Off to an Island for a few days

July 1, 2019 - July 7, 2019

Monday (3 + 1)  - Run at lunch, felt pretty good.  Dave and I took Jax for a hike, it was hot for Jax.  He is not a summer dog.  My right knee was feeling like it was going to do the wonky thing, interesting, all the rest of the nonsense is cleared up (knock on wood) I can deal with the buckling right knee like at Run With the Beavers in 2017, just not all the follow on crap.

What the heck is going on? This is NOT the canoe.-- Jax

Tuesday (?) - Took the Fast Ferry from Quonset to Martha's Vineyard to spend the night with Dave's brother Matt and his family at his wife's family cottage in Oak Bluffs.  We walked around a lot, I got a nice long walk on South Beach in Edgartown.  Mostly it was exploring Oak Bluffs and keeping the dogs moving so they could get to know each other on what was a cool lovely day.

I think I'll sit in the Boy Peep's lap, it's probably a safe place. -- Jax

The cottage has been in her family since the early 1900's and they have the history of the house going back to 1870 when it was built.

Oh, finally land and water and a new friend, Chester, a great Pyrenees.
And a Short Peep I've met before. -- Jax

Wednesday (?) - This was the big outing over the Chappy bridge, yes that bridge.  It was not what I expected, all of a few feet long, wooden and entering into Wasque and going out to Cape Poge, all very much sand roads.  We had a nice long drive on the sand and landed near the end of the public space with access to Poge Bay as well as the Atlantic.  The dogs enjoyed their time frolicking in the bay eventually wearing each other out and finding some shade to rest.  The people also frolicked, I'm not a beach or a water person but I waded and walked on the beach and camped out under the shade umbrellas it was very relaxing and pleasant. I can deal with the beach in those conditions. 

Hanging out on the Town Green.
Lots of people to watch, yeah, the Boy Peep is kind of embarrassing, I'm not sure what he is doing. -- Jax

We were supposed to take the 7:30 p.m. ferry back to RI but we were having fun and since Jax was with us and we had no commitments and it was super easy to change our ferry, we stayed another night.

The peeps are taking me and Chester to the BEACH!! -- Jax

The ice cream from Ben and Bill's Chocolate Emporium was calling us, again.  No one dared try the Lobster Ice Cream the first night but Annabelle (Matthew's daughter) thought she'd be adventurous, unfortunately, they were out.  Or was that, fortunately. 

Hey Chester, it's the beach time to run and be crazy!!!! - Jax

Plus Dave really wanted to take part in the Wednesday night Community Sing at the Tabernacle, and that started at 7:30.  It was very fun and I can totally see why Erica would spend all day Wednesday in the summers coming up with a reason she couldn't go to the weekly Community Sing. 

Ahhhh a little shade on the beach! - Jax

Thursday (?) - The three of us were up hours before the rest of the house so we took a walk to Back Door Donuts and got a wide selection plus an apple fritter.  These apple fritters were damn near as good as the apple uglies at the Orange Blossom Cafe in Buxton on the Outer Banks in NC.

Hey Jax, look smile for the camera! -- Chester
Chester, it looks like there is more beach over there let go over there.  -- Jax

Wandering through the Camp Meeting Association with all the gingerbread cottages was so fun.  So cute and so much history.  Many were built in the 1860s.

Erica's families Cottage, although it is larger than a cottage.
Her Great Grandfather painted No Parking years ago.
It is refreshed every year, no one objects.

It was going to be a hot day for the island, we were not at all looking forward to walking to the ferry and waiting in the baking sun and no breeze to get on the ferry. 

This is a HUGE tradition!

It wasn't too horrible and we had the whole second deck of the ferry to ourselves!  Not a lot of people going to RI for the 4th of July, whoda thunk that? 

The dot is where we were beaching.

RI was nice and hot and still, we put in the AC had some lunch and crashed for the rest of the afternoon in the cool dark house.  Being closed up for two full days helped keep a lot of the humidity out. 

One last walk to the ferry with my buddy Chester. -- Jax

It was super special to share a part of Erica's family history and childhood. I found a penny on the dock and gave it to the youngest, Sam, and this brought up the memory of throwing pennies off the boat to her grandfather, he was a very frugal New Englander and he would run all around picking up the pennies.  Then I found a dime and gave it to Sam in honor of his great grandfather, he's 8 so he really doesn't have a clue but it was clearly something special to Erica. 

