Road Trip Part Two

Yesterday, we went on a road trip via GPS. We traveled back country roads and found that when the GPS wasn't telling us to make right turns on to foot paths, it was directing us to drive 2.3 miles through the woods. As a result, we only make it to 4 of the 7 points I had plotted. Today we decided to try to see the other half. We started at point 7 and headed backward. I'm happy to say that things went better today. It only took us down two unpaved roads, but both of them connected to paved roads and unlike yesterday, we were able to get there from here.

Before heading out, I took my daily walk to check on the beavers, the trail camera I set out to catch the ATVer who are trespassing on our property. The beavers were quiet and there were no new signs of ATV incursions, but I did manage to get a few pictures. Our neighbor has a VERY active bird feeder.



When we went on our ride and Jill and I reaffirmed that we are complete opposites! People are often amazed as how two completely different people managed to stay married for forty-six years. I guess it's because two halves make a whole. The way we reaffirmed it today was through the taking of video.

I wanted to take some video of the car driving down the country roads to give you a feel of what it was like, so I had Jill hold the camera outside the car window as we drive. I told her to hold it high enough so that the mirror and car are not in the picture. After about a minute, I stopped, took the camera and held it out my said of the car. The results of both were a failure, but in Jill's failure, the video was 70% car and 30% road. In my failure, the video was 70% trees and 30% road.

Along the way, there was a beautiful view of a wetland valley. It offered me another opportunity to practice the stitch assistant on my camera. Here's a panorama created by stitching five pictures together. Don't forget to click it to enlarge it! The picture is 1.75 meg and depending on your connection, it might take a few seconds to download.

Shortly after this we were on Griffin Road in Deerfield heading toward Center Hill Road in Epsom. As we hit the Deefield/Epsom dividing line, it turned into a dirt road, but we pushed on and hit paving again on Center Hill Road. From there we went hit Route 4 and the highlight of our day. About a mile or two down Route 4, going toward Concord, on the right hand side we saw a large collection of wood sculptures of all shapes and sizes. A grabbed my camera, but as we got out of the car, we saw the "No Pictures" sign. So I put the camera down and we entered what can only be described as a magical tour into the imagination of an amazingly skilled artist. Hundreds of tree trunks had been turned into whimsical and comical animals. There were caricatures of bears, people, moose, beavers and all kinds of other wildlife inside and outside small buildings and along the streets of of this wood-animal community. Andy, and his son are the artists responsible for this wonderland. Like his sculptures, Andy had a smile on his face and a gleam in his eye when he talked about his work. As I shook hands with Andy, it was almost like shaking hands with one of his wooden creations. They were hard, calloused, and powerful from years of wood carving. I want to get back to talk to him in greater length and try to convince him to let me make a little documentary and post it here.

We couldn't take any pictures, but we did buy a bird house and I can take all the pictures I want. Here it is strapped into my grandson's car seat at Newick's in Concord where we had some of the best seafood we have had anywhere.

After eating we headed home and put the cat in its temporary home on our front porch. We won't get any birds settling there, but eventually he (she) will make it to the back yard. As you look at the pictures, keep in mind this is one of Andy's SMALL pieces. We have to come up with a name for our cat and if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.