Back Home

The Boy is back home!

We went to Camp Bell Saturday for 8:00 AM to pick him up. All the Scouts how participated in NYLT came down the mountain together,in their respective patrols.They formed a rather long line of three or four across. The leaders were yelling chants and the Scouts would yell back,a la the movie Stripes. It was quite impressive.We didn't see Zach at first. Each patrol would then line up,and they waited to be dismissed... "NYLT disssmissssed!!!"  It took a minute to find Zach,because there were 80+ boys there,plus the parents picking them up. I kept saying,"Where's The Boy? Where's My Boy?" and scanning the crowd for him. I was so anxious to see him. Finally,I spied him coming towards us,and I went up to him and gave him a huge hug,backpack and all. I admit that I cried a bit. I couldn't help it,I was just so happy and relieved all at once. 

I took this quick photo after Rick and I had hugged and kissed him. "My shoulders are killing me," he said before this photo was taken. "My backpack is heavy."

When we got home,we saw his wound.He still has a very faint spider web line on his left heel,and raw area where the blister was.He said it didn't bother him all week,he kept a Band Aid on it. Overall,he said he had a great week,and though it rained for most of the week and there were more thunderstorms,it didn't dispel anybody's spirits.He learned a

lot about leading patrols,how to deal with difficult Scouts/adults,how to plan meetings,etc. He seemed older and filled with more confidence.

When he arrived,they gave him a NYLT hat,three NYLT shirts,and a NYLT notebook that had certain exercises in it for the week.

At the end of the week,they gave him a certificate and a patch:

He does have project that he needs to complete. Each Scout had to come up with an idea to help better their respective Troops,and to create a step by step plan to implement it. Zach's is to have the Troop do more fun activities.He needs to complete the plan by Dec,and if he does,he received a completion pin.

I am so glad he's back!

Close Call

Zach was picked to attend the Boy Scouts National Youth Leadership Training program (NYLT). The boy applies,the Scoutmaster gives a recommendation,and then he is either chosen or not. The program is for 6 days,and the boys are taught various things such as how to run a patrol,leadership skills,etc. NH's NYLT takes place at Camp Bell,in Gilmanton  Iron Works (GIW,incidentally,is the setting for the famous novel Peyton Place. The author based it on people she knew).

We dropped Zach off on Sunday for noontime.Once everyone in his particular patrol arrived,they hiked two miles into woods,up a mountain for their week long training. The only buildings are the shower houses. They do have tents on platforms with cots for the boys to sleep in.

I had to take this photo of Zach when we dropped him off. I am so proud of him being chosen. You can tell how excited he was to have his Mumma take his photo in front of everyone. :)

The weather forecast for this week is thunderstorms off and on all week long. My Dear Friend Michelle and I were saying at yoga class Monday that we hoped they had some sort of shelter in case a bad storm came up. Her son Ethan,is at NYLT with Zach. They wound up being in the same patrol.

Monday night around 11:30 the phone rang,and it was the ER at Lakes Region Hospital in Laconia,NH. Zach was in the ER,and he had been in a lightning strike. He had a burn on his heel,but he was OK,and she told me to hold while she connected me to Zach.

When Zach got on the phone,he told me what happened. Apparently,a storm came up quickly,and it was a bad one. The only had time to get under a staging area. It looks like they may have used it for some classes or for meals. I got the photo from the WMUR (Channel 9) webpage:

Lightning hit a nearby tree,and the electric current traveled through the root system,coming out to where they boys were. There were approx. 30 boys and leaders under the tarp. Zach said everything was bright white,then a very loud clap of thunder followed. There was pandemonium,of course,with yelling and screaming. Zach says he yelled for everyone to "shut up" because "they were hurting my ears".

