I'm really happy with some of these. Others are just so-so, but here they are anyway.

     fancy place              catch of the day        haute cuisine

    frame up                  Mt. Chocorua               web (really)

     reflections                 autumnal                  clear water

    light and water           a little color               day's end

     heading in               parade of lights           old boat houses

 cicadas on wheels

Last Friday I picked up Mom & Dad and their sleeping rolls and stuff. We headed up to camp. It's been almost 2 years since they've been, so it was an extra special trip. Dad gets pretty emotional at times, and this was one of those times. --In a really good way.

We took a meandering route along the old roads that have been bypassed by the Spaulding Turnpike. It was a "memory lane" kind of day. The old A&W with it's speaker equipped parking spots under the awning and the trays that hooked onto the open window of your car is gone. The railroad track where the car bottomed out and we lost the gas tank is gone too. The lakes and ponds, though, are still there. Some of the old buildings are pretty much unchanged. There are alot more houses in some areas than there should used to be.

Traffic heading toward Conway at the start of a holiday weekend was unchanged too, except for the shapes of the cars. We scooted down Westside Rd. toward Cathedral Ledge, then decided that as long as we were pointed in that direction anyway we'd go up Crawford Notch and Jefferson Notch. Every part of me was breathing deeply of the incredible light, the rock faces and scree, the deep green and blue shadows under the trees, and the dancing water.

By the time we got to the camp and unpacked it was well on into the evening. We fixed supper and turned in early.

The next morning I started to finish the window repair job that was my goal for this summer. After finishing stage one we went out to breakfast (Moonbeam Cafe), stopped at the hardware store, and then went back to camp. The next coat of paint couldn't be applied for several hours yet, so Mom & Dad took my van and went to visit friends. I strapped on my trusty knee brace, gathered up some gear, and hit the stream. (Pleasant rambling walk up over the rocks, off the trail, along the banks and up to my favorite pool, soaking in the sensory pleasures along the way.)

I didn't think about what a perfect day it was for fly fishing until I got to Red Rock (our pet name for a certain spot). No big deal. I fished with worms. I hit all the favorite nooks and crannies I used to pull fish from, and was pleased to find those places are still where the fish choose to hang out. It was AWESOME. I took home my limit of nice size (small stream, fish between 5 and 8 inches) brook trout. I'd released 6 or 8, too. 

After I'd cleaned and refrigerated the fish for next day's lunch I did the next coat of paint (still one to go) and got cleaned up. Mom & Dad and their friends took me with them for supper out. Northland has a nice back room lined with windows looking out on the Androscoggin. They chatted, we swapped stories, we watched the daylight fade away over the water. (Bliss)

Sunday began with the final coat of paint, followed by breakfast at White Mountain Cafe, and then the usual cleaning and packing to leave, along with preparing a lunch of sauteed garden veggies from home, the previous day's catch, and the last of the day's coffee. We were all a little sad as we put mothballs out to discourage the field mice and chipmunks. We'll probably get up there one more time before winter, but not much more than that.

The drive home was longer than usual due to traffic on Rt. 16 approaching the Conway stretch. Good for the local businesses, but frustrating to sit in. :) It's another part of any traditional holiday weekend trip "up country".

Looking forward to getting back up there.