The Moose is always Loose in Dummer

Compelled to write - Sprung!

 

With the changing of the seasons comes a little apprehension about what the follow on season will bring, Spring always seems to set this mind in the optimistic/dreamer mode and a whole of new to do list's.

Within the last two weeks we have had warmer days and cool/cold evenings, with another 7" deposit of heavy wet snow this past week it sort of felt like a minor set back.  But, the positive was that the snow actually grabbed some of the dirt & sand off of the driveway, just little less to sweep up in another couple weeks, but it went somewhere that will need attention.  A for sure sign of spring was seen this morning as I was washing the dishes in the sink that wouldn't fit into the dishwasher - Two Robins working the 3' of exposed grass along the backside (Southern Exposure) of the Lodge, makes me think that we have arrived at Spring 2011.  As well the Androscoggin has open up nicely in the swift water areas and some of the slow moving spots as well, and I think it’s almost time to wet a line!

With that comes a new set of priorities and a real serious need to be working outside, but its still to early for that as there is anywhere from some grass showing to well over 4' of snow remaining in the shaded portions of the yard and paddock - Walked the fence line this morning and found some fencing chores that need tending before Keystone starts to venture to far.

Currently providing a package with bisson's sugar house, as we did last year as well; however the Blais' are celebrating the 90th year of operation for this North Country Sugar House!  They will be hosting a BAH next week as an Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce member and I need to make that visit take some pictures and chat with Lucien & Muriel for a bit.  Almost finished with our Moosely Waterways package now that spring is in it needs to get finished.

Had a big issue with the VW that consumed a bit of time here lately, a typical sludging issue that is known about on these cars - Have a whole new appreciation for the term "compact car" as accessing the oil pan on this car was more than a chore and a lot of work for this backyard mechanic - Whew, glad that one is done.

Working with New Hampshire ToDo Magazine this past fall and winter has been rewarding as well, not easy at times but I am getting to meet a bunch of neat North Country folks along the way.

So what to do now, in the "In Between time" or "Mud Season” as it is so fondly referred to in the North Country - I have been putting in my time working on the Owner's Quarter's section of the Lodge, which most guests will never get to appreciate. Kitchenette is starting to look good, family room and my custom entertainment system build out is nearly half done - I am so looking forward to 1) setting up my fish tank again (down since Townsend days), just not sure how far I'll need to travel for some Angel Fish though!  2) Just maybe carving out a little time to brew my own beer again, kind of a neat hobby with rewards too!  Yet again, another Townsend day’s deal.

With that reflection on things not enjoyed, I look back a little less far and see just how far this place has come, but yet how much further (Dreamer) it needs to go and ask am I really up to the task?  I guess Creator and time will make this known to me.

So, I wrote today and that is good as well, I want to so often but must attend to the must do's and have to's before such pleasurable things can happen.  I look forward to what spring and eventually summer will bring on, but for now I need to continue towards the task at hand - Finish the damned basement!

Travel Well

 

 

 

 

Good Things...

Well the High Speed connection has been awesome to have these past few days, lost count of how many pictures and videos we had or have received from our guests these past six years.  With no way to share them, they have literally be sitting in electronic folders on the computer just in the hopes that the 21st century would breach the Notches for us.

It's been fun to surf YouTube and get other videos of silly, stupid or funny stuff from the internet as well, just last week a guest called up and had taken a Moose video and wanted to share it with us...Posted it right after it arrived in the inbox, within a few minutes, how cool is that?

With that comes alot of "duties" or changes to the computer's settings, some of them simple but most just don't work as advertised and work arounds are just bad.  We'll be ditching NCIA to the curb soon and as a a result the personal email address with be changing - No doubt somebody will be left out.  Since NCIA changed hands a while back their service level has declined allot, and we know of some local users have already taken the same step we are about to.   

As well, we'll be able to eliminate the data line for the computer so Fairpoint will be losing a bit a business as well.

Slightly different note - In Saturday's mail I got a letter from my new Senator (Ayotte) and a Long standing VA Education Benefit has been resolved in just less than a month of her taking office...Now that's cool!

One really crappy thing did happen last week, our primary touring Musher's trailer went down hard and it'll be weeks before parts come in and its fixed.  So we're going to miss her being her for the remainder of the winter, to bad too the phone has been busy these past few days with people calling about rides.

