26Aug2005 - A little bit about Connecticut

The picture is on the Connecticut river south of Rayne's work in Earls Park beside the Glastonbury Audobahn society. We took the puppies for a walk in the park and ended up at the river. The land was donated with the stipulation that horses be allowed to use it so there are jumps, rings and large fields in the park.

I thought I'd record a few of the tidbits I've learned about Connecticut.

Connecticut has official state everything. I thought Canada did well to have 2 official sports (hockey and lacrosse), well Connecticut has an official state fossil! Yup that's right a state fossil. Of course they also have state tree (The Charter Oak), flower (Mountain Laurel) and bird (American Robin). Some of the other odd "official state items"...

Insect - European Mantis
Animal - Sperm Whale
Shellfish - Eastern Oyster
Folk Dance - Square Dance
Trobadour - Thomasina Levy (local artists can apply every 2 years)

The state song is "Yankee Doodle" and the state motto is Qui Transtulit Sustinet which translates to "He Who Transplanted Still Sustains" not exactly the most inspiring, but hey when you have a state shellfish who needs latin.

The state ship is the USS Nautilus, that happened to be built in Connecticut and was the world's first nuclear powered submarine.

Well the wasps have settled down. At least they are not as obvious when they are lying on the counter or dining room floor dead. The spray I got from Home Depot seems to have done the job. Now I just have to pick them up whenever I see a few so the dogs don't get at them.

The landlord came by the other day to mow the lawn (I love that!) and aksed me to look at a couple of computers for her, so now I have a room with 6 computers in it. My god I'm turning into my cousin Kirk (who has more computers than anyone I know)! Her husband also mentioned that he would like to get a website for his company, so maybe that'll keep me busy for a while.

BTW I have updated the photo albums, the link is:

http://www.bohica.net/photos/index.php?cat=10006

ooops, the link before was to Kirk's albums...

Cheers,

Kevin

22Aug05 - A weekend away and wasps

Well Rayne took the day off on Friday so we could make the 4 hour trip up to New Hampshire for the weekend. As is usual here, there was a major car accident on one of the highways so we got slightly diverted on the way up but had a couple of nice "doggie breaks" on the way.

We stopped at an outdoor smokehouse for lunch. The food was good but we were a little overwhelmed when our lunch for two turned out to be enough to feed a small family (say 4-5). So we ate what we could and stripped the rest off and put it in a plastic bag for dog treats.

We arrived at the Lazy Dog Inn at 2:30 (1/2 hr before we were supposed to) and signed into our room. The place was really cozy (especially our room), there was a fenced play area in the back, and a kennel where all the dogs have their own (tempreature controlled) dog run. We quickly checked it out, unpacked our things and asked where in the area we could take the dogs for a walk and a swim. We ended up just down the street at White Lake state park where we paid 3.00/adult to park our car and off we went.

The lake we went to was very nice and had gentle sloping sandy beach so Kyla ran in like a dirty shirt. Rayne and I slipped off our sandles and went wading with her, Brodie sat on the shore looking rather frustrated. After a little coaxing Brodie joined us and actually began to swim! Unfortunately shortly after that a lifeguard wandered over to us (we stayed away from the swimming area) and informed us that they do not allow animals in the park. He was very nice and said we could walk down a trail to another beach if we'd like but that dogs weren't allowed in the park.

We went off down the trail to the next beach and proceeded to have a great time with the dogs. On the way back we got another little surprise, Rayne was carrying a "poopie" bag and went to ask where she could dispose of it. She was told that the park was "carry in/carry out", in other words there were no waste bins at all. Not a big deal for us, Rayne just went the the washroom and disposed of it there. The truly odd thing is, the beach was packed with families that were picknicking, barbecquing and generally enjoying themselves, it seemed strange to me that they would all have to pack out everything they had brought in......I wonder how many really do?

We then took off to explore the nearby towns of Conway and North Conway. Conway was nothing to write home about (so I won't), but North Conway was a beautiful little place. It was right across from a ski resort and included all manner of interesting little shops and a scenic railroad. Very much like an Eastern Banff idea. We walked the streets and did some window shopping before heading back to the Inn to relax for the evening.

