Balloons

I caught this fun photo of three hot air balloons sorta lined up, on my Sunday morning bike ride.

We were surprised ("Shocked! I tell you…") to find our usual Sunday morning breakfast venue (the Original Pancake House) wasn’t taking orders this morning... but our other favorite venue (Snooze) filled in the gap seamlessly for us. 

Butterflies

We had a delightful visit at the Westminster Butterfly Pavilion this afternoon - so many butterflies, fluttering all around us! I had difficulty identifying any of them. Taking photos helped me label a few of them after the fact.

We followed up with a stop at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Westminster, to pick up a delicious take home dinner - all in all, a great post-birthday fun day!

Storms

We had a mass of severe thunderstorms passing through - it almost felt like they were gathering themselves together, for an attack on my neighborhood. I caught this photo of a nearby lightning strike (one of many), using the iLightning photo app.

Here's a series of screen snapshots from the MyRadar app, showing the isolated thunderstorm cells gathering together into one big mass around the house.  

Paring down

Something I’ve been working up to for awhile: Years and years of my work shirts - and not even close to all of them - now donated to charity. It shouldn't be difficult to do, but Kristan bought them all, so there's more of an emotional attachment. Even though I don't wear them any more, they represent such a huge piece of my life. Someone mentioned that this must mean I'm committing to not go back to work... Haha! I actually had that commitment before I left, but it’s taken me years, to let go of those perfectly good shirts that I used to wear every day, in my previous life as a "rocket scientist." It's sad to say, but as I look in my closet, I can’t even see the space that I made… I had so many shirts jammed in there, that taking out 50 of them didn’t make much of a difference in the way it looks. They're a little more loosely spaced now, which is great. But I need to do several more rounds of paring down. It’s getting harder, as what remains, are my favorites...

Morning ride

Beautiful 61° blue sky morning in Littleton - a little chilly for another early bike ride, but once I got going, I warmed up enough to barely notice the goose bumps. 

Morning ride

Delightful 75° Tuesday morning in Littleton. I hurried out for another relatively early morning bike ride, and found the conditions just perfect.

James Webb Space Telescope

It took a lot, to replace the aging Hubble Space Telescope with the James Webb Space Telescope. The increased resolution is significant. Here’s a link to a tool by John Christensen, that allows us to compare the resolutions in images of a few different areas of space. Wow! 

Morning ride

Delightful earlier morning bike ride. I under-dressed, thinking it was going to be warmer later, and found myself shivering my way around my usual route. It’s been awhile, since I’ve been out riding this early - kind of nice to get a jump on the day.

I love the view from the Chatfield Dam overlook, especially this morning, with the fluffy clouds over the mountains.

The birds were busily visiting their feeders on the deck, when I got home, and we were happy to enjoy watching them, while we were eating our breakfast.
 

Pretty sunset

Beautiful and surreal sunset clouds tonight - especially with the moon peeking through the clouds. 

Longish ride

I kept doing that “I can go a little farther” thing during my bike ride, and ended up completing my second longest ride in recent years. Nothing to brag about, at 32 miles, but it sure did tire me out. I got caught under a few of those cumulus clouds that were building earlier, but saw nothing more than a little light rain, which I welcomed, as I was getting a little warm. Glad to be home, and working to reduce a fairly large calorie deficit, which, although it’s not all that healthy, seems to be adequately resolved with a couple of pieces of Entenmann's Crumb Coffee Cake, knowing that a healthy well-balanced dinner is right around the corner…

Yummy Entenmanns's

Happy post-Independence Day morning from Littleton! It’s a beautiful day out there - currently 81° and heading for 90 this afternoon. As I’m finishing off my delicious homemade breakfast with a slice of Entenmann’s cinnamon crumb coffee cake, we’re discussing how this particular cake has “been around” -- starting at Shaw's Grocery in Bath, Maine, then driving out to Birch Point for a week in the freezer, then to Portsmouth, Melrose, Boston, San Francisco, and Denver, then a circuitous route by van around the Denver and Colorado Springs areas, almost South as far as Pueblo, before it finally arrived here in Littleton. And my first bite was still fresh and yummy, hooray!

Independence

Wishing you a happy and safe Independence Day! We’re having a quiet "barbecue" on the deck this afternoon, with my visiting niece - and enjoying watching the local wildlife and weather.

As usual, we enjoyed standing on the deck after it got dark, and watching a few of the colorful fireworks that were being launched from nearby venues.