We had the whole deck to ourselves, still, I didn't like the return trip either. -- Jax

Friday (0) - Back to work.  I know seems crazy after three days off, but I didn't want to waste the vacation day.  Dave was off fishing so up and out by 4:30, Jax slept for maybe another hour, I was into work early, it was very quiet, which is nice.  My morning hair appointment was postponed until Saturday, even better.  I got through a lot of the chaos that happened on the 2nd 3rd and even the 4th.  And put together an agenda for my Monday morning meeting.  The gal I thought would be the problem was actually on a lay off wave.  Gak I felt like an ass when I heard that, however, that was followed up with she wanted that to happen and it is all good.  She's not an issue however now the team is happy with a 9 a.m. Monday morning meeting.  They are clearly weird.  

Ahhhh such a nice porch to crash on and people watch. -- Jax

It was hot and humid and the house was cool when I got home after 2, I was in the mood for a Friday afternoon nap, it is nice to not feel like I NEED a nap, but want a nap.   Jax was happy to not have to go anywhere, he was still a bit worn out from Martha's Vineyard.  Although I think he misses Chester just a bit. 

Donuts for me??? -- Jax
MV Back Door Donuts

Saturday (0.5) - I really like Maggie's new salon, and probably could have waited another week, but I really wanted some hair chopped off in this heat. Even 1/2 inch makes a difference.  

The bird was very busy bringing food back to its children.  

Again humid and warm and disgusting, a bike ride either on the road or the woods would have been pleasant in the morning but not after my hair appointment.  I had chores so I did them and mowed the lawn and managed to piddle away the day.  I hate that I can waste an entire freaking day.  I'm still getting used to not feeling like shit all the time, or all of a sudden feeling like shit, I'll chalk this up to recovery and learning how to be normal again?  Well normal for me.

Thought this was a cool way to store fishing poles, in the rafters!

Sunday (28 + 1) - Meandered here and there on my bike ride, it was nice to get out and pedal, the weather was perfect, even the headwind wasn't all that horrible.  It was nice to be active and feel dry.  The first ride in a while where I didn't get a close buzz by or yelled at.  Refreshing change.  

The Ferry back from Chappy.
This was very disconcerting to me.
It is a 3 car ferry for 500 feet.

We were going to resume our Sunday pizza and a stroll around the pond at the RC field.  This was thwarted by the stench and flies from 10 semi loads of chicken poop.  The farmers chicken poop supplier gave Earl and Company 5 loads and what frugal New Englander is going to say no to free anything.  It was gross, two piles of a shit ton of shit and a commensurate number of poop flies.  

Chester why are our peeps so far out? This is scary. -- Jax
I think they want us to swim.  -- Chester
That is crazy talk. -- Jax
Yep, I saw my girl peep pack treats. -- Chester
Ah, swim we will. -- Jax
And they both swam, a bit, they like swimming about as much as I do!

We went to Crawley, ate our pizza, still sort of gagging, and then took a very short hike.  Oh well, shit happens, right?

Knitting:

Not much knitting done this week.  I'll only get one sock out of the purple-pink yarn, oh well.  Maybe I'll find someone who only needs one sock!

Reading:

Summer Wives
by Beatriz Williams 

Status:  In progress

An interesting tale, it flips between 1950s 1930s and 1960s; I get a little confused.  

Old Lady on the Trail: Triple Crown at 76
by Mary Davidson

Status:  Finished

Very good story, the writing is a bit awkward in places (much like my own, I won't hold that against the book).  The finish was the end, a bit anti-climactic, however very much suited the whole book.  Mary got her Triple Crown and went on to hike more, however slower and lower miles, I hope to be hiking half that much when I'm 76.

Trance
by Adam Southward

Status:  Started

A Kindle First Reads, I'm never sure how these are going to go.  This one is good, I have a difficult time putting it down.  Victor Lazar, abused in a Romanian Orphanage in the 1980s, is seeking revenge on his abusers using what they taught him.  The reviews are mixed, it is slightly disturbing, but I'm curious how it ends.  I'm about 1/2 way through.

Sincerely,
Beth, a very fun week was had by all.

Bob and weave, that's what doctors do.

June 24, 2019 - June 30, 2019

Monday (2) - We didn't have the super amazing campsite for Monday night so we had to move to a new one, only to park Spud and go on one more adventure in VT.  We need to do a bit of research and find a lake where we can canoe on our last day and be able to park the truck and camper.  It sucks to pack it up early and leave and drive during the best part of the day.

