New England     22 - 26 July 1997

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Tues 22nd - London/24°C Boston/26°C Had a magnificent breakfast with real grapefruit at Garnock Lodge. Vivenne gave us each a loving hug to see us off - something you don't get at a Holiday Inn. Taxi to aiport and smooth sailing from Glasgow to London Heathrow on British Airways. Once on United plane to States we were seated in the last row. I fellow asked if he could use the toilet and she told him not while plane was on the ground and, in fact, not for an hour once in flight. I smell freshly brewed coffee, so I asked her how long until we can have coffee. She says 1hr 15min. I told her sure smells so good right now. She lied and said they haven't brewed any (so I reckon it was probably just for the crew). 5 minutes later she slips me a cup with a nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Gail can't believe the way I chat up everyone and get special treatment. Later during our meals the stewardess was surprized when I turned down coffee (don't drink the stuff while eating). And then when I asked for a coffee later she was surprized that I asked for cream and sugar, since I had drunk the first one black. Duh - she didn't ask me then, just slipped it to me. By now we were buddies and joking around. First time to have individual screen on seat back and I watched Jungle 2 Jungle while sipping a Georges DuBouef Merlot. Changed planes at Newark where there was a big traffic jam, so we sat on the tarmack for 40 minutes to make the 30 minute flight to Boston. Fellow seated with us was from Rotorua in charge of 0°K and he flies back and forth between London and Boston to make minute adjustments to the gizmos that are used to gauge all other thermomenters. When he found out we were kiwis despite our accents and lived in Papakura he couldn't believe it; his girlfriend taught at Papakura High School. At Alamo cars they tried to get us to upgrade to a larger car for $8/day saying the small one wasn't up to driving all the way to LA. Had to laugh because what they called "small" was bigger than our car at home. By now it was dark and we had trouble finding roads because of construction. Went south instead of north, turned around and got lost in downtown Boston. Then it seemed like we drove forever on motorway until we got to the turnoff. Then because of lack of house numbers I had to guess at what I thought was Woody's place but there was a guy and girl in it, so I thought it couldn't be Woody's despite his instructions of distance. When we ended up in the town beyond his place, I turned back and went to that house again. Knocked on door and asked if they knew where Woody lived. Turned out that they were renting a section of the house and it was his afterall. There he was on a staircase sanding away the lead-based paint. House is a shell with exposed laths inside. But he had almost finished a bedroom which he put us into. We drank Southern Comfort and orange juice until 1:30AM.
Built in 1731	Fiji IV - Fiji II	Mr Plumber
July 22 Diary
Wed 23rd - Carlisle MA/Clear and high = 80°F. We went shopping for 5 hours. Now that we have a car for two months we began amassing stuff. Went to a CVS drug store to begin with and then many other stores. Bought a large chilly bin, clothing, groceries including Tasteeos, a Music Mania game and a Goofy toothbrush. David trying to figure out a new kitchen layout and he is stuck with the main drain, that I imagine may been changed a few times in 200+ years. We went to his parents' for supper with them and his niece, Sylvie, who is a guide at Louisa May Alcott's "Orchard House" for the summer. We had met his father, Walter, in 1972 when he lived in Woody's place. Walter showed off his anti-squirrel electric wire from which bird feeders were hung. He got a kick watching them get "hot feet". Was a nice visit that Woody managed to survive. They offered us use of the family lake home. Woody had bought a new lawnmower, weedeater (line trimmer) and wheelbarrow for Lisa to use in her landscaping efforts in exchange for living at his place. Her finacé, John Weisner, is supposed to be working on the place also at $7/hr, but he doesn't do much. I talked music with John when I found out he is a career musician. David finished off "Libby" the frozen remains of a huge turkey left over from Thanksgiving.
July 23 Diary
Thurs 24th - Carlisle-Concord/Cloudy and cold. Bathroom not finished and you can see outside through the holes. Woody has energy saving bulbs to dimly light here and there. He leaves them on permanently saying they use more power turning on and off. Gail and I went to Concord, noticing all the potholes. We walked the 1.7 miles around Walden Pond (video)and saw the foundations of Thoreau's house. An old codger in a lounge chair said he has swum in the pond everyday for 17 years. He told us all about the place and it took forever to break away from him. A squad of mounted police galloped past us near the end of our walk. Checked out the Thoreau Society Shop in a log cabin by the pond which was filled with souvenirs. Wandered around Concord itself, then went to the museum. Watched "Exploring Concord" which covered the history of the place ("Shot Heard Around the World", Emerson's transcendental group and Thoreau the poetaster). Back to the house, where Woody was tearing the kitchen apart, for a coffee before we went to Billerica to shop at Walgreens and KMart. Depressing as every store and fast food place has help wanted signs, the current sloppily attired employees don't want to help or work. Johnny W joined us for supper and then we played Music Mania while listening to his blues albums. That ended when Lisa got home from school and she put him back to spackling which is what he was supposed to be doing.
July 24 Diary
Fri 25th - Carlisle/Cloudy 60s°F. - Winnisquam Lake/Clear 70s°F Packed and then went around the property with video. David has 16 acres and his siblings 44 acres adjoining, and he moved a house onto it that cost him $1 after minimal haggling as the house was intended to fall down anyway in order to beat the historic house regulations. Whereever we went we found piles of stuff, all neatly sorted. Windows, bicycles, etc... But across the road in the old "barn" one can find organs, pool tables, skiing stuff and more. The new barn has cars. Left at noon and went on toll road (75¢ per section, so cost us $1.50) despite Walter telling us how to avoid paying by going on back roads. Stopped at Bedford, NH and another depressing mall (16 of 32 stores closed), but I was able to find a Goofy Treasures Holder keychain ($3.79) at Paperama. At Montgomery Wards we encountered our first "greeter", usally an elderly person who would say hello or welcome and ask if we needed help. This one asked us if we had a MW card. I told we didn't want one since we lived overseas. Where? New Zealand. Why she has an uncle there, so we chatted awhile. I bought a shirt and track pants. Gail drove us the remainder of the way to Winnisquam Lake (on Weed Road near Meredith). Woodwards' place (a two story cabin) is right on the tip of Bear Point and looks upon a beautiful large lake surrounded by trees and hummingbirds in flight. Neighbor, Phil, helped us get in to the place. Gail went for a swim (video). Had burritos for supper. I slept while Gail went bird watching. Cribbage on the deck when I got up. Sign: "Please close toilet door at night as squirrels and chipmunks like to take the toilet paper for nesting". Letter to Heather and a postcard to Johnny W.
Bird Watcher		Winnisquam Lake
July 25 Diary
Sat 26th - NH-VT-Syracuse NY/98°F Left the lake and stopped at Bristol, NH in the foothills of the Green Mountains and walked up to Inspiration Point (video). Took back roads through Vermont and saw TREES!! Stopped at Quechee Gorge Village, VT for lunch at Blue Rock Cafe (Hard Rock cafe, but for blues). Hundreds of lunchboxes hanging from the ceiling, with radios along the walls. Checked out the shops (bought maple syrup for David) and a long time in a two story antique shop that was amazing. The house rooves in the area have metal sheeting along the lower end because snow/ice has rotted away the wooden shingles. Saw our first "Drug Free School Zone" sign. As we crossed the border into New York we heard How Bizarre on the radio and thought "How Cool" We worked our way onto the Turnpike and got off at Utica, but couldn't find a place, so carried on to Syracuse where we got a room at the Dewitt Inn ($49.42).
Bristol from Inspiration Point	Our Route	Quechee Gorge
July 26 Diary
All Albums	1997 Trip Albums	MalleyGram