Week in Maine

We returned safely from our east coast trip on July 2. Here's a recap of our final week of that trip, which we spent visiting with my cousin at her husband's family retreat on the coast of Maine. I was so happy to finally make it to Birch Point for this vacation! Kristan and I had tried to participate in a family vacation here 19 years ago in 2003, which would have been a bigger event with the ten of us relatives, but we were waylaid in Glens Falls, New York, by a medical emergency for three weeks. This time, it was to be just a much quieter visit, with just the four of us.

Saturday 6/25 - Because of our circuitous travel route, we ended up on Delta airlines for the hop from West Palm Beach airport to Boston Logan airport. I hadn't flown on Delta since I traveled from San Diego 30 years ago, but they knew my SkyMiles number, and there were only a few minor hiccups to reset my extremely old password, and update my address and phone number, before I had been able to book this connecting trip. I had a little trepidation, using a different airline than my favorite, but the logistics all seemed to work out. I guess the east coast thunderstorms delayed our inbound aircraft, which got us off the ground hours later than scheduled. Our pilot mentioned that he would be dodging a few thunderstorms on our way out, but the rest of our flight should be clear.

We arrived at Boston Logan airport to a beautiful sunset, after a pretty approach over the water. The Delta app was great about telling me our expected arrival time, what gate we were arriving at, and which baggage claim to find our bags.

Our bags took seemingly forever to arrive, but we finally had everything in hand, and found our way to the Blue Line shuttle articulated bus, that took us to the off-airport rental car facility. I was concerned about the long drive up to Maine from there, and that we would arrive near midnight, but my cousin insisted that we stop at her house in Portsmouth for the night, and then we could caravan up the rest of the way, in the morning. Excellent idea. 

My cousin has a great interest in family ancestry, and she was quick to remind me that the bunk bed in the room next to us in her basement, was the same bed that our fathers slept in, when they were boys.

Sunday 6/26 - We slept in, which was a great treat after our travel day, and woke up to a beautiful morning. Here's the front of my cousin's home. They have a delightfully peaceful location, not far from downtown Portsmouth, but you wouldn't know it, until you walk a few blocks.

This is my cousin and her husband, and the view of their neighborhood, looking down the driveway. 

We enjoyed a delicious outdoor breakfast at Cafe Espresso near their house, and then we were off toward our Maine vacation. We had a relatively short 90-minute drive to Bath, a stop to pick up groceries (she said, "assume there is NOTHING at the house!"), and a 15-minute drive out to the Birch Point house.

This lovely view greeted us, as I was parking the car next to the Birch Point house. I was immediately reminded of how much I love being near the water, and reflexively took a few deep breaths. This is the view straight south, over the New Meadows River toward the Atlantic Ocean, which is way out between those two points of land in the distance. 

Here's a nautical chart on the wall at the house. Just to be clear, I love maps, especially nautical charts. The house where we were staying at Birch Point, is 5 miles south of Bath, maybe a little southwest, about halfway to Cape Small, and just across (east) from the skinny Long Island, next to where the map says "New Meadows R." 

The blue dot is the exact location provided by my phone's mapping app, using the satellite view. Note that Brunswick airport is just a little northwest of Birch Point. I was flying a little Pitts Special biplane (in flight simulator) up the coast of Maine earlier this year (in the winter), on my way from Portsmouth Pease airport to Bangor, when I realized my windshield (and presumably the rest of the plane as well) was accumulating heavy ice, so I made a precautionary landing at Brunswick, until the icing conditions abated, before I continued that flight. So, the Brunswick airport felt like a somewhat familiar landmark to me.

We loved the gorgeous sunset view from the living room toward Winnegance Bay, made even better when that Blue Heron took off and flew across my picture. What a gorgeous place! I was very pleased to be sharing this fun part of the trip with Jennefer, especially after her being such a good sport during the earlier, less fun part of our trip. We were also glad to be settled down here, and not traveling for another week… 

 

 

Monday 6/27 - We started our day with an outdoor breakfast of blueberry pancakes on the deck at Mae's Cafe in Bath. They served me with my own little bottle of real maple syrup from Maine! We couldn't leave, without grabbing some delicious-looking items for later, from their bakery display case inside. Instantly my favorite restaurant in Maine.

It started raining right after breakfast, and continued for quite awhile, but we were happy spending a lovely day, touring my cousin's childhood city by car. I realize I had focused on the raindrops in this photo, but in the blurry background, you can see the Kennebec River that runs past Bath.

My Uncle had spent a considerable amount of his time consulting at Down East Engineering, after he retired from the Navy. I remember having this place in my address book for his work address, for quite a few years. It was nice to finally put a "face" to the name.

