Photos: N Andover to Salisbury Beach, MA

Rover had to jump out and check out this sign.

Beware of dogs? What dogs? I don't see any 4-legged creatures wandering in this field of trees. Do you think the sign is talking about me? Couldn't be!










Interesting. I had never noticed these signs on the public paths to the beach. And yes, these signs were only in Massachusetts - no warnings in New Hampshire.

Out: from northeast MA to Portsmouth, NH

It was a good day for wandering. It was warm, but not too warm. The sky was painted with clouds, sharing space with a blue background and sunshine. Two wheels rolling, eyes watching the road yet wandering to find interesting things around the edges.

Familiar roads, unfamiliar sights...

This is Rover. Denise said that she wants to play with words too, so this journal is written by both of us. If you see slanty words, they are my words. Denise tells me that the proper name for the kind of type I am using is italic, but I think slanty is much more descriptve. Anyway, if you see slanty words, they are mine!

I was relaxing in the back with the cameras when it felt like our two-wheeled steed had stopped rolling. It was way too early for a rest stop, so I popped up and looked forward to see if I could figure out what Denise was up to. Oh. There was a parade of big birds and their babies prancing down the road. I think they were turkeys! Denise stopped the bike and started walking. The birds were in the middle of the lane, and she didn't want to startle them. I think they heard us though, because they started walking faster. I wouldn't call it running; maybe they were doing their own form of race-walking. They raced down the road, then found a spot to climb up a hill and escape into the woods.

No photos, just mind pictures.

Heading north, heading east, heading to the ocean...

As I got closer to the coast I could feel a change. The wind kicked up, blowing in my face (of course!). The air felt cooler. Nice.

The coast jumped out in front of me in Salisbury, MA. A left turn sent me through a bit of coastal Massachusetts and on into New Hampshire. Through Seabrook, up the slope of the bridge into Hampton Beach. Hey - the bridge is up. This one isn't a lift bridge, the center section tilts up. Ah, that's a good excuse for a rest, isn't it? I really did need to wait for the bridge to become a solid surface again.

Did you know that Denise barks at dogs? As we were rolling through Hampton Beach a car passed us with a very cute little dog hanging out of the window. He thought we were a good bark target. Denise smiled, and said 'bark bark dog, bark, bark!'. I didn't bark, and I'm a little dog too. Funny thing is, sometimes when Denise barks at them, the real dogs stop barkng!

I could hear the sound of the ocean, of waves rolling in to the shore. The air smelled of salt, a clean ocean odor. Look to the right, watch the water.

I passed the home of the mute swans, and there was a pair of these beautiful birds paddling across the pond. They were too far away to capture with my camera, but the vision still makes a good memory. You can see some photos of them from last year in my Mute swans roaming gallery.

There were people standing watching the ocean, sitting on the rocks, walking, everyone soaking in the sight of that big water. I was moving, but I stopped often. I stood and watched the water too.

And then... the New Hampshire Atlantic coastline came to an end. The road turned inland, now following the Piscataqua River into Portsmouth. Ah, the end of the road for today, home for the night.

A word from Rover

Yes, of course I'm traveling with Denise! She said that she at least wanted to start writing this journal, but I'm hoping I can jump in and play with some words too.

I guess I need to allow her to do some of the wordsmithing for this trip. After all, she did let me write the journals from our trips last month to Zion and Acadia National Parks. And oh! That was so much fun!

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!

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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.

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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!