When we arrived back at the Inn, all the other guests had arrived. There were dogs everywhere, Pappillons, Skipperkees, Boxers, Retrievers, a Cairn and an adorable grey 4 month old Great Dane named "Sadie". Brodie and Kyla were in their glory until little (50lb) Sadie laid a heavier than anticipated paw on Kyla. I guess it surprised her and so Kyla became a little "nippy" with the big dogs. Luckily that only lasted over night (by Sunday Kyla, Sadie and Brodie were chasing each other with abandon in the play area). The only dog Brodie had issues with was a Boxer named Blaze who was also "intact", we just kept them away from one another.

The evening was spent talking to the Inn Keepers (Steve and Lauren) and the rest of the guests around an outdoor fire and sipping wine while the dogs got used to each other. It was very pleasant and Steve and Lauren were very nice folks. They opened the Inn a year ago because they had vacationed in the area for years and always had a difficult time finding a place to bring Megahn and Molly (their 2 golden retrievers). Since then they have been booked non stop and have been rated as the most dog friendly place to stay in North America. Quite a success story really!

The next day we took the dogs for a couple of short hikes along the Kancamagus scenic byway. Everyone in the area calls it the "Kanc" because it's too difficult to spit out. We met up with our friends Ryan and Cristina and went to a little spot called the Muddy Moose for lunch. We spent the afternoon exploring shops in North Conway and settled in for an early evening to watch a movie.

On the drive back we decided to take a different route and traversed the entire Kancamagus byway to Vermont and the I-91. The road was beautiful and windy for about 60 miles before we hit the freeway. We stopped in a couple of spots to do short hikes and walk the puppies. It also happened to be Kyla's 1st birthday.

Driving through Vermont was breathtaking. The highway takes much better advantage of the vistas than the I-95 and route 16 that we used to get to New Hampshire. There were plenty of nice bridges that afforded wonderful views of rivers as you crossed and the region is very hilly. The drivers in Vermont are something akin to oblivious Saltspring Islanders on Prozac. They meander in and out of lanes without much thought and must make the drivers from New Hampshire (whose license plate state "Live Free or Die") as well as the more uptight Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut a little crazy. All in all the little extra time for the drive home was well worth it.

We arrived home with some amount of trepidation. You see the prior two days I had been on a mission of sorts. Somehow our kitchen and dining room had become home to an alarming numbers of wasps. I had spent the Thurdays swatting and trying to figure out where they were all coming from. I would kill 3 or 5 in the dining room, go to the kitchen, kill as many there, return to the dining room, only to see another swarm. In total I must have killed more than 50 wasps. When I was finished I went to relax in the living room and was promptly stung by one of the survivors! Karma I guess.

We opened the door to the house and sure enough there were several wasps and about twice as many wasp caracasses lying around the windows. On the way in the door Rayne was stung too! I went out today and bought some spray to use around the windows, hopefully that will help (along with the 4 nest I had already done).

BTW I must say Happy Birthday to my sis Kelly in Winnipeg. I hope you have a great day and the year brings you many pleasant days to follow.

Here's hoping that you are all well!

18Aug05 - Just a little homesick

The pic is of 3rd beach in Vancouver, one of our favourite spots to hang out. They have a little concession stand to the right, up a flight of stairs....mmmm, ice cream.

I must have killed 40 wasps today (no exaggeration), in the house. I can't figure out where the nest is so far. They keep coming in a crack in the front door! Argh, one of the little buggers stung/bit me tonight.

Off to New Hampshire tomorrow. Should be a fun trip. Looking forward to a Canoe trip with the dogs. I only hope the house isn't a swarm of bees/wasps when we get back!

Have a great weekend all!

17Aug2005 - The heat, our next trip and our new car (new to us anyway).

The pic is of our 1999 Subaru Forester. So far it's working well and the dog's now have a place to call their own. We always kennel/crate the dogs whn we're driving so it's nice to have room for other people in the car now. It's AWD, which means that all four wheels are driven at the same time. Unlike 4 wheel drive it does not need to be switched on and does not have low gearing for real off roading (not something we'd be doing much of anyway). I'm sure by the time the snow comes we'll appreciate it.