After driving around in the rain for awhile, with my cousin giving us a running commentary about the many local points of interest, we stopped at the Maine Maritime Museum, at the site of the old Percy & Small Shipyard. We looked around inside the museum, and verified our booking for the short "shipyard and lighthouses" cruise, that would take us out for a view of some local lighthouses, and the Bath Iron Works, where they continue to build Navy ships today. I was excited that we would be getting out on the water for this vacation! I always find it fun, to see an area from the water. This is a model of the Wyoming, a six-masted schooner, which they say was the largest wooden sailing ship ever built, right here at the Percy & Small Shipyard in Bath, Maine. 

This information sheet summarizes some of the major features of the Bath Iron Works, known locally as BIW, and now a General Dynamics facility, which I think I remember being told, is one of the biggest employers for this area. It certainly drives the traffic patterns, at the beginning and end of their work shift. I worked for General Dynamics in San Diego for 17 years, so seeing their name does give me a little sense of belonging.

This is a a full-scale replication of the Cape Elizabeth Two Lights lighthouse tower lantern room, with my cousin in the background, taking our picture. 

These flagpoles mark the construction site of the Wyoming. Each flagpole represents the location and approximate height of each of the huge wooden schooner's six masts. 

This friendly museum employee was demonstrating how a freshly-constructed large ship was launched for the first time, by greasing the skids known as "the ways", and knocking out the wooden brakes out from under it, until it slid down the ways into the Kennebec River. The kids loved this demonstration, but hated that he wouldn't let them play with the boat, after he'd slid it down into the pool. 

The museum built a kids play area in the shape of a ship's hull. Cute. It was cool and drizzly out, so we didn't see a lot of kids playing in the sand. 

We stopped in Bath for lunch at Cafe Creme, on our way back to Birch Point. This mix of bright colorful flowers drew my attention. 

Our view from the living room window at Birch Point was somewhat limited, on this drizzly foggy day...

...and even more limited, a short time later... this was the worst visibility we experienced for our entire stay here. I kind of enjoyed it, since it was so short-lived. 

Tuesday 6/28 - We awoke to a beautiful blue-sky morning at Birch Point. Here, I'm looking back up at the house from their boat dock. 

I really wanted to get out on the water in a small sailboat, kayak, or even a rowboat, but that wasn't in the cards for this trip. We saw that the neighbors appeared to have some small watercraft, but who has the internal fortitude to go ask a complete stranger if you can borrow their boat for a little while? And what reasonably cautious person would honor such a request?

Today was our "shipyard and lighthouse" boat cruise, oh boy! My cousin took this picture of us with her husband, as we're heading out on the MerryMeeting. 

A Navy ship under construction, at Bath Iron Works (BIW). The shipyard has several stations where ships are under construction. Then when a ship is ready to be launched, it is moved into the dry dock, which submerges until the ship can be easily floated out.

Looking inside the (currently empty) dry dock at the Bath Iron Works shipyard. This is a view from an angle you don't get from the shore.

The Doubling Point lighthouse on Arrowsic Island is located on the lower Kennebec River, at a point where the normally south-flowing river makes a sharp turn to the east, followed by a turn back to the south. The light is set at the inside corner of the first of these turns, on the west side of Arrowsic Island, roughly opposite the mouth of Winnegance Creek. The light station includes a tower, keeper's house, shed, and oil house. The tower is an octagonal wood-frame structure, finished in wooden shingles, with an iron walkway around the lantern chamber. It is accessed via a three-span footbridge.

The Fiddler's Reach Fog Signal was rung to assist ships navigating the treacherous S-bend section of the river known as Fiddler Reach. It was a bell from 1914 until the late sixties and then a horn until it was discontinued in 1982.

The Doubling Point Range Lights are located on the lower Kennebec River, at a point where the normally south-flowing river makes a sharp turn to the east, followed by a turn back to the south. The range lights are set on the north side of the second turn; the first is marked by the Doubling Point Light. The range lights are oriented so that they are in alignment when seen from the main channel to the south. The light station consists of two octagonal wood frame towers, a keeper's house, and an oil house. The towers are joined to the keeper's house by wooden walkways with railings. The southern tower is 17 feet (5.2 m) in height, while the northern one is 13 feet (4.0 m) tall. When a ship is properly in the main channel, only the southern light will be visible.

 

From a different angle, you can see the Doubling Point Range Lights are almost lined up, to indicate our ship is near the center of the channel. 

 

Our guide pointed out several Eagles soaring over the trees.

Navy (picket?) ship moored at the Iron Works dock.  

Another Navy (picket?) ship moored at the Iron Works dock.  

Bath Iron Works shipyard security were waiting alertly, in case we needed to be warned to stay out of their protected area in Bath Harbour. 

