BethanyRambling

Edges

Ahhh, the downside from a day filled only with sugar. The cold that I had no idea was stalking me seized its moment and bodyslammed me. So I am off in search of a motel, even though it's only 3 PM, so I can sleep away the nosedrips.

Before I shuffle away, a quick update. Did I mention I love Maine? The whole state exemplifies one of the favorite parts of my trip; the unveiling. I keep trying to go back and take pictures of images that jump out at me; a revolutionary statue that looked Gorey-esque; a motel on the cliff that looked Bates-esque; a rusted 1940s pickup truck next to what might have been a colonial house under piles of growth. It never works. As soon as I stop moving and try to get a freeze frame, the image ceases to be as fascinating.

This is why I love my swing pictures. We are more beautiful in motion, and I guess that works for things as well. It's the coming around the corner that makes some things so amazing, and you can never capture that on a Pentax. Though I try. I always try to frame my shots, with a bit of a tree there, an edge of a house here, and I think that may be due to this movement thing. I want to capture that moment when something first comes into view and you lose your breath for a second.

Yesterday I hit both the eastern edge and the northern edge of my trip. I watched the sun set at Quoddy Head Nat'l Park, the easternmost part of the US. I know, I should have watched the sun rise there, but the damn park closes from dusk til 9 AM, and the sun goes up at 5 out here. Sunset'll do for me. Then I swung up to northern Maine today, and got the other edge.

I stopped at a beach made entirely of Jasper stones. Apparently there is only one other like it, in Japan (thanks Noah, for the guidebook!). It didn't look very special; I didn't realize what an unassuming rock Jasper is. It was just a rocky beach. The oddity lay in the fact that the rocks went all the way down. Try to picture climbing a sand dune build of red rocks the size of a fist. Where the water hit, the rocks were much smaller, but still stones and nowhere near sand. The sound that the water made when pulling back was amazing. The smaller waves made a nice singing noise, and the larger ones made a noise closer to a scream. It was a little spooky on such a foggy morning.

Yesterday was as drizzly as the day before, and everone had their fires going. My ribs started to ache from inhaling so deeply every time I passed a house (or maybe that was just this cold stalking me - like eyes on the back of my neck).

I may have been slightly snooty in my tone in my last post regarding little tourist towns. I take it all back. Every little tourist town that I passed on my way north is forgiven, as they are all trying to be Bar Harbor. Ba Haba is just about the cutest tourist town I have ever seen! And I grew up on the California coast! It has just the right mix of friendly folks, nature adventures, and businesses only a city gal would like, to be perfect. Naturally I didn't stay. The perfect tourist town runs on money, and I have none. But I will be back.

Okay, really need a bed now. And I've overstayed my welcome at the library; the librarian is tapping her foot.

Wicked

I've heard at least 3 people using "wicked" in their regular conversations. The road was "wicked wet". It's cool up here.

Beautiful and rugged. That's what everyone told me, and that's all I can think of to describe Maine. Lobster boats and traps everywhere, rocky coastlines, and thick forests. Good, rugged people, too. Except for all the tourist towns, where you get wimpy city folk and billions of antique shops. But even those are beautiful.

I saw another sign proclaiming, "Lousy Food. Warm Beer," at a diner. Is this a Yankee thing? Do northern folk think that sounds good? My favorite sign, however, was at a shipyard. "No smoking gasoline." No, I don't imagine that would be nice.

I hit Halcyon Yarns in Bath. Tall ceilings, stacked to the roof with every color of yarn imaginable. They didn't carry every style, but in what they did carry, they had every single shade. Pretty.

Also in Bath was the Maine Maritime Museum. Mmm. The displays were sort of interesting, but the real delight was wandering through the old shipyards that had been there for centuries. It was a gloomy day, and I had the place all to myself. Which was why it was particularly creepy to walk into a building, say the od Caulking shed, and hear ghostly hammers working away. Each room had a CD playing sounds that you might have heard a hundred years ago. My imagination just went wild.

From there it was a short drive up the coast to Pine Tree Yarns, which is closed on Tuesdays. Poop. I pressed my nose up against the glass and admired all the pretty colors. That'll hold me for now.

"He's not a lawya, he worked for his fatha. Funny, for a murda mystery." I love eavesdropping. And libraries are especially good, at least the small ones where folks don't whisper.

Today I am on Deer Isle, a... beautiful, rugged island. I don't know what else to say. It's drizzling and wet and stunning. All the little dories are sitting on their butts in the mud, since the tide is all the way out. We Californians don't know what all the way out is. There must be an 8 foot difference between the high tide mark and the low. It's insane. I keep thinking there is a tsunami coming; that's what it meant on Saipan when the beaches looked like that. So it's beautiful, rugged, and drippy, with a forboding air about. I love it.

