Friday, August 31, 2007

Lusty Larry

With 48 years of living behind me, I didn't really think of myself as naieve , but now, with the press from the Larry Craig bathroom debacle, I am finding myself wondering where I have been all these years. I have always just used the restroom, not paying any mind to the people in the other stalls. Not once in 48 years did it cross my mind that there was a whole other world out there, people using restrooms for completely different purposes. I guess I should have figured it out- people use most other venues to find sex partners-but I just never thought of the restroom in that capacity. Live and learn.

But now I am wondering, if sending signals for sex solicitaion is illegal, what happens to the whole bar scene, whose primary purpose is sexual solicitation?

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

white mountain fun

after a week on the cape, we picked up sarah from logan airport and drove up to the white mountains in our 10 year old minivan with 175,000 miles on it. our mechanic just shook his head in disbelief when i told him we were taking it. my version of walking on the wild side.



the mountains were as breathtaking as i remembered- and the hikes as punishing.
in the foreground are lakes of the clouds and the lakes of the clouds hut, in the distance are mt. monroe, franklin and eisenhower.



sarah and madeline on their hike up to mizpah springs. the plan was for the girls to hike up to mizpah and stay overnight in the hut and then hike along the ridge to lakes of the clouds in the morning, where we would meet them and all continue to the summit of mt washington together. unfortunately, freezing temperatures, thunderstorms and 99mph winds undermined our plans and the girls hiked back down in the morning and we had to wait a day to climb mt. wahington.


we spent our rainy day hiking mt. tom, shrouded in fog.


taking the ammonoosuc ravine trail up mount washington. everyone looks exuberant ot the start! looking forward to climb waterfalls.


closer to the summit, but not quite as lively.


and finally at the summit of mt.washington. an amazing day with 100 mile visibility- a far cry from the previous day's storms.we can see canada and the atlantic ocean.today, the mountain is not earning its title of "worst weather on earth".
a 4.5 mile hike with a 3800 ft. vertical climb- not a bad morning's work.

whale watching


we went on a phenomenal whale watching trip where we were lucky enough to visit with a humpback who was in a breaching mood. she breached at least 12 times right in front of us. her size was impressive! unfortunately, the camera batteries chose this day to die, so all we got was this picture from the trip.

cape cod


the cape is an amazing place to camp. bike to beaches. bike/walk to fresh water ponds to sail and swim. awesome seafood.
and you can make your own sandcastle in your tent every night after the kids look like this at the end of the day.

keeping it simple


leaving the modern "comforts" behind, we set out for two weeks camping in massachusetts and new hampshire.
not much for privacy, but this tent is our home for now