Maine-ly Subarus

Two things were oddly noteworthy from our trip to Maine.  One, the sheer number of Subarus.  Not just a lot..but everyone owned one.  Easily two out of every 3 cars was a Subaru..and generally a newer one.  So we felt at home!  Also, the number of businesses who used the "Maine-ly" title.  Maine-ly used cars, Maine-ly sweaters, Maine-ly yarn, etc.  It became comical.
But..to continue out trip north!
Our first stop was Pemaquid Point and Lighthouse.  When planning, I had assumed this would be our least favorite. But it was by far the most fun.  The tide was out and there were rocks to climb on.  I don't know why we become 'rock climbers' on vacation.  But we do..find a rock..climb it.

 We went to the top of the lighthouse.  You can see the rocks that will be conquered.

 And then a look from that far point back towards the lighthouse

 We were climbing fools.

 It was beautiful from that vantage point however
Then we went to Marshall Point lighthouse which is famous for being featured in Forrest Gump.  It was the 'end' of the East coast run for him.  They had a book showing the filming and such.  It was neat

 The lighthouses were all run by volunteers, so we were able to chat with them.  The final lighthouse was Rockpoint which had a long breakwater.  I will be honest..we were exhausted by this time. so we walked a little ways..but it was too far!  It was still pretty!  That is the lighthouse on the right (white dot) and the rock in the center of the photo has a sea lion basking on it.

Then we hit our final destination. Hartstone Inn in Camden, Maine. 

 Camden is a very cute little "mayberry' type town.  It was just a block away from our Inn so we walked around a bit.

 

Mayberry with a harbor

But we made it back in time for evening cocktail hour!

 The next day we were supposed to take a boat ride on the schooner Surprise.  But Hurricane/Tropical Depressioin Andrea had different ideas.  it wasn't raining, but the seas were too rough.  But I had chatted with the captains a while, so they asked us to come visit the boat and hang out a bit. 

We had a little more time to kill so we drove up to the top of Mt. Battie. it is the tallest 'hill' in Camden and allows great views.

 That afternoon, Jason participated in the Chef for a Day with Chef Michael Salmon.  This is WHY we did this trip.  Chef Michael is a great chef who opens his kitchen up to anyone who'd like to learn.  So Jason spent the afternoon cooking for the evening's dinner.  This Inn is ranked in the top 10 fine dining B&B's in the world and top 10 overall B&Bs in the USA.  So he was very excited.

 

 The kitchen was small but there were 2 sous chefs, the head chef and Jason in it.  I snuck in and out and took photos.

One of the sous chefs talks to Jason about making the perfect risotto.

Dueling whisks

I was so busy taking photos, I didn't even notice they were offering me a taste of the dessert.  I found this photo and laughed.  I guess we were both in our elements!

 I love this photo.  All four chefs busily working.  Jason spent 1PM-5PM with the team making a wonderful dinner.  They were all super nice.  Chef Michael is a great person with a lot of patience. 

 After a shower, we had dinner.  A bad slice of quiche at lunch prevented me from enjoying it completely...but I was very proud of him! 

 The next day we went north to Acadia National Park with a stop for lunch in Bar Harbor.  The Tropical Depression had hit and the weather was less than desirable. So we really didn't see much.  We want to go back so we can see more..this park would have been incredible on a pretty day.  The one place that was photo worthy was "Thunder Hole".  on the other side of the railing is a 'hole' that the waves hit and makes a loud clap.

 More Rocks!  So wish the sky was blue!

 the weather was perfect for 'wave watching'..so we just sat on the rocks and enjoyed the crashing waves.  All the other lookouts were blocked by fog/clouds. 

Thunder hole

If you are ever in Camden and want an excellent Inn run by wonderful, caring people..go to Hartstone Inn.  We rarely/if never stay the same place twice or even go back to the same place..but we have plans to go back here and see more of the area. 

 This was our 'big' vacation of the year beyond a few long weekends at greyhound events.  But in a strange twist, Jason will be going to Chester, England for 7 weeks (August/September). So suddenly, I'm planning a vacation to England and Scotland in August.I feel sure Cali will go in to a terrible funk without Jason around for so long.  But we did get a lot of practice last year with holding down the fort while he was away for weeks at a time. But this will be the longest.  But very exciting!!

Boston Strong

 We took a long weekend vacation to Camden, Maine. But so many photo-worthy things happened, I've split this blog in to two.  We started in Boston and just spent one day there. Who knew so much could happen/be seen!
We started at the Boston Marathon Memorial. it is a temporary one, of course, but ti was very large.
Everyone had left their tennis shoes and hats.

 

 It was a beautiful day in the harbor (or harbah..what happened to the "R" in boston???)

The swans were nesting

 Then we hit the original Cheers bar for a "beah"

 While at the bar, we noticed everyone had put their business cards on a strip above the bar.  So we couldn't resist putting a James River Greyhounds business card on the strip. So Dana and Henry will be a part of the Cheers bar for years to come!

Then we went to Bell in Hand which is supposedly the oldest tavern in the country.  They had the windows open so we had another "beah"

 That night we met some of Jason's friends for dinner.  While we were waiting we stumbled upon a comedy show at Quincy Market.  And the comedian happened to 'need a strong volunteer'.  Guess who he chose!  Luckily, Jason is a ham and had a good time with it. The set up with photos and then a video.  Magic Brian was going to get out of a straight jacket and chains in 'record time'.  So he needed Jason to help him get in to it. he had another girl there too.  So he told Jason he'd introduce him and Jason was to dance in, bow, roar and then the crowd would chant.  The video of this part is at the end.  But after Jason came in

Magic Brian jumped in to the straight jacket

Jason strapped him in

Add the chains

And of course, he got out in record time!  

