4th of July

We worked ourselves to a frazzle, I think, by early afternoon. But that is how we have our fun.

Events of the day:
-- grill burner replacement, so we could have "the cookout" (thanks Dad!)
-- mowing the lawn (thanks Dad!)
-- tilling the garden to eliminate the majority of weeds ... which involved tiller repair
-- flushing the antifreeze from Mom & Dad's camper ... which involved cleaning the barrel, toting it around with the tractor and siphoning without choking!
-- catching up on laundry (thanks Mom!)
-- whipping up the hamburg/hotdog cookout (thanks Rick and Ashley!)

Then, on to the fun!

Mom, Hannah and I escorted Uncle and Ashley to the Columbia bridge and helped them into the Connecticut river for what they thought would be a long, lazy canoe trip to a landing spot close to home ... about 4 miles, by road. After we saw them off, we drove over to the VT side of the river and down the road a ways to a spot where we could cross a hay field and get to the edge of the river for a look at them paddling downstream. What a hike, in the bright sunshine! But, perfect timing, as we managed to see them coming and snap a few pictures as they approached and passed us. Then, the hike back to the truck. We turned around and drove back to NH and towards home, but could find no other spots to catch a glimpse of them. So, we had to pass the time by finding the local ice-cream stop. Yum! Then, we thought to take a look at the planned take-out site. Boy, was it grown up, since we were last there. We had no clue as to how to pull the hearty canoe paddlers out. Alas, a bunch of kayakers were in the river, close by, and they told us about Lyman Falls, an easy spot to take out. But, I had to try to find it! And, then to come back and tell Uncle and Ashley to get to it. We were a bit nervous. Well, by amazing luck, I dared to take a turn onto a dirt road and rumbled through a gravel pit, over the railroad tracks and on into the woods, where we caught a glimpse of a kayak trailer ... had to be it. We parked and took a walk further down the trail, to find a lovely, river-rock strewn bend with lots of room to get to shore ... if you could navigate the mini-waterfall. So, now to get the info to the paddlers. They had two options. Well, Todd helped bring them in to the tougher landing, closer to home, so they never got to see Lyman Falls ... this time. Sunburned and tired, they were glad to get to shore, but anxious to do it again, soon.

Another quick meal of barbecued chicken tenders and some veggies, and we zipped off to Colebrook for the fireworks. We were close ... they were beautiful and LOUD! Returned home to a little ice cream snack and bed, since we were having trouble moving, by then.

The next day was recuperating day! I don't recall doing much more, since we had it all done. I lounged on the back deck for a good, long while, doing Sudokus and listening to the birds. The girls were dying to play badminton, so we had to get some stakes and birdies ... which turned into a grocery shopping trip, since we needed coffee ... $200 later, we headed home. Uncle helped set up the net and we played half-heartedly into the evening, leaving just a shade too late to get to Errol's fireworks display. It was a little better, longer than Colebrook's. On the way back, we caught a few, from a distance, that the Balsams was setting off. Hoping to see some larger wildlife, as we travelled at optimum times through moose alley, but only caught sight of a fox and LOTS of bugs ... like rain on the windshield. But, all in all, a happy 4th holiday. Unfortunately, I didn't touch a camera the whole weekend. I'll be sorry, once again.