New England glimpses

I visited New England during the fall of 2015. It had been a couple of months since my previous solo trip, and I felt the itch to take a trip. I had never visited the New England region and so I had plenty of scope to explore that area. New England, particularly the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, is most famous for the vibrant fall colors in the region. Seafood and lighthouses are added attractions in the area. The coast along Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine has around 170 lighthouses.

Day 1:

I landed early in the morning in Boston. One of my friends in Boston was kind enough to let me freshen up at her place. We made breakfast at her place and spent some time catching up with each other. I had planned to meet another friend for lunch near the Harvard university area. We were meeting after nearly 15 years, so it was really very enjoyable. After lunch, I headed back to my friend's apartment. We got ready and drove to the Bunker hill monument. This was a monument built in memory of the Battle of Bunker hill, where American soldiers fought British troops. After spending some time there, I started driving towards Portland in Maine, where I had a hotel booked for the night. 

Day 2:

In Portland, I had a lobster fishing tour booked for the morning. A small boat took us to the floating markers where the traps had been set the previous day. During the tour, we pulled up the boxes to check for lobsters, cleaned out the traps and put in fresh bait. The tour guide explained how the traps worked and how the fishing companies shared the sea space for fishing. Each company had a different colored buoy to mark their assigned area. If a company does not comply with the rules and attempts to do any malpractice, their fishing license is canceled and they won't be allowed to fish on that coast again. 

        

After the tour, I went to check out the Portland Head Light. The sight of the lighthouse along the sea coast was really beautiful. I then headed to the Permaquid Point lighthouse. This is one of the few lighthouses which use a Fresnel lens. The specialty of a Fresnel lens is that it magnifies the light from a small bulb by reflecting the rays multiple times.

I continued driving towards Ellsworth where I had a hotel booked for the night. On the way, I stopped at the L.L.Bean flagship store. Due to living on the west coast of USA, I had never seen a store for fishing and hunting equipment till then. L.L.Bean had all sorts of equipment needed for fishing and hunting - knives, guns, fishing rods, various anglers etc. They also had an entire section for winter clothing and boots. 

Day 3:

On day 3, I covered the Acadia national park. The views of Jordan Pond and Cadillac mountain were amazing with fall colors.  I did a few short hikes and took lots of photos. That night I drove to Conway where I had booked a hostel. 

Day 4:

The last day, I started with a ride on Mount Washington Cog rail. Due to the cold weather, the rail was running only till halfway. There was a lot of ice and snow along the way. The weather was really cold and windy.

     

After the rail ride, I started drive along the Kancamagus highway, which had the best views of fall colors in New Hampshire. Along the highway, I stopped at the Flume gorge. This had a short hike to a waterfall. The hike was again covered with maple trees and leaves strewn on the floor. 

I had a quick bite at the restaurant outside the flume gorge and then started driving towards Boston. On the way back I had planned to meet another friend for dinner at Lawrence downtown. After dinner I continue to Boston and crashed at an Airbnb for the night, before my early morning flight the next day.

This trip was one of my favorites, I loved the fall colors, where every tree is a different shade of red, orange or yellow. The east coast is lucky to experience this season where nature decides to paint the trees with yellow, red and orange. The trip had a healthy mix of socializing, catching up with friends and enjoying the beauties of Acadia in solitude. 

One more puzzle...

Another 1000 piece puzzle completed. This was relatively an easy puzzle. There is a lot of text and a good diversity of colors and patterns. 

Photo an hour challenge

I had a free Sunday this weekend, so I decided to take on the photo an hour challenge. I woke up at around 8:30 in the morning and started the day.

8:45 am: 

My day always starts with a steaming cup of chai to get my nerves going. 

9:45 am

I sat down to do the week's Guardian Quick Crossword to start the day.

10:45am

I had bought some zucchini and sugar snap peas from the market the previous day.  I looked up a few recipes for vegetarian pasta, on the internet. I got started off with the recipe I had chosen. I enjoyed cooking lunch today with Bollywood music playing in the background.

11:45am

Mmm... the pasta smelled really good! I couldn't wait to start with lunch. I came across a bottle of pomegranate wine at the market and wanted to try it out. So I settled on my couch with a plate of hot pasta and a glass of wine.

12:45pm

I had started a new 1000 piece puzzle this week. It was time to spend some time working on it.

1:45pm

I have a trip to Cancun coming up in December. I had to spend some time in researching what to do in Cancun and plan the trip. So it was time to open up my Macbook.

2:45pm

After spending a solid hour in reading reviews, looking at routes and planning day trips, it was time to relax. I had bought a 6 piece bath bomb pack a while ago. I hadn't used one of them in some time, so now was the time. I prepared the bath and lighted up a citronella scented candle to create an aroma.

3:45pm

I had started reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett, and wanted to finish a couple of chapters today. 

4:45pm

After reading for about an hour, I was hungry and wanted a snack. I had some cookies from my trip to Hawaii. I made some detox tea to pair with the cookies.

5:45pm

Winter was here. Sunsets happened at 5pm, so evening walks became more difficult. But today was not too cold and pleasant enough for a walk along my street.

6:45pm

It was time for being a couch potato and watching some TV. I watched a documentary about wine sommeliers and what it takes to become a sommelier. I learnt that becoming a wine connoisseur is not an easy job. There were 3 tests to take, a theory test, a wine tasting test and a wine serving test. 

7:45pm

Start blogging about the photo an hour challenge!!

And there ends my 12 hour day. The rest of the night, I would probably spend by continuing to read "The Help", till I drift into sleep. I enjoyed doing this challenge, it was a lot of fun and an interesting experience. It kept me motivated to actually do something with my day time, instead of whiling away looking at social networking sites.

