Winging it in...Boston!

This one time, at band camp…

This week is kind of a blog of two halves- I have been away with the kids from school all week, which means the majority of my waking time was concentrated on them- actually the entirety of my waking time and 90% of my sleeping time has been all about them this week, as I’m sure anyone who has taken kids on camp can attest to. I do have to say that this was possibly one of the best camps I have ever been on, in terms of organization, resources, activities and counselors looking after the children. Also, and quite possibly the highlight for me was the food! It was awesome and I would have loved to brought the kitchen staff home with me- this was better than a lot of food I actually pay to eat, and I was most disappointed to wake up on Saturday morning in my own bed, but without the waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, breakfast potato, scrambled egg, French toast and maple syrup, being laid out on the dining room table.

The camp was just outside of Peterborough, New Hampshire and thus very snowy. In fact we woke up on Wednesday morning to enough snow to bury a picnic bench and more to come for the next 5 hours. It did finally stop but not before it was about 4ft deep. Needless to say the kids loved it! They spent the day building quinzhees, using a snow cutting machine to create mazes with vertical walls and cross country skiing. They even found time to create the biggest snowman known to man- it was 10ft tall, and required a set of snow steps (they took this project very seriously) in order to enable them to finally reach the top. They had already exhausted the possibility of climbing on the body as they constructed it, and I think it only stopped at 10ft as they realized they weren’t strong enough to carry any more snow higher than its head.

Making the most of the weather (we did realize that NH in February was going to be snowy) meant Tuesday saw an all day hike (and I do mean all day!) when snow shoes came in handy, walking across frozen lakes and rivers, and building camp fires in the snow to make lunch- you gotta love s’mores in the middle of the day! Thursday was a high ropes course, zip lining and zap lining, and rope bridges, again all in the snow, and an afternoon of ice fishing! The joys of having a frozen lake to drill into. I must admit to having dipped out on the ice fishing, and volunteering to run the inside part of the science workshop. Of course all the outside activities and snow did mean that the best part of the night was spent running back and forth to the drying rooms trying to get the kids clothes ready for the next day…

Again, as anyone who has been on these trips can attest to Friday means repacking suitcases and clearing out cabins. I could now work in REI on a Saturday having rolled about 30 sleeping bags, and after clearing out the girls’ shower block I could open my own branch of Bed, Bath and Beyond! The bus journey home flew by, I’d love to say this was because the kids were so good- but actually it was because I slept for half of it!

Saturday- and the weekend that I thought was mine to play with disappeared in the blink of an eye. I was up bright and early- not because I wanted to be, but because the alarm clock woke me up and I had to be out for a hair appointment. Why is it that hairdresser inches and always three times bigger than regular inches? My hairdresser is great and my hair is exactly the same as always, even if I did refuse to let him touch my bangs. I had great plans for the afternoon, shopping, new furniture, laundry, maybe catch a movie and catch up on some of the work I needed to do having been away all week and away from an internet connection (a week with no Facebook, and a dubious cell phone signal! What is the world coming to and how did we cope before smartphones?) No- really it was highly important work. Anyway, having started the laundry off I promptly fell asleep and a good three hours of my life disappeared.

Luckily that just meant that games night was a little closer! Games night has been in my diary for a while- but due to people having other commitments has been moved numerous times… But “Whose in the Bag” and “Rapidough” proved that anticipation need not dull an event (or that may have been the alcohol?) Anyway, a great evening was had, and I think the girls proved that dough is not actually needed to make a good rapidough model- in fact we found it quite hindered our progress.