The heat let off for the last few days, low 80's so far this week. I can live with that and Brodie and Kyla get much longer walks during the day. The other side to the heat was our electricity bill for the month of July, 125.00 ouch! Here's to hoping, the last half of August is a little cooler. In the winter the house is heated by gas so it might be expensive to heat as well. The previous owner of the house said that gas was cheaper than oil so we'll have to wait and see.

I've been spending alot of time watching the news about the new NHL. The new salary cap has meant that alot of players having been moving teams. I think fans may be a little dissapointed when they realize that this is not just a one time deal. Players will be moving every season with the new CBA (collective bargaining agreement). Not like the good old days when you fell in love with a team and the players on that team. I would have been hard pressed to love the Montreal Canadiens when I was a kid if Guy Lafleur, Yvon Cournoyer and Larry Robinson left at the end of the season because the team didn't have any cap room left to sign them. Oh well that's what happens when you guarantee rich guys that they will make money by putting a hockey team in a market where no one gives a hoot about hockey (Phoenix, Florida (2 teams), Nashville, Carolina, LA and Anaheim, Dallas..) What do you bet that ticket prices don't come down either? What's the expression, the rich get richer...

We're off to New Hampshire this weekend. Rayne is taking Friday off so we can take our time driving up there. It's about a 4 hour drive from here to the place we are staying in Chocorua. By the time we stop to water the dogs it will likely take 6+hours but I'm sure we'll see some interesting and beautiful spots along the way. We're both looking forward to getting away for a few days (ironic since that's all we've been doing for the last month and a half).

The White Mountain National Forest area has alot to do. There are a couple of skyrides and railroads, lots of hiking and plenty of places to swim, canoe or kayak. It should be a good time and we'll make sure to take pictures along the way. The Lazy Dog Inn sounds like the perfect place for the dogs too!

ciao

14Aug2005 - On Turning 40 and other musings

The picture is of a house in Old Wethersfield that is being renovated to it's previous grandeur. Not exactly in our neighbourhood but just a few minutes away. I'm not sure what the architectural style is but it sure is grand. I have started to post photo albums at the following link. Thanks to my cousin/friend Kirk for hosting the pics and knowing so much more about PC's than I do! You are a God (ok demi god)

http://www.bohica.net/photos/index.php?cat=10006

So far it includes a few wedding pictures and some pics of the house, dogs and the area around the house (some of which have been on previous pages here on the blog). I will make an album for Boston soon and plan to do the same when we head to New Hampshire next week. We're heading up to White Mountain National Forest to meet Ryan and Cristina (friends from San Antonio). It is home to Mt. Washington which is the highest Mountain peak on the East Coast. It's Kyla's 1st birthday on the 21st so we will celebrate it there. We're staying at a place called the Lazy Dog Inn, which is a B&B catering to dogs. The place is pretty cool! It includes doggie daycare and if we go out Brodie and Kyla will have their own space to hang out that is "climate controlled". In 2005 the Inn was voted "Most Pet Friendly B&B in North America", lucky dogs.

So today I enter my 40th year, 4 decades...Do I feel any different you ask? Not really. Do I have any regrets? Not really. Do I feel ultimately fulfilled? Yup. I've got a beautiful wife (kinda hot too), two great dogs, a wonderful place to live (actually 2 now) and my most pressing responsibility (at the moment) is to write a blog and water the dogs. BTW, thanks to all of you that sent cards for my birthday. I enjoyed them all (even the nasty ones).

Rayne is enjoying her job so far, in particular the people have been great. Last month when she went to Red Deer she had two fellows with her. One had been to Canada before (Toronto I believe but that's hardly Canada) and the other had never been at all. Not wanting her co-workers to think that TO and Red Deer were all that we had to offer, Rayne took a detour with the guys and went to Banff for dinner (since they had to fly out from Calgary the next morning). They were suitably impressed.