Artificially Flavored

I finally left the cozy comfort of Nancy and Elric's farmhouse. It was hard, but I tore myself away, and spent all day yesterday paddling Tach through Maine. I don't think it let up once until late afternoon. I must have been traveling at the rate of the raincloud. Didn't bother me at all, really. I love the rain, and it just chases the wusses away from the beach so I have it all to myself. Glorious.

I've been having the most fun just tooling around and drooling over houses. They have the most beautiful places here, and I spent all day pointing and yelling, "oooo", then feeling silly. My mood kept fluctuating madly. I would see 20 houses, all fabulous, all exciting me and making me wonder what was around the bend, then I would see 1 that looked just the same, except it had a light in the window for the gloomy day, or smoke coming from the chimney, and all of a sudden I'd be homesick like mad and wishing myself inside that house.

That would last for a mile or so, and then a new wonder would pop around the bend and the bad mood would run away, not far, just to the back corner under my jump seat for easy access. Part of the reason for this must be attributed to the massive amounts of sugar I ingested yesterday. I had to stop at Dunkie's again before leaving Mass, and then as soon as I got into Maine I found a marvel of a store called "Yummies". Someone I met in a knitting shop reccommended this one to me, and it was as fabulous as she said.

Every single candy from the last 20 years is still available in here. Plus some I'd never heard of. I got wax lips, bottle caps, candy cigs, toxic waste, jelly hamburgers (actually I passed those up; I have a vivid memory of becoming horribly ill after insisting on having one on a long car trip when I was about 5), razzles (I thought "13 going on 30" made those up!), charleston chews, jelly eyeballs... It was an amazing place. They even had a solid chocolate foot. I would have bought 10 for gifts, if I thought they could make it through Texas. "Thank you for welcoming me into your house, please have a foot." Hee hee hee.

So my moodswings may have been a bit artificially flavored. I passed through Ogunquit, Kennebunkport, and other strange sounding cities I'd heard of and fantasized about. That's been one of my downfalls; I love strange sounding town names. I'll head for a town on the map just because it's called Onomotopeia, or some such, and end up finding that it really just looks like any other town. Intercourse is actually not all that cool. But Kennebunkport did not disapoint. It really looked... like a Kennebunkport. And I have no way to describe that. Cute, old, oceany, a bit posh... It's just kennebunkport.

Today: Halcyon yarnstore. Actually, they are open now and only 5 minutes away, so what am I doing here? Adios.

Go, Beth, Go

It's been a while, so here's my new and updated map. Look at all that damn red!! Unfortunately there's still a lot of white, too, and I'm on my way home. Sort of. In a manner.

create your own personalized map of the USAor write about it on the open travel guide

I'm heading for that last northern state right now. It's really damn hard to get myself to move, though, when I have a nice comfy bed, warm kitties, and nice people. Tonight will be my first night back with Tach in over 4 weeks. And I'm sorry to say I am not looking forward to the bonding experience. It rained a lot last night. I'm picturing a soggy bed.

But Maine is calling. Actually SF and Montana are calling louder, but Maine is that annoying little buzz in the background saying, "me first, me first!" And hoo boy, do I have a list of yarn stores to hit when I get there. Like I need any more yarn.

The yarn I got at the factory doesn't have any labels, but I identified the one I am going to use for my aran is called Wings. I looove it. It's so soft and warm, and CHEAP. Man, I'm a cheapskate.

I had Poutine for breakfast this morning. Mmmm. Fries with cheese curd and gravy type stuff, with some sort of meat usually. Mmmm. I don't think I'll have to eat again for a year. French Canadian food at its best. Mmmm.

Okay, gotta go now if I'm going to go. So go I go. Go, Beth, go.

Proof that I Am Rachael's Sister

Thank you to everyone for all the New Hampshire tips. I am loving it! It's a beautiful, green fantasyland, although it is a bit hot and buggy. I've been dousing myself in Cutter ever since one mosquito found the crook of my knee while I was climbing out of Walden Pond. The ever-agitating location combined with my allergy actually made it swell up to the size of a golf ball. Wanna see? Damn, I wish I had a digital camera to show off weird bodily things.

Today... I was bad. Very, very bad. Did you know that Classic Elite Yarns runs their factory store out of a town just south of the Mass/NH border? Did you know that they have oodles of stuff that you will never, ever find at such a low price? Did you know that I am very weak? For a girl on a budget trip, I certainly pigged out.

