I seem to have created a habit of taking a 2-day trip each summer, from home to Portsmouth, NH, and back again. It's a good escape on two wheels, a time to look around and soak in my surroundings.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Introduction
A last minute decision, a short trip, short but sweet.
I seem to have created a habit of taking a 2-day trip each summer, from home to Portsmouth, NH, and back again. It's a good escape on two wheels, a time to look around and soak in my surroundings.
I seem to have created a habit of taking a 2-day trip each summer, from home to Portsmouth, NH, and back again. It's a good escape on two wheels, a time to look around and soak in my surroundings.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Consultations with the weather wizard
A word from Rover
Out: northeast MA to Portsmouth, NH
Photos: N Andover to Salisbury BeachAround: Portsmouth
Photos: Seabrook Beach to Portsmouth
Photos: Portsmouth in the evening...And back again
Photos: early morning too
Photos: Portsmouth to Seabrook BeachMore pictures?
Photos: Salisbury Beach to N Andover
Sunday, July 13, 2008
More pictures? Did you really need to ask?
I had a nice relaxing trip. I helped a little bit with the writing, but since I knew that Denise wanted to exercise her writing skills, it was more of a relaxing time for me. I was riding in the TailRider with Denise's big camera. I stuck my head out and looked around, I felt my ears flopping in the wind. I helped eat energy bars and bananas, and I told Denise when I saw something that was photo-worthy. And because I let Denise write most of this journal I told her that I wanted to jump up and write this page. Of course she said yes!
There are photos in this journal, and there are photos in Denise's galleries. Yes, you're right that there is an overlap between the two places, but there are different photos in each place too.
If you'd like to jump over to her galleries, you can view the photos splashed across your whole screen in a self-running slideshow if you'd like - just click the slideshow button in the upper right of the photo gallery window.
To jump to the photo gallery for this trip, click Short, sweet, seeking ocean views - July 2008.
Curious to see other places that Denise has wandered over the years? Start at denisegoldberg.com and join her wanderings! If you are curious about any of her photos or wanderings, you can sign Denise's guestbook here or the guestbook in her photo galleries. Or you can click the Questions? Contact me link on her photo pages to send her a behind-the-scenes email. You can leave me a message at either place too.
--- Rover
There are photos in this journal, and there are photos in Denise's galleries. Yes, you're right that there is an overlap between the two places, but there are different photos in each place too.
If you'd like to jump over to her galleries, you can view the photos splashed across your whole screen in a self-running slideshow if you'd like - just click the slideshow button in the upper right of the photo gallery window.
(Oh, if you're in the gallery slideshow, you can get control of your computer back again by moving the mouse and clicking "return to gallery" or by just clicking the Esc key.)
To jump to the photo gallery for this trip, click Short, sweet, seeking ocean views - July 2008.
Curious to see other places that Denise has wandered over the years? Start at denisegoldberg.com and join her wanderings! If you are curious about any of her photos or wanderings, you can sign Denise's guestbook here or the guestbook in her photo galleries. Or you can click the Questions? Contact me link on her photo pages to send her a behind-the-scenes email. You can leave me a message at either place too.
And yes, this is Rover writing! Remember at the end of our last journal I was wondering if Denise would let me jump in and help write her blog entries? Well, I did! You can see my writings in the entry Psst... Rover here!. I think that I'm going to write there more often too.
--- Rover
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Photos: Salisbury Beach to N Andover, MA
I couldn't figure out why Denise stopped pedaling and grabbed a camera. I popped out to see...
Denise thinks that someone painted a dog on this pole. I kind of doubt it, but I can see why she thinks it looks like a dog. Do you share Denise's imagination? This was worth jumping out of my riding spot to see! And look... we're getting closer to home!
--- Rover
And back again
...almost reversing course
Morning - time for a good food start before reversing direction and heading to the south and the west.
Portsmouth has an abundance of (coffee shop) cafes, so finding breakfast was as easy as selecting the cafe with more of a food focus (rather than just muffins or scones!) and wandering in. Ah, that one looks good. My breakfast consisted of a bagel topped with eggs, swiss cheese, and fresh spinach, with a banana on the side for a good serving of potassium. Yum! Oh, you want to know the name of the cafe? Breakfast this morning was at the Works Bakery Cafe.