The top of the rock slide

I picked White Rocks Ice Bed in the Green Mountains for the hike.  It was a 1.8 mile out and back with 395 feet of elevation (we managed 2 miles and 550 feet of elevation). The trail went up to a vista (view of the rock slide we'd hike to the bottom of).  Jax got a little freaked out on the rocks when he slipped!  We did too.  Maybe this will stop him from racing up to the edge?  The drop back down was a bit steep in places, however, we could feel the cool air rising up from the ice beds deep in the rocks.  It was really amazing. When we got to the talus around the beds it felt like opening up a freezer!  So freaking cool!  Jax enjoyed wading in the water running from the ice beds and taking a much-needed drink of water.    I left my hydration pack in the truck, my binoculars were also in there.   Oh well...

Enjoyed the cool temperatures at the ice beds.

The drive home was uneventful.

This is more to show the talus the imagine a super cold breeze coming from the rocks, it was really neat!
If you got in the sun it was warm with the cool breeze.
Jax does not like rock scrambles.  The thought bubble would read:
"really guys you think THIS is fun for me, rocks, really rocks."

Tuesday (0) - The day started with my follow up chest x-ray, and then work was a bit nutty, I was gone two days.  I monitored e-mail for urgent things, one came through, and the rest could wait.  Then it seemed like everyone else also waited to follow up with me on something.  Ugh.   I didn't get down to the gym and the rain kept me inside in the evening.  Jax was still pretty worn out from three very busy days, he didn't pester me for anything but dinner and pillow fluffing.

From camping, my first beer (left) in three weeks, it was a good choice.

Wednesday (6) -  Ro had plans for lunch and Faith was up for the hill route so I tortured her with it.  Honestly, slightly fun to have the roles reversed and me pulling her along.

A bit knackered from the weekend.

Met with the Rheumatologist in the afternoon.  He found the response to the Doxy interesting however he is not an infectious disease specialist and both my Lyme panels came back negative; he can't offer any opinion.  The agreement was: stay on the meds for another month, take a blood test and we will talk and start reducing meds once the results come in.  Ok, I guess I can deal with that.

Dave took Jax to the RC field to hang out, it's hot for Jax to hike and I wanted to mow the lawn.  I like mowing the lawn.  Maybe this weekend I'll edge.

Thursday (19 + 2) - Met up with Ro for a ride out to Groton Long Point and back, avoiding Fort Hill.  I'm still not ready for it.  I've been riding pretty flat when I ride at all.   Far peppier a ride than the last time we rode that route, still slower than what she rode it with Mark on Wednesday.    It is hot and humid and I spent the next hour at my desk sweating.  Ugh...

He's laughing at me about something.

Jax and I had a short hike, it's hot for him.  Checked out the goings on in the Burlingame North Campground.  As the news states the platform tent site is being dismantled, it wasn't dismantled when we rolled through there about 7 p.m. How utterly odd and how classic small town politics this whole thing is. 

Not taken down, but being deconstructed.
Oddly the fire pit off camera in the left was full of ashes.

X-rays showed a bit of the Pneumonia left, that should clear on its own in 2 weeks.  Ok, so that explains still feeling a tightness in my chest.  Dr. B didn't have any words of wisdom on the Lyme versus Lupus except for "The tests said you didn't have Lyme. Be happy you feel excellent."  Um... what about the two years I lost?  I am probably the first person to be thankful to have Pneumonia.  Fingers crossed I'm not putting the cart before the horse, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Friday (1) - It was hot and humid and I was making progress on a project I've been avoiding.  I stuck with that as better use of my time, other than getting sunburned trying to run.

Sweet Black Birch
One of the biggest trees of its kind and an important part of RI's heritage.

Took Jax out to Wahaneeta for a short hike, quick it was not, it is miserable humid and hot for him. I managed to break his water bottle, hopefully, the "Tenacious Tape" will hold it together.  He was happy to have a few laps of water but mostly I poured what was in the drinking tray on him. 

Saturday (0) - Housewifery and when Dave got back from fishing he washed and we waxed Spud.  Jax was not amused with the lack of him going somewhere, it is tough for him in this weather.

Very concerned about Whimsey moving from his usual spot under the tree.
Or he's channeling Artie Johnson.  It's hard telling with him.

Sunday (21 + ?) -  The radar showed wicked storms coming noonish plenty of time for a short ride. The wind was strong from the North however the sun not too obnoxious and I rode the Tour de Farms loop, always nice with cows and farms and rock walls.  My treat was running into Jonny on Chester Maine and gabbing for a bit.  This was a the top of a hill for both of us, so that worked out well.

