Back in New England

And here we are---
Back again with a posting after 2 months.  Lots of pictures and connections since May , but we are going to share some pictures of our family visits first.
The picture above is of Gary, Scott, and Alison at a family event in June.

We had a great visit with Scott, Lucas, and Lilly at the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn, New Hampshire.
Massabesic Audubon

What a great place for a hike. Scott had packed everything the kids might need plus a great lunch.
Jan borrowed Lilly and Lucas's hat for a while.
Lookin' good!
Some great trails at the Audubon--just east of Manchester, NH off Route 101.  Also a great center with live animals that adults and kids both loved.

At Lucas and Lilly's house, Lady Blue enjoys becoming an art center. Below is a video link to Lucas's piano recital. Great job Lucas. Note that Lucas plays the upper notes on this piece and his wonderful teacher plays the lower notes and accompaniment.
The following link is a video of Lucas at his recital.

Lucas Piano Recital May 2019

Lilly loves the markers and stickers for her creations.

Had a chance to go to lunch with Sean at Walters Basin restaurant on Route 3 in Holderness, New Hampshire on Little Squam Lake.

Right at the bridge . Places to tie up for those who stop by while on the lake.

A beautiful June day and notice all the traffic on the lake!
The restaurant was quiet and we had a wonderful table view.
Check out this link to the restaurant website.
Gotta love the name Basshole Pub too!
If you wait a while the pictures on the website should change.
Walters Basin Restaurant and Pub

Also had a chance to visit with Marsha and Mark at Hammonasset Beach State Park. Just June and the beach was very well attended on a week day.  The campground, where we stayed, was also quite busy. Had a great chance to see the new additions to Mark and Marsha's home.

A rainy Father's Day at White Lake State Park in Tamworth, New Hampshire, but everyone enjoyed some great food and visiting. Did not enjoy the abundant wealth of mosquitos though.

Also enjoyed a great visit with Gary, Linda, and Emilie. Oysters, shrimp, and steak--on the grill!
Emilie always has that great smile!!

Sean and Bailey took us to the Canoe Restaurant and Tavern in Center Harbor, New Hampshire.  The drink that Bailey is holding was, we think, called Empress? , a kind of martini.
The link will take you to the Canoe website. If you click on the picture on the website, it will enlarge. Then clicking on that picture will give you 4 pictures of the restaurant.
Website for Canoe Restaurant

Jan and I have enjoyed staying at the Hancock National Forest Campground in Lincoln , New Hampshire; on the Kancamagus Trail. Right across the street is the Lincoln Woods with all kinds of trails and links to trails , all over the Presidential Range. The following link takes you to our video on YouTube of a short section of trail
Lincoln Woods Trail video

From the Osseo Trail link, you can see that there are many possibilities. We saw a number of hikers with full packs heading in for a few nights on the trails.
The following link is a video of part of our hike .
Another section of the Lincoln Woods Trail

Over the 4th of July, we were able to get a walk in site at Dolly Copp National Forest Campground in Gorham, New Hampshire--off Route 16.  We were able to have a nice hike on the Great Gulf Link Trail. A little video shows a swimming hole section of the river.

On the Great Gulf Link Trail

The campground is still being renovated. It is a 4 year project that makes some very big changes.  When done, the campground will have mostly paved roads, a large number of sites with electric and water hookups. There are new bathrooms and a shower facility--previously it was mostly vault toilets and no showers. There is also a dump station that will be a new addition.

We were treated to a show of a large number of moths that seemed to really enjoy the screens and posting boards at the office.
This one can look like a leaf at a distance.

We agreed that we would probably never see this one if it was on the bark of a tree instead of the screen.

There were a large number of Luna moths. According to the following link, the adults only last for about a week, and humans are their worst enemy.
Luna moth article

This one on the posting board blends in easily.  From a distance the color patterns could suggest head and eyes for a larger insect--maybe scare away predators.

This one was on the office door at Walnut Grove Campground(where we stay for a few weeks in Maine). So unusual with the yellow, fuzzy colors and the pink and white.

This is a new sculpture placed at Dolly Copp Campground. Something of a tribute to the local logging history.The little sign tells everyone to stay off the sculpture.  Not sure how that is going to work

A little share time for some units at Dolly Copp. This was for one person. The tab trailer has a good campers kitchen that opens on the back. He found an easy-up that also had a screened enclosure to keep out the bugs when needed. He was pretty comfortable.

There were at least two of these Toyota Tacoma based motorhomes at Dolly Copp.  We are amazed to see so many of these all across the country. Not sure of this one, but the other one that looked similar was an early 1990's model.  They still run great.

This was unique.  The woman from this trailer was camping with another unit.  The paint and window scheme evokes the trailers of traveling European Gypsies.  There was an overhang on the back that created a bit of a porch feel.

This was a unique example of tent that fits right into the bed of a pickup truck. In this case a short bed pickup.
The following link shows an example
Rightline Tents

We did not get a name on this truck tent, but it was quite fascinating. The tent sits on a platform that, when closed, is about as high as the truck roofline. The ladder is going up to a large door on the driver's side.  The set up allowed the gentleman who had this unit to store his gear, including a bicycle, below the tent. He had full use of the bed of the truck while the tent was up or down. It set up very quickly. We had heavy rain while this unit was here, and they showed no signs of water problems. 

Lady blue liked her view of The Imp mountain.

We also had a great visit with Alison and Keith! This is the kitchen of their new home that they have been building for two years now--from clearing and leveling the site to now finishing an approximately 100 foot long deck on two sides.

The view from the road of the deck and preparations for the roof over the deck.  The following link shows a video of the deck work.

Progress on Alison and Keith's deck

And in between all these visits, Jan and Bruce had a chance to visit an old favorite.  Bayley's Lobster Pound--(not Bayley's Restaurant)at Pine Point in Scarborough, Maine. Jan's parents found this lobster pound when they made many trips to the area. The lobster rolls are still made the same way.  Now there is also this great wharf-restaurant-bar addition. Not easy to find a seat in the busy season, but we picked a good time and had the best Maine steamers and a glass of wine.
Webpage for Bayley's Lobster Pound
The restaurant section is called The Bait Shed. The following is a link to that webpage.  Worth taking a look just to see a seagull's view of Pine Point
Webpage for the Bait Shed