But here is the video of the beginning part.  at the end, Magic Brian says "you looked ridiculous" it was awesome.  He later told us Jason was the model assistant

 Afterwards, he was just too excited to contain himself!

 The next day we headed up the coast to Maine.  We turned the 3 1/2 hour trip in to a 9 hour trip. Hence, the multiple blog posts! so I will end this one with our first two stops..Lobstah rolls!  We stopped at Red Eats in Wiscasset, Maine.  It was good but I liked the next stop better. But the view was insane

 Then we went to Shaw's Lobster Wharf in New Harber, ME.  It was my favorite.

 It also had a neat view of a working harbor

 So to be continued..we continue on up the coast hitting a bunch of lighthouses and ended at the Hartstone Bed and Breakfast in Camden.  Jason cooks for the chef!

Greyhounds and Porsches in one post..

What has the world come too!  :-)  We have been busy and enjoying the lovely weather.  We packed up a picnic and the greyhounds and went to Cooper Vineyards for their annual Memorial Day weekend festival. This is one of my favorite events.  The weather was fantastic this year.

 We started without a tent, but put one up after a bit.  We had the Parks and their kids, all five of ours, Bob and his 2, Mary and her 2 and Dave with Cooper.  So it was quite the greyhound party.
Dave brought a rawhide for Cooper..and somehow it ended up elsewhere.

 Cali couldn't be bothered..

 Dana takes a break and gets some scritches from Bob

 Then Dante ends up in Bob's lap.  Dante has had a rough month.  We thought it was time..but he has rallied as  he seems to always do.  Cushings disease, pancreatic deficiency, masticatory muscle myositis and arthritis..sometimes the levels get off and he goes down hard. But with some diligence and careful manipulations of the various drugs he is on..and he is back to good again. 

 I get one better and the other starts to fail. Shiloh has been doing really well lately. But on Friday she had another bout of pancreatitis.  We are still working with her and trying to get her to eat.  So far, I've only gotten her to eat my breakfast eggs this weekend.  I can stand to live with breakfast.  We did another round of bloodwork on Friday, so we will keep working on it. My old lady..

 

 Mary takes a nap with Shiloh

 A little puppy entertains us..super cute and tiny. 

 We watched my mom's dog, Truffles, for a bit.  He always looks so sad!

 We have Vesta now..she is the queen of Roaching..  She is very cute.

 But sometimes even the cute ones loose focus

Yesterday, Jason and I went to the Shenandoah Region Porsche Club's Richmond Porsche Meet.  We went last year and had a lot of fun.  It is always set at someone's house on the James River.  Just a beautiful house and location.

 Jason lines his car up amongst its "people". He doesn't put it in the competition, but we can still line up.

 And Bob lines his Caymen up as well. Bob does enter his car in the competition and wins every year. This year was no exception!!!

 Porsche booty everywhere

 Even though it was very hot, it was well attended. We had lunch under a huge tree/

 Jason did get to admire the 2013 version of his car..This can be the new dream.  I told him "of course you can have it..as long as the bank OK's it".  Pretty sure they'd laugh him out the door.  It was pretty nice though!!!

 Then we go on a "Rally" through back roads.  This year about 30 cars lined up and drove for about 2 hours.  They even provide a 'scavenger hunt" of questions for passengers. So I have a lot of fun.  leaving the house we cross a very "rickety' looking bridge.  It was super neat.

We turn a lot of heads and have a great ride.  The weather was perfect and the top was down. 

 We all stopped at Bruster's for some ice cream.  This is just one side of the lot..the other side looked the same!  Then we continued on to the final destination (Porsche dealership).  Then we went to a dinner banquet that evening for the competition awards. It was a neat event.

 Vacation next week!  We are going to Maine.  I am very excited.  The Parks will keep our kids since they are all ailing and need specialized care.

Hug them

We often talk about 'phases' in life.  When I graduated college, EVERYONE was getting married.  I had a closet full of bridesmaid dresses.  Then everyone was having babies..seemingly at the same time.  Then suddenly I knew a bunch of people getting a divorce. It is just the age and the phase we happen to be in.  And it seems, I am now in the phase that I've been in greyhound adoption for long enough to start seeing important hounds pass away.  We seem to be in a phase.
So hugs to the families who have lost these hounds over the last few months.  There are more but these specific hounds I had a hand in adopting through fostering or boarded often..and they will be missed.
These are all old photos..
Maggie..one of my first fosters and first home visits..her family will miss her terribly

 Maggie's "Brother" Booyah and Lulu..I fostered them at the same time and had this photo of them laying together.  Petey still misses his greyhound sister.  And Booyah was a special boy.

 Macy..I boarded her a lot and she was a great girl

And Truman..I took this photo while boarding him..he and Henry almost blended.  Another photo of two hounds that will be missed dearly...

I'm ready for this phase to be over.  My "god children" are also having a rough go (check out Gyeong's blog for updates).  And with my senior pack I know only hard days are ahead but seriously..the divorce phase was better than this one...
But I don't want this to be a downer post..so a few photos to prove we are still having fun (we didn't take dogs to GiG so I didn't take photos. I helped Kristen with the VAGA vending booth..so it was a working weekend and we missed Grapehounds b/c Dante wasn't doing well, the Parks were having medical issues and it just didn't seem like the right time).
We boarded Doc and Dinah for a few days and it reminded me of the fun of young dogs!

 Doc is super handsome..

 And let's see..Beau, SHane, Dana, Sooie, Belle, Cali, Dante, Shiloh and Smokey..it's a hounds life!!!