Anyway, the Maple Sugar package went live the other day and I put the final touches on a really cool Wildlife and Scenic tour package for the summer.  We'll be working with Gorham Moose Tours and the Northern Forest Heritage Park on this one, maybe even adding TnT Guide Service for an Eagle tour too!  We'll see how that goes. 

Soon the nicer weather will be in and summer projects list is pretty hefty around here, sorta looking forward to it but it is a bit early too!

Hope to See Ya Soon!

 

Dragging the North Country into the 21st Century!

Well it all started about a year ago and has literallytaken months to accomplish, but the wireless internet tower is up AND running!  When D. Dawson stopped by way back when I was like "hell yeah" we're interested - We had to apply and appease the town, mostly just a formality, but one dissenter came to the ZBA meeting-- "It's going to interfere with my view from camp!" 

Then we needed to get a building permit for the erectionon the antenna, no issue's since we had town approval's in place.  Back in October, we received and assembled everything, with the Internetof standing it up before the holidays- That didn't happen, D. Dawson was running low on capital and a couple key hardware pieces got back-ordered - No he's not receiving Stimulusor Grant funds for this, he's taking out of his OWN pocket - Kind of the old fashion way!  Why, because State, Federal and even some Economic Building Non-Profits have been holding meetings and promisig us this would happen for YEARS!

We have an 86' tower in the Lodge's side yard with a 10' omni-directional whip on top,, one sector receiver and one sector transmitter, so that we can share the fun with our neighbors out to about 5 miles in fact!  This week we're going out to test signal strength in key locations!

Well now Mr C., after we stood it up, I walked down to your camp 1k' away and less than have the distance from here to there I lost sight of it and standing in your camp's driveway you have absolutely no visibility on the antenna. Or, the Lodge for that matter as I said back at the ZBA meeting.

It has been so long since I've had a fast connection, I am almost like a kid on Christmas morning too!

 

To many social media outlets

We have been using Facebook almost exclusively to communicate with our Friends, family and guests for quite some time - So its not that we're not posting stuff of interest and pictures along the way because we are doing just that.  Sometimes it just boils down to time!

Big snow storm blowing in fromthe mid-west we hope everyone is ready.

WiFi Internet tower is up, not transmitting yet but within the next couple days, so exciting for us as well as our neighbors that have nothing but dial-up like ourselves.

Working for New Hamsphire ToDo Magazine for the past couple months has been exciting as well as enlightening and I get to meet some awesome North Country business owners along the way.

Stopped contributing to TripAdvisor forums for a while, to hard to get past the "Conway" mentality of many travelers whom seem to be the only ones asking for ideas about where to go, what to see etc... MAybe I'll revisit TripAdvisor again in the future?

Anyway, we're still here operating our little North Country B&B, which is better than off than some and still carving out a campground when time and weather permits.

Till Soon!

 

 

 

What is a true Get Away?

I had a number of thoughts come to me as I was cleaning up the driveway and last winters remaining firewood pile yesterday evening and wrote some down; this BLOG submission is one of them.

The Lodge sites almost half way between Berlin/Gorham area and Errol NH and as such is just a slight bit further away from the activities, food establishments and some of the attractions in the local area, which for some can make staying with us a little less attractive.  But I ask, what was the intent of your visit to the Great North Woods from the start?  I was thinking this through asking myself if we where a Get Away that everyone seeks out or not?  I concluded that we are truly that unique Get Away in the Great North Woods like our tag line indicates.  How so, when you book a stay in Gorham or Errol you are right on top of those services that every visitor needs, but I have read some of our competitors reviews and their guests have commented on trains running through town late at night, loud guests down the hall and traffic noises from time to time.  Also, many of the well established lodging facilities do far less for you, maybe even approach your visit as common place. 

How do we differ one would ask?  We provide far more prearranged packages and information on the local area then they do, and I say that with confidence, just look on our site for some of them.  We know that when your planning a Get Away or a vacation you need to do research, but we make that a little easier by working with those attractions and even bring some of them on-site for your enjoyment when your with us.  Our Native American Pow-Wow and Dog Sledding are the primary examples of these efforts.

I am always seeking out local facts and information that I share regularly with our guests, hopefully enticing them to return someday or simply thinking fondly about their stay with us enough to share their experiences with their family and friends.  After-all isn't that what life in general and vacations are all about?

When folks have stayed many will comment on the absolute quite that they enjoy once the afternoon road traffic dies down and the absolute dark skies that we enjoy here.  We have so many stars in the sky some nights its tough to pick out some of the constellations. The one comment that I always look forward to hearing and enjoy the most when it is said without prompting is "I haven't slept like that in who knows how long!"  Simply awesome, my work for you is almost complete...

