Denise Goldberg's blog

Short, sweet
Seeking ocean views

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Consultations with the weather wizard

...a trip is born!

I'm supposed to be deciding on a destination for a tour in the August timeframe, a destination that doesn't require jumping onto an airplane. Why? I certainly don't mind flying, but I have a flying September trip planned already, a trip to the Lake District of England to attend a photography seminar. My bicycles have informed me that they are not interested in flying across the ocean for only a couple of days of riding, so I'm heading to England sans bike. But I think that a riding vacation is a must have for sometime this summer.

Settling on a destination for a summer trip in Maine or somewhere in one of the Maritime Provinces is something that I still need to do. Hmmm... it's already summer, the days are flying by, and I'm still in non-planning mode. OK, OK, I'll figure it out!



In the meantime, an out-and-back trip seems like a good way to reset my touring desires. Start from home, ride, stay overnight, ride home.

You can probably guess where from my previous explorations. Yes, I'm going again. Directions?
  • From home, in the northeast corner of Massachusetts, head to the coast.
  • Follow the (very short) New Hampshire coast to the north and east.
  • Stop for conversations with birds, feed my ocean fascination by watching the waves. Enjoy the coast...
Target for the day? An overnight in Portsmouth. Good food, places to wander on foot, sleep... And the next day? Reverse direction, and repeat.

I was hoping to do this quick wander last weekend, a ready-made 3-day weekend with the 4th of July falling on Friday. Unfortunately the weather wizard predicted a 60% chance of rain last Saturday, and no matter which two days I chose to wander, I needed Saturday. Riding in the rain isn't my favorite activity, and I really want to play with my cameras too. So I chose to stay home, to rest and relax.

The desire for a quick trip still burned in my mind, so I continued to watch the forecast and to attempt to hold some meaningful conversations with the weather wizard. At first it looked like the coming weekend held promises of perfect weather. And then... the possibility of rain on Sunday cropped up. Hmmm.... should I believe that 30% chance of rain means that there is more of a chance of dry weather than wet? Given the pop-up storms we've had over the past couple of weeks, I'm leaning toward believing it could rain.

But look - the forecast for Friday and Saturday looks good. I know - I'll take a vacation day on Friday. Problem solved!