind is my friend, the wind is my friend.
Today's sky was a much nicer shade of blue than yesterday's, and it was decorated with puffs of white clouds. I don't think that the temperatures jumped quite as high, but it was still hot enough to leave my face caked with dried sweat (again!) by the end of the day. The wind? There were a couple of sections of my route where the wind was definitely a factor. It helped push me down the coast, but as I headed to the west it did a good job of trying to stop me in my tracks. Note that I did say trying though. My bike and I continued on our roll towards home even though there were times when our forward speed dropped much lower than normal - even for normally slow-moving me - on absolutely flat terrain. Funny though, as I moved from route 110 and dropped down to the Merrimack River, the wind apparently decided to leave me for a while. Nice!
I took a minute before I left the hotel this morning to consult the local map that I had picked up yesterday. Ah, that was a good thing to do because it turns out that Portsmouth is a swirl of one-way streets. I knew I wanted to find Route 1B; I knew where the start of that road lived, but I didn't know that best way to get there from where I was. The tourist map that I picked up yesterday very nicely had arrows on the roads indicating their direction of travel. It was still somewhat of a circular route to 1B, but at least it was one circle and not multiples.
Taking Route 1B out of Portsmouth loops through New Castle to the east, crossing several bridges across sections of the Piscataqua River along the way. Yes, 1A all the way would have been slightly shorter, but I enjoy the views and the quiet road. I followed 1B as it looped back to the west, picked up 1A, then headed east once again before hitting the Atlantic Ocean and turning to the south. It was another quiet ocean day, tiny rolls of waves coming in to touch the shore. I really prefer the wild water days, but quiet water can be calming, can't it?
Oh look, there is a pair of ducks hiding along the edge of the water. I wonder if I can catch some pictures of them? (If you look at a map of the New Hampshire coast, you will see the ocean to the east of the road, and other waters to the west. It's the water to the west where I usually see ducks and the elusive mute swans. The sea gulls hang out near or in both bodies of water.) I rode past where I saw the ducks, "parked" my bike, grabbed my camera, and snuck back to see if the ducks wanted to pose for me. Success!
A bit further down the road, I passed Jenness Beach, then came to the sometimes home of the mute swans. There was a flock of sea gulls cavorting in the water, and two of the mute swans ventured towards the shore. They didn't come close enough for good pictures - although I did grab a picture of one trying to take off. I wish he had been closer. Uh oh! I sense a desire for a longer lens for my camera...
The first half of my ride was the section that hugged the coastline - I think about 24 miles (if I remember the numbers on my odometer before I turned to the west). Tell me, how long does it take to ride 24 miles? I left the hotel at 9, and I managed to spend almost three hours along the coast. No, I wasn't riding all of that time. I was riding, stopping, taking (a few) pictures, absorbing the sights around me. And I really believe that I would have been there even longer if it had been a wild water day. Don't take that as a complaint; for me touring isn't just riding, it's riding and absorbing my surroundings, stopping to look.
I briefly considered dropping down to Route 113 - south of the river - for the ride home, but I'm very glad I decided on a reverse journey for today. Reverse with the change of taking the section of road next to the river that I inadvertantly missed yesterday, that is! As planned (this time), I dropped from Route 110 to the road that hugs the northern edge of the river, hoping that the section that I inadvertantly missed yesterday wasn't too bad. There was a short section of road that was closed, but the concrete barriers closing the road sported an opening that was more than wide enough for a bicycle widened by panniers. I decided to give the closed road a try. It was paved, and the sections that the flooded river had torn away had actually been patched. Not a bad section of road, and not a car in sight.
From the bridge across the Merrimack, I climbed once more to pick up Route 113. Picture stops... a wood-worker's Adirondack chair variation - shaped like a fish - insisted I stop for a picture, and then I had to stop at that field of bright orange poppies once again. Since I wasn't carrying a computer with me, I had no idea if yesterday's photos were good ones, so I stopped to take some more! (See, didn't I tell you my camera is an addiction?)
Today's ride was almost a reverse of yesterday's skipping the two inadvertant detours that I took yesterday. In spite of the fact that this was essentially the same tour I took last year at this time - it was still different. I returned home with the same feeling as I did last year; I'll happily repeat this tour again sometime in the future.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Photos: Portsmouth
A wooden "sculpture" in a garden.
Well, what would you call it? A decorative post? Or? Sculpture will do for now...