Fueled to start the day, it was time to roll down the road. I rolled past people clad in bright vests, waiting for a 5K road race to go through. I didn't stop to chat because my focus needed to be on staying out of the path of the runners. My wheels kept rolling. You know me though, they rolled for a while, and then I started my normal stop and go style of touring. Sometimes I wonder why it takes me so long to cover the day's miles, but I really know the answer. You know it too, don't you? I stop a lot - not because I'm tired, but to see things, to talk to the birds, to take pictures.
From the edge of Portsmouth, through New Castle, and then back to the coast with views of the ocean on my left, ponds and marshy areas on the right, sunshine, people rolling by on bicycle wheels, walking, running, wandering over the rocky shoreline, strolling on beaches. Quiet beauty...
Am I seeing things? Hey Rover - can you help me figure out what that guy is doing? Oh, it's new to you too? Well, he's surfing, but then when the wave subsides, he's still standing on the board and he's paddling. Rover couldn't help with my odd question, so searching the web was high on my list of things to do once I was home again. And yes, you guessed it, he was "paddle surfing", using a board that can surf the waves or that can be (at least partially) powered by a person wielding a paddle. Very interesting.
A little bit further down the coast, I stumbled on a surfing contest. I was passing through the northern section of Hampton Beach, in an area where the view of the ocean was blocked by a concrete sea wall. I wasn't going to stop, but then I noticed a truck bearing a big sign shouting "Surfing Contest". I stayed and watched for a bit. I know that I would have stayed longer if I wasn't still so far from home. Even then, if I had been carrying my long lens I probably would have stayed anyway. Next time...
Bicycle wheels turning, I rolled through Hampton Beach, over the lift bridge into Seabrook Beach, across the state line into Massachusetts and Salisbury Beach. And then... then I turned to the west, heading back towards home.
Home again... It was a short trip, and it was a good trip.
And now, it's time to dream again. Where to next?
Keep watching. One day soon, hopefully, we'll all know the answer to my ongoing mystery.
Morning - time for a good food start before reversing direction and heading to the south and the west.
Portsmouth has an abundance of (coffee shop) cafes, so finding breakfast was as easy as selecting the cafe with more of a food focus (rather than just muffins or scones!) and wandering in. Ah, that one looks good. My breakfast consisted of a bagel topped with eggs, swiss cheese, and fresh spinach, with a banana on the side for a good serving of potassium. Yum! Oh, you want to know the name of the cafe? Breakfast this morning was at the Works Bakery Cafe.
Fueled to start the day, it was time to roll down the road. I rolled past people clad in bright vests, waiting for a 5K road race to go through. I didn't stop to chat because my focus needed to be on staying out of the path of the runners. My wheels kept rolling. You know me though, they rolled for a while, and then I started my normal stop and go style of touring. Sometimes I wonder why it takes me so long to cover the day's miles, but I really know the answer. You know it too, don't you? I stop a lot - not because I'm tired, but to see things, to talk to the birds, to take pictures.
From the edge of Portsmouth, through New Castle, and then back to the coast with views of the ocean on my left, ponds and marshy areas on the right, sunshine, people rolling by on bicycle wheels, walking, running, wandering over the rocky shoreline, strolling on beaches. Quiet beauty...
Am I seeing things? Hey Rover - can you help me figure out what that guy is doing? Oh, it's new to you too? Well, he's surfing, but then when the wave subsides, he's still standing on the board and he's paddling. Rover couldn't help with my odd question, so searching the web was high on my list of things to do once I was home again. And yes, you guessed it, he was "paddle surfing", using a board that can surf the waves or that can be (at least partially) powered by a person wielding a paddle. Very interesting.
If you're interested in learning more, I found what appears to be good information on the site of Paddle Surf Hawaii. I think I'll wait for someone else here to try it and report on her (his?) experience!
A little bit further down the coast, I stumbled on a surfing contest. I was passing through the northern section of Hampton Beach, in an area where the view of the ocean was blocked by a concrete sea wall. I wasn't going to stop, but then I noticed a truck bearing a big sign shouting "Surfing Contest". I stayed and watched for a bit. I know that I would have stayed longer if I wasn't still so far from home. Even then, if I had been carrying my long lens I probably would have stayed anyway. Next time...
Bicycle wheels turning, I rolled through Hampton Beach, over the lift bridge into Seabrook Beach, across the state line into Massachusetts and Salisbury Beach. And then... then I turned to the west, heading back towards home.
