Where Did August Go?

I’m writing this in mid-September, so I’ll try to remember what was going on just a month or so ago. In some ways, it feels like way more long ago than that. How can a month blow by so fast and yet seem so endless at the same time?

West Thompson Lake, CT

The small US Army Corps of Engineers campground is reliable for quiet neighbors and well-spaced sites, and my third time here did not disappoint. I had signed up for the full 14 day stay allowed, and that gave me time to relax, unpack, spread out, and organize things a bit better. The only disappointment was the daily rainstorms, which were so heavy at times that it made waterfalls on both sides of that grey awning you see in the photo.

The stormy weather did make for good images though, and I became a bit obsessed with this water view off an intersection near the campground. I’d go there, even if it was out of my way, and park across the street to take photos. It’s nothing special on the map, just another little stream in New England, which is one reason I love this region so much.

And, rather shockingly, this was the first time I got out paddling this year. August! Sheesh, I gotta make up for lost time. The lake at this campground isn’t big or especially remarkable, but just being out on the water was a treat.

Oakham, MA

I definitely made up for lost time here, paddling five days in a row, most of them with my long-time friend and recent paddling partner, Susan. We did three different spots around the campground (Pine Acres) and all of them were good adventures.

Here we are at a state park, our Oru kayaks ready to launch. Mine is the Lake model (left) and hers is the Inlet model; both are intended for calm waters and since we both like flat water lakes, they are perfect for us. And they fold up and fit in the back of our vehicles, so easy to transport.

The little lake at the campground had huge swathes of water lilies and I had a blast photographing them on a few paddles.

The rain lessened during my stay here, compared to West Thompson Lake, but I still had a few good thunderstorms late at night. I do like opening up my window shades and watching the lightning through the trees.

Jaffrey, NH

This looks like a nice spot, right? Well, it was, once I got in there. Uphill and curved to the right, it took me so many tries that the Transmission Hot light came on in my Ridgeline, a warning I’d never seen before. Yikes. At that point, I just left the Alto where it was, leveled, and then called it a day.

Two days later, I sat in the waiting room of a local automotive place while they changed out my transmission fluid and gave the Ridgeline a thorough going-over. No damage, no codes, and now I have nice clean transmission fluid at 55,000 miles, which as it turns out is a good time to change it (before it gets even more gunky). And it’s always good to know my tow vehicle is in fine shape.

I made a quick trip over to Peterborough to visit a local bookstore (which was awesome) and check out the scenery. It’s a lovely town, very walkable, and with lots of cool little shops and interesting old buildings.

The best part of my stay here? Meeting up with a couple who own an Alto and I met down in South Carolina a few years ago. I remembered they lived somewhere in NH and when I looked them up, they literally were in the same town as my campground. We had a wonderful afternoon and evening of conversation and food, and it made the visit to this little spot much more enjoyable.

Strafford, NH

After four nights at Monadnock State Park, it was time to go. There was no dump station anywhere near this place, so I retreated to a KOA near Rochester, NH for a few nights of full hookups amid the last weekend of happy family campers. It was a bit crazy, but the weather was nice and I was able to chill out and sew and read most afternoons. And spend an afternoon with my friend Mary, always a special day, eating lunch at Petey’s and then chatting while I borrowed her complex’s crafts room for some fabric cutting.

Sebage Lake, ME

I’ve been generally taking back roads from one place to the next, partly because the pace is slower and partly because there aren’t a lot of east-west interstate highways in this section of the US. I was mosying along, minding my own business, about 20 miles away from Sebago Lake when my truck TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) went off. I pulled over as quickly as I could and then checked out the left rear tire. It looked a little low, but I couldn’t see anything sticking out as I slowly moved the tire forward. A quick check of Google Maps showed that I was, even for southern Maine, in the middle of nowhere as far as gas stations or tire stores were concerned. So I pumped up the tire (that 12v air compressor is one of my most useful pieces of equipment) and got back on the road, carefully monitoring the tire pressure. I got 10 miles farther down the road before I pulled off again to get it from 28 back to 31, which was the most it would hold (35 psi is the norm). I made it to the campground on this fillup, and dropped the trailer into its tiny little site before I started calling tire stores.

First place said if I could get there in 15 minutes, they’d see what they could do. I was there in 20, but the guy at the desk was nice and scheduled me in if I didn’t mind waiting. Which I didn’t. Two hours later, I had a fresh tire and was back on the road (I’ll spare you all the details, but the solution has worked out fine). So much for a relaxing afternoon at the lake!

It was Labor Day weekend, so the park was crowded with campers, most of them in tents with tarps. I learned that Maine campers prefer camo-patterned or brown tarps, compared to the bright blue favored in the South. It was windy enough on the lake that I didn’t take the kayak out and the river was clogged with party-hearty pontoon boats so I skipped that too. Instead, I took walks down a nice forest road and took pictures.

And, because I was there for a week, I took out my sewing machine and finished up a lap quilt for my niece, Cheryl. She loves flowers, so this fabric, front and back, was perfect for her.

I finished it up and got in sent off in the mail the next week, on its way to Wisconsin, after being sewn from South Carolina to Virgina to Connecticut to Massachusetts to New Hampshire to Maine. That quilt has seen a lot of states in its short life!

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