The storm scattered itself then reconstructed itself.  We have bizarre weather patterns between the Race in the LI Sound and the Atlantic Ocean.  The weather Bermuda Triangle, things disappear things appear, it happens.

Reading:

Summer Wives
by Beatriz Williams 

Status:  Started

Not sure if this is a who dun it or a romance or a bit of both, all set on a secretive island off the New England coast in the '50s and '60s.  New England blue blood runs pretty blue as does the red blood of the common folk.  Will be interesting to see how this tale is spun. 

Old Lady on the Trail: Triple Crown at 76
by Mary Davidson

Status:  In Progress

Still interesting.  Mary had a good fall at 75, she does not recommend falling on her face and she hiked herself out of the woods.  How else would she get to the doctor after she patched herself up?  The only serious injury was a broken rib, so that put her hiking on pause.  She did get a Garmin In Reach in the event something more serious does happen on the trail.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
by Greg McKeown

Not a bad read.  Common sense to me, but maybe not to others. 

Knitting:

Finished the purple/pink socks and decided to try a new pattern.  Not sure how it grabs me yet, but I do like the new sock ruler I forked over way too much money for!  Maybe this will help me get things to the same length.  The purple/ pink isn't as far off as the melon.

I got the heel turned and should have enough for two short pairs

Sincerely,
Beth, feeling her kinda normal!

Bridge Closed & Road Impassable

June 17, 2019 - June 23, 2019  

Monday (5) - Walked with Ro at lunch at a very casual pace, it felt good after 2 miles so we added on to make it 5.

June 17, 2000

Dinner out for our 19th anniversary, we went for pizza at our favorite place, the pizza wasn't as good as it usually is and the beer menu was sad.   I said, "I hope this isn't a harbinger of the year to come."  Dave said, "I don't think that I'm worried its a harbinger the only place in a 45-minute drive that has good pizza is going downhill."  Dave is very practical.

Tuesday (0) - Lots of busy stuff at work and a downpour at night and I really had no interest in working out so I didn't.  I did have the best cannoli I have ever had, beats Mike's Pastry in Boston hands down. Merianos's Cannoli.  I could go for a few more of those!

Wednesday (3 + 2) - Lunch run resumed!  A bit of walking and more running and no coughing fit.  I was a little nervous, I still feel slight pressure when I take a deep breath, I focused on breathing through my belly although I don't think I was very successful.  I ran, that made me happy.  Although I'm still thinking about that cannoli...

OK, where are the cameras?

Dave and I took Jax out to Burlingame, to check on whatever is going on down there.  He didn't moon the trail camera but he did flip it off.  Where ever it is... 

Thursday (1 + 2) - Mile on the treadmill at 4% to get my heart rate up a bit.  Weird my heart rate isn't going up as fast as it used to.  Hmmmmm.....  that is a good thing, makes me wonder what is going on inside me with the inflammation.  Rheumatologist appointment next week and blood work.  I'm super curious what is going to happen now that I'm off the Doxy, was this really undiagnosed Lyme?  I'm never giving up hope I'm fixable. 

He is so funny.
He dropped the stick before I got the picture.

Took Jax to Grills, we were going to Burlingame but krikies I wasn't in the mood for that, and the kids were at Bradford Preserve.  I made the bad call to go to Grills, it is very swampy there, and there were at least 100 Thousand Gajillion mosquitos.  I was 1/10th of a mile in and knew that this was a bad idea yet, I kept going.  I swatted mosquitos Jax swished his face through the tall grass to get them off of him when I was to busy swatting them off me.  It was a dumb idea that kept getting dumber.  We did manage to make it out not looking too worse for wear and by the end of the night, only a few mosquito bite bumps on both of us.  That was very surprising, I figured we'd be having Benadryl with our evening snicky snacks!

Friday (0.5) - Camping at Coolidge State Park in VT.  After a rainy morning, we were off to nice dry cool VT.  A quick loop around the loop with Jax was it for recorded activity.

The view from our campsite
Killington Mountain

Saturday (1 + 21) - My first road ride in weeks.  I woke up with tightness in the left lower lobe, seemed to have moved from the right middle lobe?  Probably it was just nerves knowing I wasn't sure how my body was going to react to two hours of activity. The recent past would tell me not well.  BUT I've been feeling like I used to feel years ago, unfortunately, I lost all that fitness.  

Such a nice scene to walk in on.

The ride was good, the last 9/10 of a mile is straight uphill.  I walked my bike, taking breaks.  Still not sure how my body was going to take all of this exertion, between the two weeks of pneumonia and the beast.  