Yesterday's detour was really unnecessary. I popped my head out to see what Denise was up to when the bike started heading uphill (from the Merrimack River) much too soon. She was behaving and following a detour sign, but I was sure that we could get through the detour on our bike. The road that hugs the north side of the river is closed where flooding in the spring of 2007 washed away the edges of the road. Funny, I would have expected that to be fixed by now. Anyway, I know we got through on our way home last year. I pulled out the map last night and checked for roads leading toward the river from route 110. Ferry Road was one option, but it crossed over the river and we would have needed to ride on the south side of the river. That's not a problem, but I knew that Denise wanted to ride right next to the flowing water, and to do that we needed to stay north of the river. I saw another road on the map, just before I-95 - and that little road looked like it would nicely lead us to the river-hugging road. Unfortunately the road wasn't marked well, and our bicycle rolled right past there without turning. Maybe next year we'll take that road. I guess I need to have Denise watch for it too; she doesn't always hear me barking since I'm riding behind her and the wind sometimes carries my voice backwards!
We turned down towards the river to cover more of that road than we were able to with our too soon departure point from the river yesterday. We were rewarded almost immediately with the sight of a dock that was being used as a perch for a big flock of cormorants and sea gulls. Beautiful.
The river wandered side-to-side, and so did the road. It rolled over small hills, and then - oh, look! There's a detour sign pointing up hill and away from the river. The next part of the road was closed to big vehicles, but there was an opening in the jersey barriers that was just right for bicycles to roll through. Wow! a road just for bicycles! I'm so glad that Denise listened to my suggestion to ignore that detour sign. I just knew it wasn't meant for us!
Home again... It was a short trip, and it was a good trip.
And now, it's time to dream again. Where to next?
Keep watching. One day soon, hopefully, we'll all know the answer to my ongoing mystery.
Photos: Early morning too
Here's proof that bus stop shelters can look good in addition to being functional.
Although I wouldn't want to go back to using a manual typewriter, I found these quite interesting. Does anyone know how much these cost when they were new?
Friday, July 11, 2008
Photos: Portsmouth in the evening
I found this mural a wonderful decoration for the side of a parking garage.
The ants are coming! The ants are coming!
A giant ant sculpture in Market Square. Funny...
Around: Portsmouth
Two wheels rolling... stopping point Portsmouth. Two feet walking...
You would think that all those miles on my bike would make me want to sit still, wouldn't you? A hot shower had a rejuvenating effect; I headed out to walk, and to find some food. I walked and I walked, and then I popped in to a restaurant.
Funny, I just looked back at last year's Feeding an addiction journal and discovered that not only did I eat at the same restaurant tonight, I actually chose the same item from the menu. I guess it was so good the first time that I had to repeat it. Dinner was at Chiangmai Thai Restaurant. My stomach was quite happy with the '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'. Happy.
I walked some more, and then... back to the hotel to rest and write. To top off my good evening eating, there was a plate of fresh cookies at the front desk. Ah, a chocolate chip cookie to finish the day...
On a sign overlooking the harbor:
You would think that all those miles on my bike would make me want to sit still, wouldn't you? A hot shower had a rejuvenating effect; I headed out to walk, and to find some food. I walked and I walked, and then I popped in to a restaurant.
Funny, I just looked back at last year's Feeding an addiction journal and discovered that not only did I eat at the same restaurant tonight, I actually chose the same item from the menu. I guess it was so good the first time that I had to repeat it. Dinner was at Chiangmai Thai Restaurant. My stomach was quite happy with the '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'. Happy.
I walked some more, and then... back to the hotel to rest and write. To top off my good evening eating, there was a plate of fresh cookies at the front desk. Ah, a chocolate chip cookie to finish the day...
On a sign overlooking the harbor:
'From here you can see the tide turn like a door on its hinges. We're just going out. Do you want any thing from the ocean?'
Robert Dunn (Poet Laureate of Portsmouth)
Photos: Seabrook Beach to Portsmouth, NH
This amazingly weathered piece of wood fits right in with the rocks, doesn't it?
Oh, I hate these bridges. They make me nervous enough that my bike and I walk across them.
This bridge is signed on one side saying that cyclists should walk. It doesn't make much sense the the same sign isn't on both sides, does it?
I walked on the sidewalk, and while I was crossing I stopped in the center to chat with a cyclist walking his bike in the other direction. While we were there, two more cyclists went flying across on the gridded surface. Do you ride these bridges, or do you walk too?
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