Today has been random drive day- thanks to Miss. Yeardley- which means I have eaten lunch in a pub with Laura Ashley curtains, a moving Psycho impersonation on the signboard (I think he was meant to be ringing a bell) and due to the outing from the Old Peoples’ Home opposite I think we were the youngest people to be eating in the pub by about 40 years. I knew I should have gotten those grey streaks yesterday after all. However, on the way back from Danvers we made an impromptu stop at a British Store in Peabody! Having not been back to the UK for nearly two years now I was a little amazed at all the exciting produce; Crème Eggs in bar form, who knew? I did sound a little “special” as I just stood there reading names of products I had even forgotten existed, and when was the last time anyone got excited by a packet of Ariel washing powder? I do now have Jelly Babies, Munchies, Yorkie bars, hula hoops (one packet less that I originally purchased) and my very own (total rip off) Cadbury Buttons Easter egg. The box says 99p, but I handed over $5.00 hard earned dollars for it. It will be eaten very slowly and savored in every bite!

Winging it in...Boston!

The British are coming…

I was saving this quote for the week that I actually managed to complete the Freedom Trail, but the weather this weekend was sunny, and if you could stay out of the wind it was very pleasant to be outside. Actually, after four days in a car, I would have been happy to be outside regardless of the weather, but this was an added bonus, and meant I avoided the gym and hit the sidewalks for a run.

Initially I was planning on heading up towards the Public Garden, round the Frog Pond in Boston Common and back, but having finished the intended route I found myself at the start of the Freedom Trail and with a guide filling in the historical details I found decided to wander along a small part of the red line and head up to the Old North Church and the statue of Paul Revere.
The Public Garden was created in 1859 and is 24 acres of park in the middle of the Back Bay area of Boston. In the summer it has the Swan Boats, apparently in operation since 1877, so I will head back after April and try them out. It is also famous for the bronze statues of Mrs. Mallard and her Eight Ducklings, from the 1941 Children’s book “Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McClosky- yes I have the book and it is a very cute story.

The Frog Pond in Boston Common is one of my favorite places in the summer, and in the winter becomes an ice skating park. If I have time next week I may head down there for a short skate. I don’t think there actually are any frogs in there in the summer now, but it does have a two tiered Fountain installed nearby based on the one created for the 1855 Paris Exposition.
Opposite Boston Common- and right where the guide happened to be placed for the Freedom Trail is the Massachusetts State House. Designed by Charles Bullfinch in 1795 its elegance, grandeur and guilt dome are all testament to the hopeful, headstrong spirit of a newly independent America. Then again John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere all played a part in its building so one shouldn’t be surprised by its determination to be noticed and dominate the skyline here. There are plenty more architectural features of note, but I feel at this point you might need a photo, or a subscription to architecture monthly to appreciate the details. I will however point out the links to JFK and Mary Dyer, and let you do your own research if you are so inclined!

The Old North Church is the oldest in Boston; built in 1723 it is a replica of St. Andrew’s by the Wardrobe in Blackfriars, London. It has a 191 foot steeple and the original colonial weathervane. However, it secured its place in Boston history by reportedly being the church in which sexton Robert Newman hung two lanterns side by side on April 18, 1775 to signal the movements of the British troops from Boston Common. (One if by land, two if by sea.) Back to Paul Revere, who has a statue outside the church, it was on this same night that he and fellow patriot William Dawes made their famous ride to Lexington to warn the American troops that the British were marching… (I’ll expand plenty more on this story in the following weeks- and just wait until I get to Bunker Hill, or the Boston Massacre! I love this city for all its history.) As it turned out, both Revere and Dawes were detained by still managed to spread their warnings. Anyway, I’m sure we all know how this story ends… and July 4th has THE BEST fireworks! There is however, a little speculation that it was different church, also called Old North, which was the one in which the lantern burned, this theory is possibly supported by the fact that irate British supporters burned it for firewood later in 1776.

Either way, the Old North Church deserves a mention just because it houses bricks from a prison in Boston, England where 12 Pilgrims were incarcerated before leaving for the New World, four cherubim states looted from a French ship, the oldest working public clock in an American public building (made in 1726), it holds the body of John Pitcairn (British Major, Bunker Hill, enough said for today) who should have been buried in Westminster Abbey but never quite got there, and the eight bells in the belfry were intended to be the first American made bells used in the British Empire, but now toll the death of every US President, having never quite made it out of Boston.