No one felt any effects until 30-40 minutes later. Some boys complained of tingling sensations in their arms,legs,or down their sides. One boy had blurry vision and his left side was numb. Some, like Zach,felt burning and spider web like markings started to show. Because the storm was still going on,they could not go down to the main building at the base of the mountain. Adults and older boys who had experience and training did first aid on the boys as best they could until the storm passed and they were able to go down to the main building,where most of the boys were put into buses. Six boys who had burns on their chests were driven by truck. They all went to the Belmont fire station (23 boys,3 adults) where they were assessed and then they were all sent to various local hospitals depending on their injuries. Some boys were just shaken up,but those like Zach who had burns, etc,were brought to Lakes Region. Zach had a burn on his heel,and a blister that popped. He said on a pain scale of 1-10,it was a 15,but when he spoke with us,it no longer hurt. His ears had rung for a brief period,but that,too,went away. Michelle's son has a burn on his back. 

Zach sounded fine,but tired. He complained that he didn't get a chance to finish his dinner,because as soon as he started eating,that's when everyone was brought to the hospital. He joked that they all should get a "I Survived a Lightning Strike" merit badge. I knew he was fine. 

This is the tree that got hit. Again,the photo is from WMUR Channel 9 in Manchester,NH.

Zach is back at camp,and everything seems to be fine. I have been a bit of a wreck,just thinking about how close he came to getting either seriously hurt or killed. A lightning expert was on the news discussing this and he said that it is very rare that so many people  get hurt from one bolt,and that there must've been a very large charge of electricity.He was shocked that no one was killed. Usually someone is in that circumstance.

This week just happens to be Lightning Awareness Week.

Oh,the irony!

We are so very grateful that he is OK.

A Hard Frost

We knew it was coming,and that we were actually overdue.

Our first hard frost of the season happened Friday night. The temperatures went down in the low 20's. Of course, Rick and Zach were camping out all weekend with the Boy Scouts for their annual Fall Camporee,so needless to say it was a wee bit nippy for them,but thankfully they had warm clothes and sleeping bags. It was windy all weekend,which made the temperatures even colder. Sunday morning it was pouring out,so they had closing ceremony at 8:00 AM instead of 9:00 AM. We made sure there was hot coffee and cocoa waiting for them,and we did start the wood stove up so they could have some nice heat to warm their bones after being out in the cold all weekend. It was the first time we started up  the wood stove this season. This week is suppose to be a nice week-only a chance of rain today with temps in the 70's,and the rest of the week is going to be sunny,which is good. Our poor chicken run is still a muddy mess,because the weather has been rainy and chilly all last week. At least now it will dry out and we can get it de-smellified ;)

Once everything is dried out I can put the garden to bed for the winter. 

We brought our cat Smokey to the vets today to be neutered. It was his first trip to the vets and he actually did OK. We brought Samson and Sasha last week for their check ups. Samson is having hip problems so we give  him meds every day to help with the stiffness. We discovered that Sasha has Lyme's Disease, but it doesn't bother her at all. Her joints are fine and she is not suffering from any symptoms,which is good.

Last week when I went for a walk I saw a turkey in someone's yard,and as I walked by I watched her pecking at the ground.We are not raising turkeys anymore,so if we want fresh turkey for Thanksgiving,The Men will have to hunt one. Further down the road on my walk,I noticed an old cemetery. I love old cemeteries and of course,had to walk over to check it out. As I climbed the small embankment,I heard a rustling off to my left,and I just caught the flash of the white tail of a deer as it jumped into the woods. The cemetery consisted of four stones-two adult sizes and two child sizes,which made me rather sad. There are quite a few family cemeteries around here-in the woods,on the side of the road-and coming upon one always makes me wonder about the families. Sometimes their homes are still standing,sometimes there is just a foundation left. What drove them off their property? What killed the little ones? Were they farmers? Trappers? Hunters? All three? When the resting places become overgrown,and the stones broken,I feel so terrible. At one point,these were living,breathing,humans who laughed,cried,and loved. Now they are forgotten. It's so very sad.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Finally...

We got back from our trip to Pittsburg a week ago Friday,and it seems like each day since there has been something that has hindered me from posting. So here it is,finally!

For some reason,the first photos I posted are the last,so I apologise for the mix up in pics.