The Sagadahoc drawbridge crosses the Kennebec River to bring traffic on highway 1 into Bath. We saw an Osprey nest on top of this bridge today, just to the right of the movable drawbridge span, but you can't see it in this photo.

The historic sailing sloop Pinnace Virginia or Virginia of Sagadahoc was a pinnace built in 1607–08 by colonists at the Popham Colony. The ship was a project of the Plymouth Company, branch of the proprietary Virginia Company, on land England claimed as belonging to the Virginia Colony. She was the first English ocean-going vessel built in the New World, and a demonstration of the new colony's ability to build ships.

We survived our boat cruise! There was never any doubt, of course. The storm clouds brewing in the background didn't stop us from continuing our day, by walking around the grounds of the Maine Maritime Museum. 

While it was raining, we toured the Donnell house, where the shipyard owner's family lived, then we walked around to the Mill and Joinery shop, the Paint and Treenail shop, the Blacksmith shop, the Mould Loft, the Caulker's Shed, and even stopped by to look at the Pitch Oven.

We were ready for our very late lunch at the Montsweag Restaurant, on our way back to Birch Point from Bath.

We detoured by way of Wiscasset, and found ourselves following the progress of a lobster boat crew, as they returned to the dock, and loaded up their boat with lobster pots for the next morning. 

Sunset at Birch Point, and another fun photo with a Great Blue Heron flying past. 

Just before going to bed, I was peering out the living room windows at the pitch black view of the water beyond, and as my eyes adjusted, I realized that I could see quite a lot - so many stars in the sky, and lights on the water and ground, off in the distance. I gave my iPhone 12 camera a try with the dark scene, and I was amazed that it did a decent job of capturing what I was seeing. This view is looking out over the New Meadows River toward Bear Island to the south. I think the ground glow is from Cundy’s Harbor. It even caught the green flashing light on one of the channel marker buoys out in the river. 

Here's a "nautical" map from the Argo boating app on my iPhone, that shows me (white circle with blue arrow inside at the top) looking south in the same direction I took the above photo. 

Wednesday 6/29 - Mostly calm water on the river this morning.

While we were having breakfast at the house, we enjoyed watching this lobster boat arrive to tend their pots.

Then it was off to Bowdoin College, to see a musical for which my cousin had booked seats. We arrived early enough to walk around the college before the show. 

Thursday 6/30 - Puffin Cruise day! My sister loves Puffins - she is the one that told me about these water birds that "fly underwater," and then we saw them at Sea World in San Diego many years ago. This was a chance for the four of us to see them in the wild. My cousin had booked us on a cruise on Cap'n Fish's Cruises from Boothbay Harbor, to hopefully see some Puffins at Eastern Egg Rock, a tiny island off the coast of Maine. 

We saw many varying kinds of moored boats, on our way out of Boothbay Harbor, and many of them had people on board, presumably just enjoying their morning, although some looked well enough equipped, that they could have been living aboard. 

This cute little pair of "RS Feva" mini-sailboats got me thinking again, about how difficult it might be, to rent a little sailboat, and go exploring around some of the many bodies of water in this area. One of these days!

We saw a few Windjammer-style schooners out and about. This red-sailed one was really gorgeous, as she cruised along under full sails. 

 

 

 

I captured this screenshot from my Argus boating app, while we were en route to Eastern Egg Rock. It shows we were approaching Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, traveling at 14.9 knots, and the water under us was 177 feet deep right there. I was glad that the swells were light, and my equilibrium was doing well under those conditions. 

This gaff-rigged Windjammer-style schooner (maybe the Mistress?) looked really classic. They were moving along really well, apparently under sail power alone. 

This, they told us, is what we would be looking for! Puffins! The crew were all really nice and informative. It was a pleasure riding with them. They even made a great effort to imitate the sound of a Puffin for us. They also showed us pictures of several other sea animals we might encounter.

 

We arrived at Eastern Egg Rock, and... Puffins! We were excited. All the little white specs are Puffins. This still photo doesn't do the experience any justice at all. I also took a bunch of videos, which I have yet to figure out how to upload here. Then I offered my viewing seat to my cousin, who also wanted to take some pictures.

 

 

OK, I think I've managed to upload a video here, of a few Puffins just riding the swells:

Seems like I succeeded in uploading another video here - of a Puffin flying!

We passed this pretty round building on a very small island, as we were approaching the dock back at Boothbay harbor. I think it's called the McFarland Island Lighthouse. 

 

 

 

After successfully completing our Puffin viewing cruise, we headed across the peninsula, for an afternoon walk around the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. 