But really, if I am going to winter in Montana (still keeping quiet about that plan, just in case it doesn't pan out), I really do need a big thick aran sweater, and they had the most delicious cream wool/silk/alpaca blend. And who could pass up a big bag of shimmery linen balls for $25? Not to mention the two skeins of cotton I needed to finish a tank... I went a bit nuts. But I liked it.

On the way back I revisited America's Stonehenge. Noah and I had stopped there, but, it being after 5, the gates had been locked. This time I was able to wander quickly (as I was being chased by millions of buggies) through, marvelling the whole time at modern, er, I mean ancient construction. Pretty cool. I think that makes my fourth 'henge. The others were mostly replicas, but this one was reportedly an Archaic Native American site that served the same solar purpose as the 'henge we all know and love.

Tomorrow I think I may swing by Portsmouth. I know I went by there, but I don't think I stopped to check it out. It deserves a leisurely revisit, I believe.

Postcard

Well, I was heading for Maine, and open roads, and got pleasantly sidetracked. I was offered a night at a wonderful farmhouse in New Hampshire, and now I am just hanging out and helping edit sci-fi. Can we say heaven? We're surrounded by beautiful country, and even more surrounded by friendly kitties. Having a blast. Wish you were here.

Salem

I am much refreshed. I took a dip in Walden Pond, and while it's not quite as quiet and remote as it once was, it's still a beautiful and inspiring place. I wandered the cemetery in the area as well, and felt strangely connected to that whole literary group all afternoon. They felt like real people for the first time.

I started daydreaming about finding a nice, quiet place for all my friends to move in and take over, where we could be creatively productive and live juicy lives. If you think about it, it's the same old dream from college, when you want to have all your buddies move into the same building so that you can have THE party house. It's so much easier to move your friends to you, rather than make friends of the people already around you. And I am all about the easy way.

I'm in historic Salem now, eager to jump into the 20 or so Witch dungeons and museums in the area. I think I'll save those for tomorrow. There was a great house right as I was coming in that was painted all in black, with red foundations. Chains made a big X on the front door, and gargoyles guarded the entrance. It must have been built as a church, what with all the steeples and pillars. It was stunning. A small sign on one side said, "Not a Church. Get over it."

I'm kind of confused. Are there really people so silly as to think a huge black and red old building is comparable to their neighborhood parish? Do you think the people that live there get knocks on the door every Sunday morning, and they just got tired of it? Do you think this happy church-going family that was turned away was so disapointed, they had to be told to get over it? I do think the building was once a church building, but I didn't really need to be told that it no longer was one. That was fairly easy to deduce on my own.

Yay to everyone graduating, especially my brilliant sister Christy. Yaaaay!!

Boston

Boston's pretty cool. I spent all day yesterday just doing the tourist crawl, Boston Common, the Freedom Trail, the North End. Finally found my canoli, the one I meant to have in Little Italy but never found. Mmmm. Of course I spent some time in the Irish pubs, as well. They've got some nice beers out here.

Can you tell I had a few last night? Must talk simple, no energy for complex thoughts.

And that's about it for now. So yeah, Boston's cool.

Oh I remember, I wanted to say something about cities in general. I've been breezing by cities for the most part, in favor of the pocketbook friendly bucolic attractions of the countryside. And that's been nice, but I have had so much fun in NY and Boston and DC during the last leg! Cities are nice. I can't decide whether I'm a city girl or a country girl. Maybe I'm a mountain girl. Can't I be all?

Lovely, Lovely

Woo hoo, what a wild week.

Someone mentioned today that I only seem to write when I don't have people to talk to. I have to vomit comments and information, and if someone is there to hear me, great. If not, I have to run online and force others to hear.

I flew into Boston on Friday morning, and darling Noah met me right at the airport and guided me through the T lines. Actually, he got us into the T station, and then I mentioned that I was parked at the airport, so we headed back out to the car. Lovely Tach was doing very well, and we cruised on down to his place together.

Can you tell what a mood I'm in? Everything is lovely, darling...

The next morning we headed to Vermont for the reception, giving ourselves 4 hours for what should have been a 3 hour trip. Unfortunately we left a wee bit late, and then got a wee bit lost (yes, those Boston interstates are stinkers!), and got there a wee bit late. Like an hour. Luckily it seemed like we didn't miss too much, there were still amazing vegan goodies available, and lots of champagne. It was great to meet all of Kira's family and pre-SF friends, and to party with the girls a little bit more. We sat around noshing and talking for hours.

Afterwards Cora, a pre-SF friend, kindly took us into her home, fed us, and gave us a place to sleep. She had a beautiful old house, happily filled with books and art, and we had a great evening.