It may be a US Route, but it was surrounded by beautiful scenery.

I was just fine.  It was really odd.  Dave went for a ride and Jax and I hung out at the campsite, me in the hammock and him in his bed.  The boyz hiked Shrewsbury Peak in the a.m. and Jax was clearly tired and clearly not relaxing. Jax misses Dave when he's not around.  He'd prefer we all three were together or he was with Dave.  While I'm so jealous, I did have Gizzy, Gus, and Sage who were all super attached to me over Dave.  I went in the camper and Jax followed leaped up on the bed spun around 10 times and was out, snoring.  He needed to sleep, he sleeps 20 hours a day and that was a pretty physical hike, 1,500 feet of gain.  I was happy to play games on my Kindle, and if the mood struck, take a nap. 

See the ski runs?

Sunday (4 + 32) - I went out for a ride first thing, the tightness from Saturday went away.  I wasn't sure about where I'd go and decided just to ride flat along US 4.  On the way back there was a sign to "Bike Route"  I knew there was a road paralleling US4 (on the other side of a river) for a while and there was a covered bridge, and I thought another bridge.   I went over the river and along a nice gravel road and then came upon the "Bridge Out" sign.  Oh, shit, there wasn't another bridge, so back I went.  It was a nice adventure and a really poor call in my critical thinking capabilities!!

So peaceful.

Dave was going to go to Green Woodlands in Dorchester NH, he figured it was about an hours drive.  Which, had he looked at the map and decided on directions rather than having me use "Jeeves" (Waze) as we were driving there it would not have been a three hours drive!  I plugged in the address we used the last time we went there and "Jeeves" came up with a route, different than the one we used before.  He does that, he has a sense of adventure or this time he was pissed at us complaining about the stupid routes he comes up with?

I"m not choking him really.  He so hates selfies.

After a few miles on dirt, it became, closed in the winter dirt, and then "Road Impassable".  Totally not the part of Green Woodlands Dave wanted to be in, we took an hour to go around and get to the right spot on North Dorchester Road.  Jax and I had a nice hike that I estimated to be 3 miles, it was 4.4, whoops.  Dave's ride went very well, which was nice after a crappy drive out there.  I put a GPS pin in my mapping app (not "Jeeves") for the next time.

The folks at Green Woodlands have done such a great job with the trails, the design, the upkeep, and the 'decorations'.

So that was kind of the theme for the day, You can't get there from here!  Whoops!!

It was 8 before we got back to camp, it was a 75-minute drive back to camp. Surprisingly I was not tired or worn out.  Pleasantly sore and still a bit energized.  Perhaps the prednisone?  

So quaint.

Reading:

Old Lady on the Trail: Triple Crown at 76
by:  Mary Davidson

Status:  In Progress

Still proving to be an interesting, and as much as Mary would hate this an inspiring read.  Inspiring in the if you take care of yourself it will pay dividends and holy shit a 72-year-old woman did that!! She had one tidbit I found interesting, while she says "I'm an old lady." she isn't exactly complaining she is first surprised she can hike 500+ miles in a year and second she is bragging that she can.  Puts some things Ro (only 8 years my senior) says in perspective.  Perspective is always a good thing. 

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
by: Greg McKeown

Status:  In Progress

Plugging away.  I read the book, and am getting through the audio.  Maybe I'll be done this week.  

Knitting:

Finished the pair of purple/pink socks and started on a new pattern with the same yarn.  This pattern has a slipped stitch, it is interesting to work, I'll see if I like it after a few more hours of working on it.   

I did buy some Lorna's Laces sock yarn, the colorway was cool (and on sale) and I bought a sock measurer, paid way to much for it, but it was kind of interesting and gimmicky so what the hell, maybe it will work.  Knitting one sock at a time is proving to be difficult to get them to exactly match.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was a weird week.  Feeling like death two weeks ago to feeling like I haven't in years.  I'm scared it is all a dream and will go away.  I'll manage to piss off the beast and he will come back with a vengeance.

It is weird and scary.  I'm going to have some interesting conversations with my doctors this week, these were already scheduled appointments. Why wouldn't my primary care just give me the doxy two years ago when I went in with the lyme/tick borne illness symptoms?  Then requested a second test and to have the medicine, just to rule it out.  Don't give me the "It's the practice of medicine." Bullshit...  I'm not a hysterical woman, I'm a pissed off woman.

Sincerely,
Beth, quite pleased with a great week physically and a little ticked off if she's been robbed of two years.