Another of her co-workers just attended a series of meetings in the Vancouver office (where Rayne and I used to work). When he came back he went straight to Rayne's desk, and asked Rayne if she was insane. Perplexed by the question and with a number of other staff members around the gent went on to explain that the office there (in Vancouver) was right on the ocean and in fact the view was of the False Creek yacht club. Rayne laughed as I suspect the others did too and she has been directing the staff to a Vancouver website that has some very nice pics on it (although I have taken some of the same places that I think are better, what me a Leo with ego?) here is the link:

http://www.seestanleypark.com/oursites/oursites.htm

On a side note. There was a fellow in Rayne's office recently that came from another part of the States. His first comment about the area was............the insane drivers. I feel somewhat vindicated given that other people feel the same way!

Brodie and Kyla bought me birthday presents, go figure. I'm not sure exactly where they got the cash or the wherewithal but I am glad to say they got me a "Day of Relaxation". The contents included Harrry Potter's 4th book (and for all the the 40+ year olds out there if you haven't read one of the books you should, they are fantastic), a gift certificate at the golf course across the street, a Godiva chocolate bar (who says chocolate is just for women) and a 1/2 hour massage at the "SPA" (never been to a spa). Looking forward to the day!

The weather here is not just a sidebar for the salon or barbershop. Last year they had a total of 9 days of 90f+ for the entire summer. This year they have had 9 days so far (90f+) in August (yes it's the 14th) and 25 days since solstice. In my books that's a cooker. Lo0oking forward to fall when they have all those pretty colours (or colors, in American) and some temperatures that are reasonable. Yesterday it was 98f with humidity of 60-75% (which means it feels like 108+), the man who invented air conditioning really should be in some kind of hall of fame.

ciao for now

Kevin and Rayne

10Aug05 - Boston is cool!

We took a trip to Boston on the weekend. Loaded up the dogs and drove for a little less than 2 hours to get there. We had a slighlty ill fated adventure when we tried to find Fenway Park (home of the world champion Red Sox....as long as the Yankees lose I'm happy!). We ended up in an area called Charlsetown that was very nice and had a great park for the dogs. While we were there we met another Westie (rescue dog, can you believe that!) and asked how to get to town. The folks were very obliging and told us to simply cross the bridge (that was right in front of us), wish we had met them before spending $6.00 on a map....

The picture here is of Paul Revere's house. He was the fellow that said " The British are coming, the British are coming". Interesting the Bostonians hold him in such "reverence"......hmmmm "A feeling of profound awe and respect and often love; veneration".......

We followed red brick path called the "Freedom Trail" for hours, winding the streets of the North End of Boston. Luckily the temperature was only in the mid 80's so Brodie and Kyla were OK. Unfortunately, like so many other cities I have visited in the US, grass is at a premium so getting a spot for the dogs to "go" was key.

We stopped at Cheers for lunch but Norm wasn't there. They actually have 2 Cheers restaurant/bars now. We went to the fake one....but the pups could sit on the deck as we ate lunch. They were great and garnered more than their fair share of attention from the passing throngs as we chowed down on our pub fare.

I am still looking for a site to host a decent photo album (for free of course). Once I figure it out I will post a link on the blog so those of you who would rather look at pictures than read my drivel can enjoy the images!

Boston was a cross between New York and Vancouver. We walked down to the waterfront where there was a great indoor skating rink (no seats), a baseball diamond, a botchi (field/court....Italian Lawn bowling thing) and a swimming pool. It was right below a cemetery that had grave stones from the 16th century. Beautiful and starnge at the same time.

Of course in Boston there are inumerous old Irish Pubs. Now in the days past (when I could still drink beer), that would have been reason enough to visit Boston! Instead now I am content to look at great buildings and enjoy the history of a place without imbibing (but I must say as a hockey loving Canadian boy........I miss BEER!)

The one annoying thing that was prevalent in Boston were the pedestrians! Several times we were stopped at a crosswalk waiting for a signal when a whole group of people on the other side of the street would just walk across, regardless of oncoming traffic! They were like sheep. If one was crossing then others would follow. This happened all over the city. I was stunned at how disrespectful the pedestrians were to the plight of the drivers in a city where just driving was a chore.