I feel this week has been quite a history tour! So I will stop bombarding you with facts and hang up my tweed jacket, dust the chalk of the suede elbow patches and leave the rest of my sightseeing for next week, and the next installment of the Freedom trail.

Coast to Coast! In Brief…

Ch ch ch changes…

Ok- today has been all about the change! Two time zones, six states and 36 degrees! I started in South Dakota this morning with a temperature of 3F (not that it warmed up at all through the frozen white expanses of Minnesota) and finished the day in Cleveland, Ohio with highs of 39F (and that was at 11.00pm) 15 hours of driving and 900 (give or take) miles covered, leaves a short day of 630 into Boston tomorrow. (In case you were interested the other states were Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin) I am making good progress at ticking off the states I have visited. I’m not quite up to all 52 yet, and I’m seeing a few weekends with some odd flights coming up- farm visit to Nebraska anyone? But I think this is a new travel target. I have 13 more to go, and I’m off to New Hampshire tomorrow- so 40 down by the end of the week…

I have been surprised at how hard the driving has been! Snow, and ice do that I guess- who knew! Much as I like being alive I am stupidly stubborn (again, who knew)- why do I refuse to listen when people tell me I have ridiculous ideas? I have to stop thinking I know best! This has been a great road trip, and time constraints were the main idea behind the rapidity of the driving, but in all honesty if I could have taken a few more days, and done a few less miles a day I would have gotten more out of it. There were a few place that I think I would have liked to have stopped, or made a slight detour to see, but I didn’t want to add any more time to what was already a 14 hour day of driving. It is a shame as I can’t see myself doing this trip again and I do feel I have missed out on a couple of things.

So, the last part of the trip into Boston was supposed to be a mere 650 miles and I was thinking it would be an easy and short day, hence the fact I left an Lorain, Ohio an hour later than I had started out every other day. I was still out of the hotel by 7.00am (it had been an interesting experience finding somewhere to stay the night before. Having arrived at where I thought the hotel was at 10.58pm I was somewhat shocked to discover it no longer exists, which meant it was 11.01pm by the time I had gotten next door to enquire after a room, turns out all the motels in Lorain only operate a front desk between 7.00am and 11.00pm.) Anyway, having stayed in an interesting motel, I was happy to leave at 7.00am and even happier to find an IHOP for breakfast. The 7 police cruisers in the parking lot and 15 officers seated in the restaurant also confirmed that, not only do they drink a lot of coffee and eat a lot of fast food (maybe I have found my calling and need a career change?) but that I was fairly safe to crank up the cruise control and knock an extra few miles an hour off the total trip time… Indiana provided the last 75mph stretch of road and it was all downhill from there, 70mph in Ohio, and eventually dropping to 55 mph in New York State and into Massachusetts.

The final day of the trip was very much about getting home, and 650 miles has never seemed to take so long. Despite the fact it was a much shorter day than previously the timing didn’t reflect that. It was still a good 11 hours of driving. Then again the roads got busy and the states get smaller and more packed together as you approach the Eastern Seaboard, and the city densities and speed limits reflect that. There was a little umming and ahhing over whether to take a detour to see Niagara Falls, but in the end the extra hour or so that it would add to the journey seemed too much. Possibly a weekend trip one spare weekend soon… I was also tempted with Philadelphia and the Liberty Bell, but again the detour was just too far, but I do have friends who live there, so it is still on the list of things to do and places to go…

The list does seem to keep growing, and the more I see and do here I can understand why. I have seen some amazing scenery on this trip, flowing water turned to icicles down rock faces, snow covered mountains, a frozen Mississippi River, and the Great Lakes, I have gone past some interesting named locations, Phil SD, Bryan MN and Gary ID to name a few- and yes they are all towns not people, I have stopped in Rapid City, and stayed in Lorain, and I would love to know what Schenectady, and Poughkeepsie (of “Friends” fame) are really like.