Wow, I'm just really not as interesting when I'm happy and have nothing to whine about. Maybe I should wait until I feel cranky and then write again. Nah, you'll just have to deal with my contentment.

The next day we wandered Burlington, the largest city in Vermont. I'm not sure how much that is saying, however, as the town felt small and sleepy to me, coming from Boston. Extremely diverse and liberal, however, with trees everywhere, and New York right across the lake! From our perspective, it looked a lot like Vermont.

I've been doing a good job of sampling local beers wherever I've been going to, and Vermont has bundles. Noah and I went to the Vermont Pub and Brewery that night to sample some more and to chat with Jim and Colleen. Once again, a great time was had by all. Sorry, still content.

I've been... well, slightly stunned by how much everyone has in common with me. We have common interests, we've seen the same movies, we speak the same language. It's been so long since I've been with my people, it feels strange. On the road, you sorta take what you're given. What, you're talking to me? I don't care if you're fifty with no teeth, I haven't spoken to anyone in a week, you are my new best friend!! But these are Kira's people, and they feel... comfortable. It's nice.

Especially Noah. I'm sending mad props to him. He's been a long time reader, one time commenter, and has been waiting for me to get to his neck of the woods. Due to my crazy fast pace, it took me 9 months, and coincided with the end of his school year and the start of the summer. So we got to hang together, and it has been great to have more company. Tach's feeling a little lonely, I haven't talked to him in almost a month, but I am lovin' it.

It was nice that I wasn't all by myself jumping up and down outside the Ben and Jerry's plant, waiting for the tour to start. It was good to have someone take Stripes picture with me inside a barrel of apples. And it is fabulous to get to use his computer and have a shower just waiting for me in the other room. Lovely.

Yes, it's all lovely, lovely, lovely. I'll try to have a very unpleasant experience that I can bitch about next time, gotta keep entertaining. Until then, just picture the goofy grin on my face and be happy.

None today, thank you.

It's been ages, so much has happened, yet all I want to do is sit down with Rachael's TIVO, and completely re-organize my blog. I don't want to actually write about anything, just move writing around, while Reno 911 plays in the background.

So. To sum up: flew home, finished chickami, went to wedding, had graduation dinner with Christy, now sitting on my ass. Loved/loving all of it. Details possibly to follow. Who knows.

You can sorta see my finished chickami in this one. After redoing the straps twice, it turned out perfectly! The second time they were too long, the first time they were attached so that the front was supposed to be an armpit. I'm talking plunging here. Still, it was the first thing I've knit to gauge, and I am very proud.

Practicing Rachael's Deer in the Headlights look:

Practicing my inscrutable poet expression in front of the Chelsea Hotel:

Swingin' on Nantucket:

Mystic, CT, famous for... duh.

And that's all I have the strength for. Sigh. So weak. Can barely... reach... remote...

One more thing, I have to thank everyone that put me and my crazy sis up while we were wandering together. I've been ashamed to do this part, because I can't do links and my sis is out, but just know that you all have my eternal gratitude. And I'm piggybacking on Rachael, and I know she linked to all you cool folks. So I'll just say thank you, and we had a fabulous, fabulous time.

Atheneum

We have 10 minutes in the Atheneum library here, so this will be brief.

We are having a fabulous time.

After New York we stayed with Maggie and Caroline (see Rach for details), had a wonderful time, fell in love with Richmond, toured an empty mansion with intricate plasterwork and hidden passages and rooms, knit a lot, fell more in love with Maggie and Caroline and Richmond, left tearfully, wandered up the Eastern Shore of Virgina, saw fabulous old houses with widow's walks, ate at a tiny hole in the wall Italian place in Providence (a very cool city that needs more exploring on my part), spent the night in the perfect motel in Hyannis, took a high speed ferry to Nantucket, where...

Nantucket defies description. It's exactly as you would imagine it, and yet so much more. Maybe it's just because it's still off-season here still (though the days have been beautiful), but everything feels so natural and comfortable. And yet there are amazing historic buildings everywhere, and cobblestone roads, and wild empty beaches, and the nicest people I've ever met. I love it here.

This was helped greatly by the fact that we stayed with the greatest people. I'm almost out of time, or I would compose an ode. They had the sweetest old house with a loft and stain glass and so much love in it, and we were lent a car for touring the island (we made great use of it; I don't think there is a single road we didn't wander down), and we were made a phenomenal dinner, and invited to sit and knit and watch the last Friends (speaking of - anyone else disappointed? not that it ended, just disappointed in the show). What a great time.

I want to sing their praises more, and the praises of the island, but we are guests here, and must be brief. But we'll be back. I'll revisit this island in my dreams, and I know I'll revisit it in real life as well.