We left at 9:00 AM on Monday,and our first stop was at the Miss Wakefield Diner for breakfast. After we filled up on their good food,we hit the road.The ride up was uneventful and relaxing. Instead of taking our usual route (Rt 2 through Jefferson to Littleton,get on Rt 3 through Colebrook to Pittsburg) we decided to take the "road less travelled" and followed Rt 16 through Berlin,Milan,Success,and Errol,then hooked up with Rt 126 through  Dixville Notch to Colebrook.Beautiful scenery,lovely rivers.

We got to Pittsburg at 2:00 PM. We stayed at Ramblewood Campground. They have sites for tents,campers,and down the hill on Rt 3 they have cabins,across from First CT Lake and one right on First CT.The first thing I noticed at the site was the smell. What was it...? It was balsam.There are so many balsam pine trees that it's all you could smell.It was like being in a balsam pillow!It was in the 90's while we set up camp,but the sun was just below the trees in our camp,so we had quite a bit of shade. It was still pretty hot,though,so we put on our bathing suits and drove down to the lake for a swim to cool down.It was cooler by the water,because there was a breeze.After our swim,we did what one does up in Pittsburg-drive the dirt roads and check things out. Rick wanted to get a look at the spots he wanted to fish:

Scott's Bog

Among the places was Scott's Bog and East Inlet (photo of East Inlet is at the end). While he didn't wind up fishing East Inlet,he did fly fish Scott's Bog,and wound up catching 3 three fish (limit is 5 fish or 5 pounds,whichever comes first). He was catching them right and left. We also saw some nice wildlife:

Deer by the road

That night we had a good rain storm,and we woke to more humidity and heat. We wanted to try out the canoe,so we went to Second CT Lake.No one lives on that lake. It's all very pristine.

North view into Canada



The three of us attempted the canoe. Rick had been in it fishing before,but it has been about 13 years since I was in a canoe,and it seemed quite tippy to me. Rick assured me that it because I had to get used to it.We paddled close to shore,to get the feel of it. Zach was getting hot and grumpy and wanted to go swimming,so we packed up and went back to camp. I didn't blame him. It was uncomfortable. Just standing would make sweat roll down your back.  Back at camp, we got into our swim suits and headed back down the hill to the lake.The owner was going to come down to show Rick how to work the motorboat that we rented (Rick knows how to work one,they just have to demonstrate it before they let anyone take it out). While we were in the water,Rick came up to me and asked me what I thought about renting a cabin instead."It's so hot up there compared to down here,"he said,"plus,Zach could just swim whenever he wanted.It's not much fun doing things in the heat to just go back to the camp site where it's even hotter." I admitted I would prefer a cabin. I guess I'm getting old!! Rick decided to drive up and talk to the owner,to surprise Zach. He came back about 15 minutes later,and pulled up to our new digs:



Our nice,cool cabin on the water!

Zach was so excited! The owner was so nice that he took $80 off a day for the cabin (plus,he is making more money having us rent it out at $110 a day compared to $25 a day at the campsite).The cabin had a nice,big general area with a TV area with lots of windows,so we had a lovely cross breeze,and a dining table.The kitchen had a big table with windows overlooking the lake. There was a 3/4 bathroom,a bedroom downstairs with a queen bed,and upstairs had three bedrooms. We had our own private dock,outdoor seating,charcoal grill,and picnic table. All for $110  a night. We decided to stay an extra day.

The boat we rented and dock

Our first morning in the cabin,I awoke to the sound of a crow. The window was right behind me,so I rolled over and just looked at the water.How nice to have that be the first view of the day! Rick and I decided to have our coffee outside,so we plopped in the Adirondack chairs and enjoyed this view:

Our first morning on First CT Lake

We had some friends visit us each morning: loon and duck families

Our loon friends and their two babies

It had rained overnight,so the boat  had water in it.Zach was in charge of scooping it out before we went out in it.

Zach bailing out the boat

The boys trolled for a while,but the fish did not seem to be biting. While they were fishing,I read "Eat,Pray,Love." We then decided to go around the lake. First CT Lake encompasses over 2,000 acres.There are only camps/homes on one side of the lake,with the exception of one lonely cabin with no water or bathroom on the opposite side. We only a saw two other boats on the 1ake at the same time the whole time we were there.That's one of the beautiful things about Pittsburg. There aren't alot of people,and the area is mostly undeveloped. After a while,Zach wanted to drive the boat,so Rick let him,though he gave him a hand.