That's it for now folks. We are hoping to make it to Springfield, MA (ssachusetts...or something like that) soon and visit the Basketball hall of fame. I bet most Americans (or Canadians for that matter) don't know that Dr. James Naismith was born in Canada (he invented basketball). Quite an intruiging fellow, apparently he invented the game because he was tasked to come up with "an indoor game that would be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play in the winter by artificial light." that could be used for training in between baseball and football seasons. Who knew...

Ciao All

05August2005
Mushrooms, Prices and other oddities
(the picture is from Goodwin Park looking at the 2nd hole of the Goodwin Park golf course)

Well my daily routine so far is to get up at 7:00, take the dogs for a walk to Goodwin Park (across the street and north about a block), return to the house, take Rayne to work, make coffee and sit out on the back deck with the dogs for a few minutes.

Oddly almost every morning I have to walk the back yard with the dogs and pick between 5-10, 2-5 inch mushrooms and dispose of them. I say oddly because we're in the yard every day and it amazes me that a mushroom can grow so large overnight. No sign of them the day before but the next day "poof" and they're everywhere....

Prices
Gas here is supposedly expensive. The price is 2.35 for a US gallon, equivalent to 61c a liter US (or 71c/liter Canadian) that's cheap compared to Vancouver where we were getting close to 1.00/liter.

There are a number of grocery stores here that compete with each other. Each week we receive a bundle of flyers (Thursday) from the local newspaper (we don't get the paper just the flyers) with all of the grocery store flyers. Here's a list of some of the sale prices:

• Eggs 18 large - .99
• Rib Steak - 4.99/lb
• King Crab Legs - 7.99/lb (this is way cheaper than home and they have to bring them from Alaska!), must buy a 2lb bag, oh darn!
• Red Seedless Grapes - .99/lb
• Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast - 1.99/lb (super cheap here)
• Fresh Peaches - .99/lb (from Georgia I expect)
  
  
• 30 pack of Beer - 11.99 (at 40c a piece it's good thing I can't drink it anymore)
• 12 good beer - 8.99 (Molson Golden)
• 12 fancy beer - 11.99 (Heineken)
  The preceding beer section was for my boys at home that think it might be expensive to fly here (think of all the money you'll save on beer!)

Now not all things are that inexpensive here. Rayne has yet to find a produce store anywhere near as cheap as the one she went to on Broadway. Things like peppers can be expensive. As well a phone call from a payphone will cost you 50c.

I stopped at the local gas station on my bike to put some air in the tires. I went to grab the hose and imagine my surprise when the air compressor had a coin slot for 75c in it! There was a guy there that saw my surprise and said he was from New York and it was only 25c there. I told him I was from Canada and it was free there adding "it's just air for Gods sake". He laughed and went on his way. Luckily there is a repair shop down the street that let me use their air for free.....

BTW, happy birthday to my sis Vonny and buddy John (happy 40th Johnny!)

ciao for now

Kevin

The Pictures are Coming!
Well I finally figured out how to post a picture. Here is a pic of the house we are living in. It's a 2 bedroom rancher with a full basement (no doors though it's below ground). We have use of one half of the garage at the back for our new Subaru.

We're still getting settled and trying to figure out where everything is (or can be acquired). We realize just how spoiled we were in Vancouver when it comes to food. The local grocery stores are great with the exception of a few items that we didn't realize may be specialty items, namely chorizo sausage and tzatziki sauce.

We have eaten out at a few restaurants since we have been here. Unfortunately so far there is nothing to write home (or even in a blog) about. The portions are always huge but I'd rather be a gourmet than a gourmand....Oh well I'm sure we'll find a few diamonds in the rough at some point.

The temperature has been a little crazy lately. We've had several days of temperatures in the 90's (32-35 celsius) with high humidity. It's been rough on the dogs but we have discovered a new favourite toy! I bought a hose and spray nozzle and the dogs love it. Kyla wasn't so sure at first, it took here a few days of watching Brodie running around barking and trying to bite the stream of cold water to get going but now they both just go crazy. In fact if I stop the spray they both sit in front of me and bark until I start again. Pretty hilarious.