Looking inland, two of the bridges across the Piscataqua River.
No bikes allowed!
Do you think that my bike would be comfortable hanging out with these "big bikes" in Market Square? This was one hot spot, people standing around, watching street performers, sitting in outdoor cafes. It was definitely a good spot for people watching.
A hotel as home for the night
My last minute trip taught me something about hotel reservations.
I have a strong preference for staying in a B&B, but getting a reservation for a single weekend night isn't always possible. Is that a New England thing, or is it common in other locations as well? I wonder... My first choice of B&B was full for the next 3 or 4 weekends. My second choice had some rooms available but they weren't willing to rent them for just one night. I suspect that if I just showed up and there was a room available that I'd be able to take it for one night - but given that this is a holiday weekend and that I really wanted to stay in the center of Portsmouth, I turned to hotels.
Most of the reasonably priced hotels are not in the center of town. They tend (in this area anyway) to be in commercial strips, near big box stores, and not in my preferred downtown location. There are two hotels in town, both a bit on the expensive side. Funny though, as the days crept closer to the night I needed the room, the prices started dropping. At first I thought that maybe they charged less for Friday nights than for Saturday, but that just doesn't make any sense. And I verified that isn't true by checking the room rates for next weekend. Very interesting. I ended up paying less than I would have at one of my B&B choices, and a little more than I would have paid at my first choice B&B. I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense that the room rates would go down. After all, an empty room brings in no money at all.
My first task after showing my bike to her home for the night was to find someplace to pick up some Gatorade for tomorrow morning. Success, time for a little relaxing... the whirlpool was calling. Even though it was a very very hot ride today, it still felt good to soak in the hot tub for a while. And yes, I really took a quick shower first. My face was caked with salty remnants of sweat, and somehow I couldn't jump into the hot tub wearing all of that salt.
Time to eat... it was early, but I needed food - not too much of a surprise! I grabbed my camera in case interesting things jumped out at me as I searched for food. There are so many restaurants within walking distance of my home for the night that I actually had to make a decision! Dinner was at Chiangmai Thai Restaurant. And wow - my stomach is definitely happy. I had a dish called Heart to Heart, described as "large shrimps marinated with curry powder then chargrilled to perfection, served over steamed broccoli and squash, then dressed with peanut sauce". Yum... I could happily eat that quite often!
I have a strong preference for staying in a B&B, but getting a reservation for a single weekend night isn't always possible. Is that a New England thing, or is it common in other locations as well? I wonder... My first choice of B&B was full for the next 3 or 4 weekends. My second choice had some rooms available but they weren't willing to rent them for just one night. I suspect that if I just showed up and there was a room available that I'd be able to take it for one night - but given that this is a holiday weekend and that I really wanted to stay in the center of Portsmouth, I turned to hotels.
Most of the reasonably priced hotels are not in the center of town. They tend (in this area anyway) to be in commercial strips, near big box stores, and not in my preferred downtown location. There are two hotels in town, both a bit on the expensive side. Funny though, as the days crept closer to the night I needed the room, the prices started dropping. At first I thought that maybe they charged less for Friday nights than for Saturday, but that just doesn't make any sense. And I verified that isn't true by checking the room rates for next weekend. Very interesting. I ended up paying less than I would have at one of my B&B choices, and a little more than I would have paid at my first choice B&B. I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense that the room rates would go down. After all, an empty room brings in no money at all.
My first task after showing my bike to her home for the night was to find someplace to pick up some Gatorade for tomorrow morning. Success, time for a little relaxing... the whirlpool was calling. Even though it was a very very hot ride today, it still felt good to soak in the hot tub for a while. And yes, I really took a quick shower first. My face was caked with salty remnants of sweat, and somehow I couldn't jump into the hot tub wearing all of that salt.
Time to eat... it was early, but I needed food - not too much of a surprise! I grabbed my camera in case interesting things jumped out at me as I searched for food. There are so many restaurants within walking distance of my home for the night that I actually had to make a decision! Dinner was at Chiangmai Thai Restaurant. And wow - my stomach is definitely happy. I had a dish called Heart to Heart, described as "large shrimps marinated with curry powder then chargrilled to perfection, served over steamed broccoli and squash, then dressed with peanut sauce". Yum... I could happily eat that quite often!
After dinner, walking, watching the sun glow as it started dropping in the sky. A good day...
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