Driving the boat

First CT Lake is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

It was a very relaxing time. I read at the cabin while the boys went fishing later,and I wound up falling asleep!

That night,we did what I call the "Moose Crawl." Pittsburg is famous for moose. In fact,there is a section of RT 3 dubbed "Moose Alley." There are signs warning folks that it's an active moose crossing. We saw two moose while we were there. The "Moose Crawl"occurs at dusk. Folks get in their cars,and drive the 12 mile stretch to see if they can see moose. In most places,the trees are so close together that no one could get through them,but after a bit your eyes get trained to notice animal trails in the openings. No one does the 50 MPH speed limit. Everyone is doing 35 MPH. We drove up to 3rd CT Lake,but never went further since we didn't have passports!

Third CT Lake,the last turn around before Canada

Moose Crawl sunset

Our last full day we went towards Lake Francis and found this old bridge which is open to fly fishing:

Zach looks like he has alien eyes,he's wearing sunglasses!

Water is so clear!

That night,we took the boat out one last time and had a lovely cruise of the lake. The sun set was glorious!

First CT at sunset

One of our duck friends came to say goodbye

Another pretty sky on our last Moose Crawl

The sky was so pretty our last night,that I had to take a picture of the moon over the  lake.I kept my fingers crossed that the photo would come out,and it did!

Moonlight on First CT

We completely enjoyed ourselves,but I do admit I was ready to get back home. Now those first photos that came out last:

Our campsite on Tuesday morning

East Inlet

East Inlet on the dam

After breakfast on Monday at Miss Wakefield Diner

The only moose I could get a photo of-in Pinkham Notch,near Mt Washington (about two hours from Pittsburg)

Tonight Rick and I are going to his class reunion.He has never been to one. This is a combined class of 79,80,and 81.It's suppose to be his 30th,but it's really his 31st,since he graduated in 1980. Should be a fun time!!!!!

Pittsburg Bound

Tomorrow we are off on a camping trip to the northern most part of NH-Pittsburg,in the Great North Woods,right on the Canadian Border.It's been a couple of years since we went.Last year,Rick was healing up from his surgery,so we didn't go. We went to Malone,NY to visit the Almanzo Wilder Farm (which is in Burke). Hotel staying was much easier on Rick.

However, it's a year later,and Rick is physically better and he's ready to go. We are staying at Ramblewood Campground again,which is a nice camping area. It's family owned,and they have about 20 sites,some for RV and some for tenting (we tent). They have port-o-potties,fresh water,showers,and laundry. They also have an area in the main building with a pool table and board games. We are staying at Site 11 again, which has a marvelous view of First CT Lake,and is away from everyone:

View of First Connecticut Lake and the Main Building

They have paddle boats,small motor boats,and a larger one for rent. This year,we have a canoe,so that will be fun as well. Rick and Zach want to do a lot of fishing,and Pittsburg has many dirt roads with ponds on them,let alone the lakes.I enjoy driving down the dirt roads and checking things out.I will bring some books that I haven't read yet and catch up on that while the boys are fishing.

Boating on First Connecticut Lake

Part of the fun of going up to Pittsburg is trying see wildlife. It's not called "Moose Alley" for nothing. We always see at least three or four moose,but they tend to be camera shy.Maybe this year we will be lucky and get a photo.

Today we are grocery shopping for the trip. I am making gluten free chocolate chip cookies and brownies,as well as a potato salad.We try to keep camping food as simple as possible-eggs,bacon,and toast (gluten free) for breakfast,sandwiches and chips for lunch,and hot dogs or hamburgers with potato salad for dinner. We usually go out to a restaurant our last night and stop for breakfast on the way home. I also need to do laundry and we are packing up the truck today (food being the exception-that will wait til tomorrow). That way,we don't have to rush around getting ready in the morning. It takes anywhere from 4 to 4 1/2 hours to get to Pittsburg from here,depending on the route one takes and what the traffic is like. Traffic should not be bad,since we are leaving on a Monday. We will be coming back on Thursday.