So, having gotten on the 1-90 in Seattle, it was the I-90 that dropped me three miles from my apartment in Boston. It still amazes me that one road can cross an entire country the size of America. What amazes me more is the fact that I have driven it, and with a slight and very muddy detour in Minnesota, I have traveled the entire width of America, coast to coast (Pacific to Atlantic) on one very long road.

Now to plan the next trip…

Coast to Coast! In Brief…

Sometimes the snow comes down in June…

But given the weather conditions today, I think it will still be here in June!

Anyway, right to the start of my very busy week. The weekend saw a flight to Vancouver and the usual airport melodramas I tend to create. I very nearly didn’t get on the first flight, as United- as ever- had overbooked it and needed volunteers to fly at 4.00pm. This would have meant missing my connection in Chicago- but given that they were offering first class tickets on the later flight, meal vouchers in the meantime, and two first class domestic flights to be taken at a later date I was very tempted. However, after the staff had played about with seating assignments I was upgraded and enjoyed a very comfortable on time flight.
Vancouver was amazing and Olympic fever and Team Canada is everywhere. So much so that even I was suckered in and spent a great afternoon wandering around the attractions. I have seen the Olympic flame, spied on the skiing events at Cypress Mountain through the window and generally been impressed at how busy it is and how well everything is running. I am also totally shocked at how much has changed in Vancouver in the six weeks I have been away! New signs have appeared, buildings have been repainted, streets have been altered and everything has a shiny new feeling! Including the people who are all walking around in Olympic Volunteer outfits! I decided not to join the 2 hour long queue to get into the store! I have to say, I am really glad I got to go back and enjoy the feeling of being a part of it all. I’m now looking forward to London 2012 to see how they do it all!
I did manage to get a bit of skiing in while I was up there, Grouse was a little disappointing and icy rather than snowy. But again they were fully into the Olympic spirit, with NBC broadcasting from the lodge 24 hours a day during the games. It was nice to get a chance to ski up there again; I had started to miss my weekly trips out.
Tuesday saw the start of the mammoth road trip. I have to say it was incredibly successful. 820 miles, three states and a car imported! The car was a lot easier than I had imagined it would be. I remember all too clearly the hassle of exporting the car and trying to get it all registered in Canada, and I had heard horror stories about how much harder it was to bring a previously US registered car back again… I was wrong. It was easy. A few pieces of paper later- the biggest problem being a printer that was jammed, and it all good to go… next stop Bozeman Montana!
The driving was a lot harder than I remember it being on the way up, and I do put a lot of that down to the weather. Snow, ice, curvy roads and sharp mountain passes do not make for easy driving and as it got darker it got harder. I was very glad to get through Washington, much as I love Seattle I’m glad I didn’t stop, into Idaho and beyond. While the scenery in Idaho can be fairly amazing I’m not sure exactly how one is supposed to react to a state whose biggest claim to fame is that it produces potatoes! License plate tag lines for the different states keep me hugely entertained on journeys such as these, and honestly, the potato state doesn’t really rank that high!
The driving today was a bit hit and miss- not literally! It had the mountain passes, the snow, the ice, the wind and the mud! Having taken a detour off the I-90, it did save about an hour- I found myself on a single carriageway road that took a lot of farm traffic. I was on this road for about 240 miles, and when I finally arrived at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota I took one look at my car and realized that despite the fact the numbers on my license plate are raised by ¼ inch and it is held in a frame it was impossible to tell if I had one or not! I have never seen so much dirt. Even 15 minutes in a car wash didn’t get it clean!
The surprising historical site today was on the way from Montana to Wyoming- and the Battle of Little Bighorn suddenly started to appear on the signs. I should really have know how close this was, and a four minute detour to the entrance of the national park was in order…
Mount Rushmore would be great in the summer. It is kind of how I imagine 1960s/ 1970s America to have been. All the weird little side attractions that are a little kooky. The Mystery Cosmos attraction for example. I still have no idea what it was- it was closed- but then I don't really think the owner has any idea either until he opens for the season, I'm not even sure you are meant to know what it was when you leave, but you get the general idea.Admittedly I wasn’t expecting Keystone, SD to be the most jumping place in mid February, but it was actually quite sad to be driving in and to see everywhere, and I mean everywhere- hotels, motels, the gas station, the gift store, cafes etc closed for the season. Mount Rushmore does have a lot of supplementary attractions and geological features to visit- if they are open, and I would imagine in the summer it would be fantastic for a few days exploring and trekking. I can always come back I guess- I did have to buy a year long season pass in order to get to the National Park and see the heads in the Mountain. (Yes, the tourist center was closed, yes, the walking tour was closed, yes, even the guided headset kiosk was closed!) I would usually go in for a long elaborate history lesson here, but I’m aware of all the details I’m trying to pack in so I’ll keep it short and say: Mount Rushmore is a granite sculpture by Gutzon Borglum, located within the United States Presidential Memorial that represents the first 150 years of the history of the United States of America with 60-foot sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. If you want to see anything else http://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm
I am now in Sioux Falls, SD which is not far from DeSmet, home of Laura Ingells Wilder… South Dakota has a lot more to offer than I originally thought. Again, a case of if only I had more time this would make a great meandering road trip- although I don’t think I would have stopped at the Fishing Museum in Livingstone!
1700 miles down and let’s see where I end up tomorrow…