We took a drive on the weekend to a couple of parks to find a place to take Kyla swimming. The first place was a pond (think small lake) very much like Thetis lake in Victoria. It was pretty busy but we managed to get Kyla a couple of dips, she really likes to swim. Brodie wouldn't go in so we went to find another spot where we could wade in and try to coax him in too. The second park was right on the Connecticut river south of Hartford in an area known as East Haddam. There were some very nice old houses and churches in the their historic district on the way to the park. We hiked down a pathway to the river and had a nice picnic lunch but there really was no place to wade into the river.

ciao for now...

01Aug05 - Bugs, Driving & Hey Mom you can tell your friends "Your son went to Yale"

Well we've been here for a month now. In that time we have unpacked, bought a car, washer and dryer, dehumidifier and various other items needed in a house but not in a condo (eg.hose that Brodie thinks is a toy!). I thought I'd give everyone a few impressions of some differences between Connecticut and home.

Bugs - the first night we arrived Rayne was wondering what all the flashes in the bushes were. It was dark when we arrived and at first she thought they may be distant fireworks. They turned out to be massive numbers of fireflies (confirmed the next day when walking past the pond on the golf course). Very cool indeed to have natural Christmas lights blinking all night!

So far we have seen a number of bug species that we don't have to think about at home. I pulled a tick off of Brodie the second night we were here. We have seen dragon flies that have sails like a chinese junk. I have destroyed 3 wasps nests either on the house or in the yard (regardless I have killed an average of 3 a day inside the house, even though we have screens).

Rayne has had a couple of mysterious bites on here feet that have resulted in pretty significant swelling and blistering at the site. As well we have both had a few mosquito bites.


Driving is not for the faint of heart - the speed limit here is merely a suggestion. On the major highways the speed limit is 65mph. Exits and entrances to the freeways are on both sides (left and right) and so warrant attention ALL the time. If you are going to enter a freeway via a ramp you had best be doing the speed limit when you exit the ramp and do not expect anyone to move for you (they won't). A distance of 5 feet between vehicles is acceptable.

In all honesty I have seen more excessive speeding here in a month than I have seen in BC is 5 years and that includes the Coquihalla! I guess that alot of people commute long distances to and from work and justify their speeding thusly. The other day there was an 18 car pile up, 4 dead and dozens injured (included a bus and a dump truck).

There are some weird rules in Connecticut with respect to driving. It used to be against the law to turn right on any red light. Now it is just illegal when there is a sign that says no right turn on red....In many places each lane has a light of its own. If there are two lanes each one will have a light. Seems a waste to me. Arrows are often used instead of normal lamps. Arrows can be used to tell the driver to go straight, right or left or any combination of those. I found this very confusing at first. Many traffic lights are right above you when you stop at the intersection (instead) of across the street so you have a better field of view.

Roadkill is a daily occurence. I'm not sure why it is so prevelant here (I wonder if our wildlife has a healthier respect for the automobile??). The things we see most often are possums, unfortunately I've yet to see one living.

On the bright side we are very close to all the major freeways without being bothered by the noise! We are essentially in the middle of the state so getting around is quite easy. The commute to Rayne's work takes about 12-15 minutes.

Our first Road Trip - A couple of weeks back we decided to take a trip to New Haven (on the coast). We packed the dogs into the Forester and headed down the I-91. We arrived at New Haven about 45 minutes later and stopped for a bit of coffee and a bite to eat in a great little spot beside Yale University. After that we took the dogs for a walk through the campus. The first thing you notice about Yale is how old the buildings are. The university was established as a college in 1701 and moved to New Haven in 1718. Many of the building date back to the late 1700's and early 1800's. It became Yale University in 1887.

It was pretty awe inspiring to be walking around a campus that had been established for higher learning before Canada became a country. Some of the more famous alumni include Samuel Morse (of morse code fame), Benjamin Spock (not the Star Trek one), Jodie Foster (actress), Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Vincent Price, Oliver Stone.......hmmm no wonder they have produced a few presidents (including 2 Bushes, a Clinton, one Gerald Ford and a fellow named Taft. The acting department must be bang on!

Yale students invented the Frisbee by tossing around empty pie tins from the Frisbee Pie Company.....wonder if the pie company is still around.

Brodie and Kyla enjoyed the grounds too. I wanted to buy a t-shirt that said "My dog went at YALE" but alas there were none to be found.