We anxious to visit our favorite place on earth. We still hope to live up there someday,but for now we enjoy our brief camping visits!

See you later on in the week!

Doings

Our weekend with the Scouts went well and we had a lot of fun. Zach's Troop helps the district run the Fish and Run each year. The annual Abnaki District Fish and Run is designed for Webelos to stay the weekend,have a fishing contest,and do various stations to test their scouting skills.They have a big competition at the end of the day and a campfire with skits and songs. First year Webelos are fourth graders. Second year Webelos are 5th graders and they are already crossed over into Boy Scouts by the time that Fish and Run happens. Each station covers what the boys are learning in their handbooks. Each patrol is graded on how well they work together,etc. The younger Cub Scout-,the Tigers (1st grade),Wolves (2nd grade)and Bears (3rd grade)-have their own fishing competition and they too,can try their hand at some of the stations. Zach was again this year at the First Aid station,playing an injured person. The Webelos had to figure out what was wrong with him. He enjoyed it,as he got to lay down in the dirt all day!!!! Rick helped man the rain gutter ship building station,and I sold hamburgers,hot dogs,chips,drink,cookies and brownies to help raise money for the troop. Needless to say,by the time we got home on Sunday AM,we were all tired from the fresh air. I think we all napped-I know I did!

 We ordered more turkeys this year. We have 14 Bronze turkeys coming next week.We will have to see how well our remaining turkeys get along with their new pen mates. We are still getting random turkey eggs.

Today Rick and I are going to Zach's school for their "Lunch At School Day." We like sitting with Zach and his friends. The school has a great salad bar,which I always enjoy when we go. After that,I need to get more pots. My pumpkins are growing like crazy and I need to transplant them from the seedling tray.No planting outside yet. It's not safe until Memorial Day-ish,unless you have a low tunnel,etc. Which we don't :(

Our backyard is still quite soft,so we haven't been able to get out and work on our beds.We are going to build more square foot boxes within the next week. We also need to get more compost. I don't think we will have enough to replenish our current boxes and fill new ones. We also need to get some fill for our backyard. When we had our artisan well put in,the subcontractor who back filled the trench did a very poor job,so we have sink areas. Not cool. Just one more thing to add to the already long list!!!!!! Our strawberry plants are starting to come up,and I hope we get a good amount,because I want to make quite a bit of jam this year.

We did have a bit of a scare on Sunday when we got home. Our cat Moxie apparently got out and was gone for over 24 hours. He hasn't been outside since we found him in our woodpile back in November. Monday afternoon I went into the "boathouse" (one of those canopied  half circle storage things that folks put boats or cars in that zippers up)thinking he could be in there. Brother B went on the other side in case something ran out. I called ,"Moxie! Little Mo!" I then heard a faint "Meow." Turns out he was underneath a pile of miscellaneous stuff we are storing there until household pick up day. Brother B was able to retrieve him and now he is back in house. Right now he is laying at my feet under the desk :) Zach was really upset and worried that he would never come back. I was too. I have a real soft spot for cats.

Turkey season opened up on Tuesday,and they boys have been out each morning. They have seen turkeys but never in a good spot to get off a shot. Here in NH,they can only hunt turkey until noon. Maybe tomorrow we will have fresh turkey!

