New England and the Maritimes


We landed in Manchester, NH, on 15 July, whereupon we immediately set out for Allis State Park
in north-central Vermont to spend the first few days with Poollll and his brood.

Next we took off through northern New Hampshire (so Ethel could see that, yes, there ARE real mountains
back East :) and drove through to Bah Hahbah, Maine, to spend a soggy night (but bodacious good food, BTW).
While in Bah Hahbah, we spent ridiculous amounts of money on stuff that we had shipped elsewhere to
folks who might not even like it, but WE liked it, and we thought that THEY'D like it, so I hope they do.

Next stop was St. John, New Brunswick, where we made a meeting and stayed in a hotel that didn't meet
expectations - but we found out that there *is* good Italian food in the Maritime Provinces. While in New
Brunswick, we stopped at the Cape Enrage Lighthouse where Ethel gorged herself sick on rhubarb crisp.

Next across the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island, which is where I would live if Fidelity woul
let me (bossman, please take note). PEI is filled with pasty-looking pleasant people who talk very funny and don't
seem to ever leave the island, as far as *I* can tell. We stayed at the KOA in Cavendish, and Ethel just fell in love
with the place (editor's note: if you think that I'm going to mention here that *I* was in PEI in 2000, and that I came
home and told KimPuckett how great it was and how much she'd love it, and that my declarations were met with
blank stares, then you don't know me very well. Nope. You won't hear a peep out of me.

Then we drove long and hard to stop in Saco, ME, where it's amazing how the humans can be so well-filled-out while
the 'skeeters are draining them dry.

The next morning was Portsmouth, where we visited the USS Albacore and played "Hunt for Red October".

Then back to Manchester and Merrimack, where we toured Fidelity's campus, sweated a lot, and caught a plane in
time to sit on the runway for a long time so that we could be late to Cincinnati so that we could run to a connection
that got in late so that we could then sit on the runway for even longer. Then home, to much licking and wagging of
tails.