Winging it in...Boston!

You take football down here real serious

After a totally typical CMP driving experience recently I don’t feel I can let this week go by without a mention of the “Big Dig”. I have of course seen pretty much all of the underground tunnels that Boston now has to offer, and I of course meant to see none! I was as ever lost!
The Big Dig is the unofficial name of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, it was intended to reroute the main Interstate that ran through Boston underneath the city in a 3.5 mile tunne, project and thus alleviate a lot of traffic problems, and create a whole new green space in the area vacated by the old elevated highway. Initially, the plan was also to include a rail connection between Boston's two major train terminals. Started in 1985 the project officially concluded on December 31, 2007, after disagreements between the city and contractors.
The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the U.S. (Another Boston claim to fame then!) Although the project was estimated in 1985 at $2.8 billion it has eventually, or so I’m told cost a grand total of $15 billion. I have no idea what traffic was like in 1985, but I can categorically state that it is shocking in 2010! Then again that may all be cause be me getting stuck and wanting to turn around in the tunnels. You also have to pay a $3.50 toll to use the system as you come from North Boston, I think I have single handedly manage to pay back a good $50.00 on one “sightseeing” tour of the city.
This weekend I was thinking of delving into the world of Christian Science. Originally built in 1894 and then developed further in a Renaissance Revival style the Christian Science center kind of stands out among the taller tower buildings of commercial Boston. The Mary Baker Eddy Library also stands in the square as does the Mapparium. These are all things I have seen before, but all things that I felt deserved further contemplation- especially as I have walked past them so often (Whole Foods is on the far side of the square- as way of explanation). The red granite reflecting pool was empty today- I usually like the never ending quality to it- and despite the constantly freezing temperature it does usually contain water.
I did unfortunately miss out on a visit to the giant stained glass map today- as tour times and opening times didn’t coincide with my admitted lazy timings for the day. Another thing to add to the list of places I must return to.
And finally, in reference to the quote at the top of the page it was Super Bowl Sunday, a near religious experience in itself here! I have eaten far too much potato salad, way too many chicken wings and inhaled some great brownies! It was a surprising quick game and took only about 3 hours- which for football is good. (And yes I know it is only made up of 15 minute quarters…) “The Who” played the half time show, and I have to say, who was the drummer?