A Soggy But Fun Weekend

This last week,not only were my allergies bothering me, but I came down with a cold as well. How can I tell the difference? I don't get stuffy with allergies,but my eyes get really dry and itchy. With a cold I get stuffy,and I don't feel well overall. The cold started about a week ago,and I was not going to let it interfere with my apple picking plans with My Dear Friend Michelle. We went Tuesday to Butternut Farm,where the public can pick their own fruit,pumpkins,etc. I got a bag of MacIntosh ( Rick's Fave) and a bag of Honey Crisp ( my Fave). After we were done, Michelle wanted a bite to eat,so we went down to the little restaurant where we meet for our muffin dates. I wanted a cup of tea,so I knew I wasn't feeling well.( I like tea, but am more of a coffee kind of gal.) After we had tea and a muffin, I was suppose to go grocery shopping ( as Tuesdays are grocery days) but I really wasn't feeling well,my stomach was off and on unsettled,and my head was feeling weird. So I called the Boys and asked them if they would mind getting the groceries this week. No problem! I drove home,made up the list,and Rick and Brian went to the store. Now, normally I would have the list already made,but since I wasn't feeling 100 %, I was just going to grab the normal things we usually get. Since I do the shopping,they didn't have a clue what to get,so I had to write it down.
By Friday, I was feeling better,which was good, because Friday night was the beginning of our district Boy Scout Fall Camporee. We had been keeping an eye on the weather forecast all week,and it had been the same-rain. It's pretty well known that any Abnaki District event conjures up rain at some point,so it wasn't surprising.Being involved in Cub Scouts for 5 years,and now in Boy Scouts,one tends to get used to rain. However, one still hopes that the front will move through faster,or will move more to the south. No such luck.
We were fortunate though that we were all set up in camp and settled in our tents before it started raining in the wee hours of Saturday morning ( about 2:00 AM). And did it rain! It rained most of the day Saturday,with some short breaks. The boys,however,had great attitudes and worked well together at all their stations-archery,.22 target shooting,paintball wrist rockets,first aid,troop jeopardy,orienteering,and water rocket targets. Rick and I followed the boys from station to station,though we were a bit behind them because Rick cannot walk as fast as they can. He kept telling me to go on ahead,but I stayed with him. He was in a lot of pain,but determined to do what he could. The other adults were helping run the paintball wrist rocket station.
Like I said, the boys worked very well together,and we did not hear them complain about the weather once. In these type of situations,attitude is everything. If you let the rain get you down,then you will be miserable,and your attitude will affect those around you. Chris,the Senior Patrol Leader,gave the boys a little pep talk before the days events started,and said as much. This was his last district event,as he is working on his Eagle Scout rank,and will be leaving us very soon. He wanted this to be a good weekend for everybody,for the boys to have good spirit,work together,and have fun. It was a good speech,and everyone took it to heart. The boys sang,cheered each other on at the various stations,and had good attitudes. It paid off. The troop won Most Creative for their Mud Cake in the dessert contest,second place in Troop Jeopardy,first place in First Aid,and won Honor Patrol. Honor Patrol is a special award for the patrol that best exemplifies the patrol method-working together,scout spirit,etc. It doesn't matter how many events you place at,the whole purpose of the patrol method is teamwork. Chris was especially pleased,since he had been wanting the troop to win this for a long time,and this was his last chance with the troop to do so. We are so proud of all of them.
We got home late morning on Sunday,unpacked all our gear,took showers,and by 2:00 PM,Rick and I were both sound asleep in our recliners. I slept for three hours,but Rick was very hard to wake up. We had to wake him at 6:00 PM for his morphine,then again at 8:00 PM for his night time meds. He also ate supper,then fell back asleep. Poor guy,he was exhausted but had a great time getting to know the adults and seeing the boys working do what they do.
Tonight is our Court of Honor,and Zach is excited because he will be receiving his first Merit Badge that he earned at Summer Camp-Fingerprinting. It is a basic badge that all first year campers earn. He could've have earned his Swimming badge as well,but it took him a few days to pass his BSA Swimmers Test,and that put him behind. You really have to pass it the first day so you can complete the rest of the of the requirements during the week. That's OK,though! He had a great time at camp. It has inspired and motivated him to work hard,and that is very heartening. Like he says,next year he will kick butt!!! :)

Heaven on Earth Part II

I'm back and feeling much better. I am going to see if lavender can help these migraines that I get. I would love to use something more natural as opposed to popping Excedrin Migraine. I will certainly let you all know how it works out.

Let's see....back to our camping trip. I know I said this already,but it was wonderful.We saw rabbits,baby foxes,adult foxes,and three moose! Of course, by the time we grabbed our camera,the moose had disappeared into the woods. We saw a moose cow on our second night,then on our last night we came across a moose cow and baby crossing Route 3. It's amazing how big and gangly there are.

