We met Susan and Dick almost 25 years ago. They were some of the first people we met and skied with when we arrived at Sugarbush. They still spend winters in Vermont and we still get to ski and hang with them. About 4 years ago, they purchased Susan’s family home and they now spend their summers in Islesboro, ME.
Continue reading “Islesboro”
Chicky Stoltz is a friend and neighbor, a talented musician and multi-instrumentalist, and my first drum teacher. He grew up in Camden, ME and moved with his young family to the Mad River Valley about 15 years ago. In addition to playing with numerous bands and ensembles in Vermont, he remains active with his Maine bandmates, getting together a few times each year, including an annual residence on a sailing cruise that kicks off with an evening show (on shore) the night before departure. Chicky Stoltz & the Charlie Nobles were scheduled to play at Ada’s Kitchen in Rockland, about 20 minutes from our friends Dick and Susan’s home, and the timing was good. Color us there!
Continue reading “Chicky Stoltz & the Charlie Nobles*”
Walker always asks to be in the top photo, showing us that he can still do what he does best – relax on the couch. He hasn’t changed a bit since we last saw him in 2021 and first met him in 2016. And he still loves us.
Continue reading “On the road to Andover, Maine”
OK, we’re spending June in Maine. Our route to get there takes us down Main Street in Bethlehem, NH – literally right past Doug’s brother Roland’s place, so we’re stopping. We’ve already got plans for a Shick family get-together in July, so we were all ok with just a quick visit. And that’s what we did.
Continue reading “Bethlehem, NH (not in Maine just yet)”
We’re often on the road in May. This year, we’re trying something different. We’ve typically traveled during the summer. We spent last summer in Eastern Canada, ending our travels with a an extra credit loop to Michigan to attend Doug’s blues guitar meetup. This year the group is having a meetup in Albuquerque, NM in late September, just in time for the weather to start cooling off in the southwest, where there’re lots of things we haven’t seen because it’s just too hot in the summer. Let’s try for a fall trip! In the meantime…
Continue reading “Something a little different…”
During the final two days of the trip, we tried to determine what it is that we both were experiencing – a now-familiar feeling we’ve had at the end of each of our trips. We’re happy to be coming home, yet there’s a sadness to ending our adventurous life on the road. We concluded that it’s primarily a feeling of wistfulness (yearning or longing) with a touch of bittersweet (contrasting emotions of sadness and pleasure). And overall, it leaves us with a sense of satisfaction with the adventure just concluded.
Continue reading “Home!”
Our loyal readers may recall we jammed with Iris last July while enroute to Toronto. It was so much fun, we had to do it again!
Continue reading “Toronto, ON – again”
The first night of this trip, on June 10, was spent in Quebec City. After 100 days on the road covering 11,000 km/7,000 miles and 5 provinces, we’ve come full circle back to Quebec City. We’re quite proud of that circle! And now, the adventure portion of this trip is behind us. Ha! Not without one more quick visit to the city… ‘Je me souviens!’
Continue reading “Quebec City, partie 3 – fermer le cercle”
Parc National de la Gaspésie/Gaspesie National Park was created in April 1937 in order to permanently protect the Gaspésie caribou and the natural beauty and resources of the Chic Choc and McGerrigle Mountains, as well as the Rivière Sainte-Anne/Saint Anne River and its salmon. Part of the Applachian Mountains, the Chic Choc and McGerrigle ranges include the highest peaks in southern Quebec. The park is a mecca for hiking and is legendary for back country skiing.
What a surprise to learn that the Chic Chocs are also known as the Shick Shock Mountains…
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The Gaspe Peninsula is that long, thin blob of Quebec that extends along the southern shore of the St Lawrence River, to the north and east of Maine. This is funny – I knew it was on the St Lawrence, yet never noticed the south side of this peninsula before. The south side is along the Baie des Chaleurs (Bay of Warmth). I was surprised by the many similarities to the Cape Breton peninsula, though this makes sense given that the same geological events formed them both and both subsequently received similar shaping from the glaciers. The east side of Cape Breton/south side of Gaspe have a gentle slope to the sea/bay/ocean while the west/north sides are seemingly endless series of sharp cliffs plunging into the river/sea/gulf. And both have Parcs Canada national parks spanning the width of the peninsula. The road along the south side of Gaspe is dominated by beachy resort towns while the road along the St Lawrence passes through what appear to be mostly fishing towns with a few tourist offerings. There’s a 70-km/40-mi stretch where the road is sort of cantilevered into the St Lawrence at the base of the cliffs. The views are amazing! And as a bonus for the one who’s not driving (thanks Doug!), there are happy seals to be spotted sunning themselves on rocks all along the road.
Continue reading “Forillon National Park”