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August 21, 2005

Quaint Kennebunkport

Despite some bad luck with the car this afternoon, Nneka and I did have a great time. We enjoyed spending time together, hiking and exploring the small towns in Maine, including today's stop in Kennebunkport. The sun finally came out this afternoon, and we took photos (I will post soon), ate some ice cream and walked around to the various little shops around town.

Posted by Geoff at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Not again...

Nneka and I were having a nice weekend in Maine -- except for an incident Sunday afternoon. We were taking a leisurely drive home and decided to stop at the L.L.Bean flagship store in Freeport. The weather was nice and it was a zoo there. We were looking for parking in the overcrowded lots in Freeport, when Nneka had quite a scare. Someone in an SUV backed into my car's passenger-side door, damaging it badly enough it won't open from the outside and the window doesn't open or close properly on its own.

The woman was apologetic (but seemed a little too nonchalant about the whole thing). I was very upset, having just gotten my car back after being stolen and then in the shop nearly a month. The other driver called the police, and an officer showed up shortly thereafter. We exchanged information and I reported it to my insurance company while we were standing there. We eventually went our separate ways, but we didn't even go into the L.L.Bean store, we were so upset by the circumstances.

What a frustrating summer with this car...

Posted by Geoff at 3:15 PM | Comments (1)

August 20, 2005

Hiking in Boothbay and Camden, Maine

Nneka and I went hiking today in Boothbay and in Camden, Maine, which is in an area known for its hiking trails. We didn't do anything too ambitious, but we did a fairly short but steep climb up Mount Battie, which is well-loved for it's view of the Camden and the Penobscot Bay. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to see much of anything from the summit.

We enjoyed the hike -- well, until the very end, when Nneka slipped and hurt her hand. Thankfully, the injury appears to minor -- probably just a bruise. We also got to try out some new hiking gear, including day packs with hydration packs.

This evening, we drove back from Camden to the Inn, where we were treated to wine and cheese on the porch. We then ate dinner at The Daily Catch restaurant in Boothbay. The calamari appetizer was good, as was the Pinot Noir I ordered. The food wasn't as good as The Thistle Inn, but it was fun nonetheless.

We were tired from the hiking and went to sleep a bit earlier tonight.

Posted by Geoff at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2005

Desintation: Boothbay, Maine

We started the weekend with a bit of rough traffic heading north Friday afternoon, but we made it to the Hodgdon Island Inn that evening. The couple that runs the inn was very friendly. They welcomed us in, helped us with our luggage and gave us restaurant recommendations.

We ate at the restaurant at the Thistle Inn. We both ordered seafood paella and some wine. And for dessert, we shared a slice of fresh blueberry pie made from local blueberries. Yum!

Posted by Geoff at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Relaxing in Maine

Nneka and I are leaving this afternoon for a weekend excursion to midcoast Maine. We're staying at the Hodgdon Island Inn, a bed and breakfast, formerly a sea captain's home, overlooking a seaside cove (see photo left).

We hope to do a little hiking either in the mountains near Rockland or in the nearby nature preserve. I'm sure we'll have a lovely time. I'll post pictures here when I return.

Posted by Geoff at 9:55 AM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2005

Welcome, William John Hardy!

At 6:42pm, August 11, 2005, my first nephew, William John Hardy, was born. Weight: 7lb 4oz, Length: 21 inches. Congratulations, to the newest parents, my youngest brother, John, and his wife, Amanda! Congratulations also to my mother and father on their first grandchild, and my grandparents on their first great-grandchild!

Update: My parents took some photos while they were visiting Winona on Saturday. Isn't he cute? Check out the proud papa and mama.

Posted by Geoff at 6:42 PM | Comments (2)

August 10, 2005

More vacation entries...

I'm still back-filling my vacation entries. I've set the dates appropriately. You can use the calendar to the right to go back to older entries. I'll also post updates to the main page with links to the entries as I put them up.

Here's a list of back-filled entries so far:

Posted by Geoff at 9:40 AM | Comments (0)

August 7, 2005

PMC weekend: I made it!

It's PMC weekend and I finished the ride today around 10:45am. I'm exhausted! But I want to thank everyone again who sponsored my ride by donating to the Jimmy Fund.

I've now raised $2875 for cancer research and treatment and ridden 2142 miles including training rides this year. It was a fun weekend, too. I rode with friends (thanks Jothy, Carole, and Pam!), met some new friends (thanks Bruce and Moe), ate a ton of food and drank plenty of beer. The weather was great -- cool in the mornings, not too hot in the afternoon. Relaxing in Bourne was wonderful -- sunny, not too hot -- we sat at the edge of the Cape Cod Canal after a big buffet dinner.

The vitals: I rode 156 miles, 84 miles on Saturday, 72 miles on Sunday. My average speed on Saturday was 15.5 mph, on Sunday it was a blazing 17.0 mph. As you can see, I took lots of camera-phone photos. Carole and Jothy took some great photos as well, which they promised to send me.

Okay, now I really must sleep! I'm going to beach tomorrow on my birthday with Nneka. Thanks again to those who supported me. Thanks also to the wonderful volunteers whose hard work helped make it such a fun weekend.

Good night!

Posted by Geoff at 9:37 PM | Comments (1)