Setting up camp went smoothly.Normally,Rick would whip through getting things set up,but due to his PTSD/TBI his self confidence level is not what it used to be,and he defers to me for almost every decision. Should we put the tent here? What about the picnic table? What about the canopy? Sometimes I get quite frustrated at having to make all the decisions,though not as much as I used to. He also sometimes forgets how to put up the tent,which doesn't jar me as much as when it first happened. The first time we set up a tent after he came home,he had no clue how to do it. He had set it up many times with no help,so I never really paid attention. Let me tell you, I learned fast! I lead the way with tent set up,and Rick only forgot how to put on the rain fly. I know it bothered Rick greatly that he couldn't remember,as he used to be able to do it with his eyes closed ( so to speak).Thursday,our last full day,we rented a motor boat and went out on First Connecticut Lake for a few hours. The boys fished and I ( yet again) continued rereading my Outlander book. Though they didn't have much luck catching anything,they did manage to nab this Chub. Rick's lip looks swollen,but it's only a big old snuff dip. It's a horrible habit that he has been trying to break.

The day was beautiful,but hot. We were threatened with thunderstorms.

At first,the clouds weren't bad,nice and white,but you could tell they were thunderheads. After a while, they started getting darker,and I got nervous. The lake was a good size,and we had a 5 horse boat. All I could envision was having a great day then being stuck in the middle of the lake during a thunderstorm. Not a good thing. So even though we had a couple more hours left in our rental time,we headed back to shore.

We didn't get any rain until almost bedtime,and I felt bad that I insisted we head to shore,but Rick agreed with me. We didn't want to take any chances. After spying the moose cow and calf on Rt 3 (they tend to come out at dusk) we trucked back to the camp site and hit some rain. It stopped not long after we got back to camp. I was in the tent,getting ready for bed,when Zach called for me come out and "see this rain cloud!!"

As you can see from the photo,there was quite the downpour happening over First Connecticut Lake.That night after we went to bed,we got our thunderstorms. The sound of the thunder rolling down in between the mountains was amazing.

Breaking up camp on Friday went smoothly. We were sorry to leave, but I was glad that I was going to sleep in my bed again. It was so beautiful and peaceful up there,we didn't even run the radio during the day while we were there. It seemed sacreligious.

Heaven on Earth Part I

We got back from our camping trip on Friday. Saturday was a catch up day,and Sunday I was down for the count all day with a migraine,so this is the first chance I have had to post.

Monday at Rick's eye appt they did determine that his lenses have some irregularities to them,meaning that they are slightly misshapen. During testing they checked his lenses with his eyes dilated and his eyes normal. The irregularities were more prominent while dilated, so they gave him some drops to keep his pupils more restricted,the theory being that it may help minimize his double vision. So far there has been no change. If these drops don't work,they will go to a stronger drop,and if that doesn't work,then surgery may be an option.

Tuesday was Zach's last day of school,and they had their honors assembly. Zach received a health award and honors for the third trimester,as well as honors all year. He was nominated for the 5th grade writing award,but he did not get it. It was great that he was nominated,as he writes really well for his age,and has many stories that he works on.

After he got home from school,we left for our camping trip.

Pittsburg,for those of you who don't know, is the last town before you reach the Canadian border in NH. It's a large area,but does not have a lot of residents. There are mountains,lakes,ponds, heavy forests,and alot of wildlife. In fact,a section of Route 3 is called "Moose Alley" because there are always moose either crossing or on the side of it.

This was the view of First Connecticut Lake from out campsite at Ramblewood Campground. As you can see from the left side of the photo,they have areas for campers as well as tents,and they have cabins across the street and right on the lake as well. This was our first morning there. We were so happy to see the sun! We hadn't seen it very often the last couple of weeks. We went fishing at Second Connecticut Lake ( well, the males fished and I reread my Outlander book by Diana Gabaldon). We also went exploring on some roads to see more of what the area looked like. We have been camping up that way before,and are seriously considering moving up there once Zach graduates high school.

You can't really see it in this picture, but Zach has a small Brook trout on his line. He caught this at Second Connecticut Lake.

I will have to continue this tomorrow. I am getting my migraine back and am not feeling well all of a sudden.