Pain in Love

The hazel hues hiding,
The playful naughtiness,
Behind curtains of naivety.
Scarlet rivers of satin,
Flowing along your curves.
Ripples of ebony waves,
Caressing my skin.
Crimson red wine,
Making our hearts merry.
Heart soaring high,
With blissful excitement.
Oblivious to pain,
Death, I fear you no more.

Shaped puzzles

My first shaped puzzle! 750 pieces in all.

Jigsaw Jumbles

This month I joined the Jigsaw puzzle swap exchange group. This is an awesome and cost-effective way for a puzzle lover to try different puzzles. Most people work on a single puzzle 1-2 times, and then it just lies in the box, gathering dust. This exchange group enables puzzle lovers to exchange puzzles. 

The process is very easy and organized. First off, you initiate a "swap" with a member. You can send that member any puzzle that fits in with their conditions. The conditions could be on the number of puzzles, number of pieces and missing pieces. Then you mail the puzzle to that member through a carrier of your choice. Then you update the swap on the website with the tracking number of the mail. That member will receive an email with the tracking number and the swap id. Once the member gets the puzzle, they will return the swap and send you a puzzle according to your criteria. Every puzzle also includes a tracking sheet. Once you have worked on a puzzle, and are ready to send it to someone else, you put down your name on the tracking sheet in the box. This helps in avoiding repetitions and the same puzzle going to a person multiple times.  

This way, you get to work on a variety of puzzles without spending much money.  

The Portland experience

Portland has been on my travel bucket list since awhile. Summer is probably the best time to visit, but the last week of May is close enough. So I went on a 3-day trip to Portland, during the Memorial Day long weekend. I wanted to hit a part of Oregon coast, the Columbia river gorge and Portland city.

Day 1
On the first day, I hit the road for a 3 hour drive to Cape Perpetua. Cape Perpetua has some real gems including Thor's Well, Devil's Churn and Spouting Horn. A key point when visiting Cape Perpetua, is to check the tide times. Thor's Well and Spouting Horn are at best just before(about an hour) peak high tide. I went to the tidepool area around noon. The tidepool is a splendid place, where I got to see sea urchins, starfish, anemones and mussels. This place was a mussel harvesting site for the Indian tribes.

After exploring this area, I was still too early for Thor's Well. I drove into the Yachats town and got lunch at Ona restaurant. The tomato bisque was delicious and creamy. The pasta could have been a little less on the cheese. I came back to Thor's Well around 3pm, the high tide was at 6pm. I was really lucky to get some good shots of the well. The Spouting Horn, on the other hand, refused to spout, I hung around till 4:30pm with no luck. I drove back to Portland and had the famous chicken and rice at Nong's Khao Man Gai for dinner.

Day 2:
I headed east from Portland to explore the Columbia river area. After taking exit 22 from highway 84, I drove along the Columbia historic highway. My first stop was at the Women's forum outlook, from where I got some scenic views. Further along the scenic highway, I stopped at multiple waterfalls - Latourell Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Multnomah Falls. The parking at Multnomah Falls is crazy, it took me 30 mins just to park and cross that area. The falls itself is superb, falling from such a great height.

My next stop was at the Oneonta Gorge. Getting to the falls, involves a short walk, about a mile through the creek. The gorge is absolutely magical, it feels like heaven standing in the middle of the moss covered rocks. The water is crystal clear! This is the gem of the Columbia river scenic area. The first part of the hike involves climbing over a log jam, which was fun. Then on, I had to wade through the water. The water in the deepest section was till my chest, but this was a very short stretch, about 20 feet.

Then I continued on highway 84 till Bonneville Dam. I saw the fish ladder and spent some time at the visitor centre reading about what and why fish ladders are needed. My next stop was at Hood village to get some food. I ate at the sixth street bistro, the pasta salad I had was refreshing. I continued driving along the Hood river fruit loop. I was late to visit some of the lavender farms, so I drove non-stop till Timberline lodge. The view of Mount Hood from Timberline lodge is beautiful. This is maybe the highest point in the region. The lodge itself is well insulated and built from granite stones. I spent some time inside the lodge, and continued on the loop till Portland. It was dinner time, I decided to try Cuban at Pambiche. One of the best choices I made, the food was loaded with flavors. The fried plantains and the pineapple drink were great! I can't wait to try Cuban again.

Day 3:
The last day was for Portland city. I started the day with the Alberta art district. I walked along Alberta Avenue and window shopped. The street had some interesting graffiti on the walls. I bought coffee at one of the quaint coffee shops.

Then I continued to the Lan Su chinese garden where I spent around 30 minutes. My next stop was for lunch at the food truck pod on 9th avenue. I tried a Moroccan food truck and got a vegetarian Paella with quinoa. Then I went to the famous Powell's City of Books. I was simply awestruck. I have never seen such a huge bookshop, what a variety! The store has a map to go around it, which was definitely useful. A true book lover can spend a whole day at this shop exploring. Each category had so many choices, I just did not know where to start. I picked the travel writing section and got hold a copy of Wide Open World.

I spent the remainder part of the day at the Japanese garden, International Rose garden and the 23rd Avenue Alphabet district. I enjoyed looking at the variety of roses in the garden, there were simply too many. The alphabet district was an interesting area. Each street is named starting with each letter of the English alphabet. The street was filled with interesting and quirky shops. My favorites were the Meadow - a salt shop, Poplandia - flavored popcorn and Salt & Straw - an ice cream place.