Color, Sox, Football, Chief, Secretary and Moose.....What's Next?

Kancamagus Highway, NH

The color is really starting to show as we make our way through the White Mountain National Forest here in New Hampshire. The locals are telling us the color appears to be early this year, maybe peaking within the next 7-10 days. Joan posted that the color was becoming a job hazard as she was having a hard time focusing on the job at hand; rather she was looking around and snapping pictures as if there was no tomorrow.





With only a few weeks left in our volunteer position we're trying to take in as many sites as possible. 2 weeks ago we drove east into Maine and spent the day driving along the coast. Lots of small inlets and bays; checked out LL Bean (Joan picked up some hiking boots); and a colorful sunset.

On the way home the next day I told Joan I was taking her somewhere she had always wanted to go.......Norway!
Along the same route we visited......

...Sweden.......



...Poland...

.....and Paris!
I even managed to take her through Russia! An international trip right here in the good ole' USA. Might get Hubby of the Year points for this trip.





Last week was really busy with a trip into Boston. We managed to swing tickets for a Red Sox game...

The 'Sox' won 6-1 over the Blue Jays
. Wahoo!











The next day we took a trolley and harbor tour of the city.....

...including a walk thru of Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution.









After a quick 2 days in Boston we headed west (yes, west) to New York. Joan's nephew Colby plays football for the University of  Richmond Spiders. They were playing Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

#92, Colby normally plays Tackle, but for this game they changed things up and had him as Defensive Center. He played Tackle the previous week in Houston and won 'Defensive Player of Game', so this week Golgate usually had him double-teamed. He played almost every defensive play and the Spiders ended up winning 20-17.

Forest Chief Tooke
and Smokey

I've said it before, and it's still true....you just never know who or what you're going to run into in this lifestyle. A few years ago in Wyoming, while mapping roads for BLM we were asked by one of the local ranch owners to show him where we would be crossing his land to complete some GPS points. We met him for coffee and after a little show and tell, he gave us permission to cross his ranch. As we were leaving the coffee shop we noticed how popular he seemed to be with our waitress, so we asked why he was so popular. "Mark is the State Treasurer for Wyoming" was the answer we got. Well it happened again. The Forest Supervisor for White Mountain NF retired this summer. We were invited to attend the Induction Ceremony for the new Supervisor (or so we thought). We show up for the event only to realize it wasn't the Supervisor who was being inducted, rather it was the Chief of Forest, Tony Tooke who is responsible for all the National Forests.


Then to top it off, we met the Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue who was in attendance to swear him into office. I guess my mom was right when she said to always wear clean underwear and be on your best manners! Joan's BFF Terri who lives in Seattle once worked for Sonny, so we took a pic and sent it on to her.





And then there's the wildlife......we managed to snap this shot as we were working one day.





Well that's it for now. Stay Tuned. More to Come!