more about the rideabout

[derien]

eor posted about our trip, yesterday, so I guess I don't need to do that.  But I'm going to, anyway, mainly because I want to be able to remember certain things, and with a brain like mine, if I don't write it down it's gone forever. 



I thought it was quite cool that we arrived at the Robert Frost Farm on the weekend when people were running around working on the place.  Yeah, the hammering and power tools did make it hard to hear the Farm Manager's tour, but that was okay - it was just great to see all that energy and stuff happening.  They were all volunteers from the Rotary Club who had decided that the work needed to get done and the State didn't seem like it would ever get it done and they didn't want their historical house to fall apart waiting for the State to get it's ass in gear.  When learned most of this because we got done with the tour we got caught into a little conversation (because we would never choose to have a conversation with a random stranger, you know, so it must have been them catching us) with the Chairwoman of the Historical Society and the Fire Chief, who were both lovely people.  (Although 'lovely' doesn't quite seem to fit for a regular guy guy like him - one of those stocky, burly guys with a big round belly that looks like it's probably muscled over.  At one point he said he would do some other last thing before he ate - it was like 2PM - and the Chairwoman said "Eat!  Nobody likes a skinny Santa!"*)  I wonder if there's that sort of volunteer work going on all the time?  It might be very cool to be able to be part of a project like that. 

I also wanted to mention that as we proceeded from Derry on up to Berlin (I suggested we go take a look at the town since Eor's seen lots of houses for sale at good prices, there) we came to a huge traffic mess in Tilton and decided that it was time to stop and eat while they cleared the accident which was causing the backup.  Accordingly we pulled into the Tilt'n Diner, which was kind of a fun place to be - all seriously decorated in 50's style and also for Halloween.  They had hula hoops at the register counter with a sign inviting everyone to play while they waited for a table, and vinyl records for sale in bins by the door, a giant guitar on the ceiling... and the food was good, too. :)

Berlin was... kinda depressing, I thought.  But maybe I was reading that in, because a guy I work with used to live there and he said it was the most depressing place he's ever lived.  But he has a bit of a bi-polar problem anyway, so I don't know how much I should worry about that.  The town did have an old downtown area with nice buildings, but the whole place does seem to be really struggling.  Which is why houses are cheap. 

Gorham N.H., the next town south, seemed to be doing a little better.  That was the bi-polar town: the side we initially came in through was all trailer park on both sides of the road, but the downtown seemed to be thriving better than Berlin.  And when we got home Eor found online that there was a two-family home for sale there for like $80,000.  Wow.  I started daydreaming about what it would be like to own a rental property. 

But damn the ride back to Portland took a long time.  And what could I do for work up there?  I daydream about running a coffee shop/dance club, but that would probably lose money. 

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*Oddly, I heard her say it, but, although my hearing is supposed to be fine, my brain-ear connection seems to be loose.  Very often what people say is just a mish-mash of meaningless syllables to me, and I was very grateful to eor for telling me about it, later.