So, with all of that said, we challenge you to stay with us even just once or just stop by for a peek, we are sure you'll agree that we are a True Get Away...

Yuck II!

Once again, we are getting SNOW in the North Country, I had hoped that the last storm was the last we would see of the white stuff until late fall - But NOooo Mother Nature is up to her old tricks again.

Have to admit is kind of pretty when it does snow up here, all over the trees and all, but we are getting a little late for this specific activity.  But, I promise to not publicly bitch about it until after May 1st!

Going to be at the Planetarium all weekend for Aerospace fest 2010, their first multi-day event, which we have been trying to attend for the past 4 years - Reserve Weekends always seemed to get in the way, but NOT any more.  I am officially a Fleet Reserve retiree, seems funny to use that word at 45, but it is what it is.

So, this weekend is going to be nice and this snow will be gone by the time I leave Friday anyway.

Yuck!

So, the past 4 or 5 days it has been really hard to remain optimistic with 5" or so of snow falling and the rain to top it all off!  Especially after a very early spring and some awesome weather over the past 4 weeks. 

I have been saying this entire time that I was not buying what Mother Nature was selling - 70's and 80's in March, and I knew it was going to turn to YUCK eventually, but I never really wanted it to!  Yesterday the sun came out for a bit in the late afternoon, but today is shaping up to be beautiful.  I am planning on going outside this afternoon, after this and it dries up a bit more and play outside.

I like to review the Old Farmers Almanac for the "forecasted" weather for the region, not always on spot but sometimes they get it right.  When they miss the forecast though it always seems to be the entire season - Last summer was suppose to be relatively nice - NOT!

Someone order SNOW!!!

Well, its snowing as was precicted the past 3 or 4 days by the WMUR weather crew - Sorry fellas your not high on my "favories list" today!

I'm goign to take care of some computer and house chores today, since its now winter outside again.  I'll mud and tape some of the drywall down stairs after Sandy leaves for work.  The big TV replacement part should arrive today as well, sure hope that fixes the issue!

Stay warm and dry today

44 acres to many?

Sometimes, I wonder!

We had nearly 8 acres of the two lots reclaimed for Woodcock habitat, and open field on the campground side of Route 16 and another spot significantly thinned out on the Lodge side of the street.  The machine that is used is called a Brontosaurus, from a rudimentary perspective I can certainly see why it has that name.  My understanding is that a local Colebrook man developed this "head" for a logging shear to do this kind  of work, kind of a cool tidbit.

Well the mess it leaves behind is pretty bad, but effective, no real way to clean up after except to "pick up sticks."  Which is what I tell allot of folks is the only thing I do around here.  Well, with the fantastic weather for the most part over the past 3+ weeks, I have been doing that and burning this the piles.  But, this is in addition to the regular spring cleanup work that I need to get accomplished while no one visits the Great North Woods during the springtime.

Have seen a few Bald Eagles now and again while I have been outside, no Moose yet that I have seen, but I do hear the truckers blowing their horns in the evening as the approach from the south so thats a sign and we have had a couple collisions that i have heard about 2nd hand.  Mostly, the yearlings and two year olds, not sure why but they always seem to be the casualties along the road, somehow the adults seem to have made it that far along and learned valuable lessons.

Now, that later portion of the week appears to be poised to bring SNOW, like I really need that on the ground for a couple days.  WMUR's Kevin Scarupa is indicating that it will not be allot of snow for us, but North of the Notches is a weather pattern all to its own.

Well today and tomorrow will be "seasonable" so, i better get back outside to the spring season.

Just thinking to much

I am thinking -

Why am I not flying a flag outside my "Business" for gods sake?  I know people are saying the same the same thing as the drive by!  Maybe even guests think that?

I have got to be honest here - I am very disappointed in "My Governement" at the moment: don't get me wrong, but they can't seem to get anything right anymore, at least when I was kid they agreed on something once in a while For God's Sake!

I firmly believe the begining starts with Term Limits on everyone, not just the president of the U.S.A., congress needs to belly up to the bar!  I wouldn't mide another party or two either - Keeps them more honest I think.  Did you know the BAR was a semi-automatic weapon in the 2nd World War?  Salute the Vets when you see them, I don't need it but its nice to get once in a while, as I did not "fight."  But stood my watches, back when Russia was our problem!

Jus a simple thought for tonight!