So many beautiful plants at the gardens. They even had a pretty little "Monet" pond full of lilly pads. 

Fun and shady cool little privacy cave made of stacked up boulders.

We had a great time tracking down all the Trolls scattered around the gardens, from end to end. There was a brochure that described each of the trolls. The first troll we encountered was Roskva! "Stands for the trunks." Roskva is the heaviest, hardest, and strongest of the trolls. Every day, Roskva climbs towards the sky, and every year she grows taller and wider. If a troll forgets something, they can always ask Roskva—she counts the seasons and remembers everything that happens around her.

This was Lilja! "Holds the scent of the flowers." Just last summer, Lilja came out from her hiding place. The youngest of the trolls, she’s still just a child. She loves the colors and the scents of the flowers and when bees and butterflies fly among branches.

This was Soren! "Sticks up for the branches." Søren is a very curious troll; his head is always turning and twisting, searching for places ever higher. He dreams about drifting around on a cloud in the sky, and when the wind is blowing, he loves to celebrate with a dance.

This was Gro! "Smiles with the leaves." Gro is the wanderer. Every fall she disappears, but the trolls are not worried because every spring she returns to the forest. On her return, Gro walks around to make sure every friend of hers is fed. After hurrying to catch a few sunbeams and a handful of raindrops, she creates a feast for the forest.

And this was Birk! "Holds the roots." Birk is the wisest and most mysterious of the trolls. He hides in the shadows and listens to the whispers of the soil. He knows everything that happens in the wild, and every day he tells tales to all the other creatures of the forest. 

There were several beautiful bridges around the park.  

I really enjoyed the little "fairy village" that we ran across, just before we got to the last troll. There were many different variations of this little "fairy house" in a small area.

Lots of beautiful water features throughout the gardens. 

We headed back to Birch Point and found... kayakers in the water nearby. How nice to see them! 

Friday 7/1 - The day before we fly home. The Blue Herons were strutting around on the little island just offshore from the house. We all decided to drive down to my cousin's house a day early, so we could spend the night there, then stop on the way to the airport, to visit with her daughter and her 2 year old son that we haven't yet met. 

One last look at the marvelous view from the Birch Point house.  

Saying goodbye to this lovely location for awhile. 

We stopped at the Garmin facility in Portland on the drive back, and checked out the "Big Eartha" display that was installed by the DeLorme mapping company, before Garmin bought them. This 42 foot scale model of Earth is rotated by a motor in the base, so bystanders can see it from all angles.

We got to meet my first cousin, twice removed! And we met the bump who will soon be my second first cousin, twice removed!

We had the most delicious cheese frittata and latte at Caffe Nero in downtown Melrose, and got a big grin for our effort.

Travel days tend to be a blur, so it's no surprise that before we knew it, we'd driven to the car rental facility and turned in our car, caught the blue line shuttle bus to the correct airport terminal building, checked our bags, found our way through the TSA line and to our gate, and were waiting for our flight. 

Always a relief, to be back in the air, and on our way home. Looks like Deer Island, out across Boston Harbor.

I really enjoy following the progress of my airline flight, using the Foreflight app on my phone, which is telling me that we're 652 nautical miles from Denver. 

Landing at Denver airport, through some rain clouds, with another flight landing on a parallel runway, and the Westin airport hotel between us. I caught this fun photo during our approach and landing. Only a couple of minor hiccups so far… we had to wait awhile, for a gate to free up… and I got a text after landing, that my bag (with my Entenmann’s crumb cake!) was on a plane heading to San Francisco and then Portland. So... I had my fingers crossed, that they would eventually get it back to Denver, and deliver it to the house… and that was a good job by the airline, managing my expectations… by the time I got to the front of the line at the baggage claim customer service area, I had already completed the online form, to have my bag delivered at the house, so I didn't need to talk to them. Cool beans. Then, we just had to find a ride home... easily solved with a ride-share app, and 45 minutes later, we were home.

Jennefer's kitty Cleo was very happy to see her. 

I think Mandy was happy to see us too.

 

And... 24 hours later: Woo hoo! My bag returned from San Francisco! I followed the bag delivery person all around Colorado, as they must've had a lot of bags to deliver, even going south beyond Colorado Springs. In the early evening, the doorbell rang, and the drop-off guy was already gone, by the time I got to the door. I was glad I got there quickly, as it had just started raining.

Finally! The end of our big summer trip story. Of course, too many "finally home" events have unexpected discoveries - this time, we had something beeping in the basement all evening after we got home. I finally investigated, and found the battery backup for my Internet modem had gotten to end of life, and wasn't holding a charge any more. Back to everyday life!