The way life shoud be

Hey there now, we just got back from Ogunquit, oh about an hour ago and tomorrow I start on my 14 day odyssey of teaching. So what I'm gonna do is splash a few mementos up here on the blog before I go blob on the couch. Sorry Blobby, it's public domain. These are our good friends from Boston who planned this little weekend getaway to the heretofore unbeknownst to me town of Ogunquit. And I am just so tickled to have made its acquaintance. (Forgive my weird writing voice, I've been driving all day and have post vacation fatigue.)

Ogunquit, in case you are unfamiliar as I was, is a little town of 1500 year round residents who put on a great "cute little hamlet beach getaway" show in the summer. I loved it. Here you see the high tide and the throngs of Maine vacationers. The beach thinned out considerably if you strolled down a ways. Two miles of lovely beach and the water was about 67 degrees, nearly as warm as Southern California waters. I didn't go all the way in though. Call me a wimp if you will, but the seabreeze never let me get hot enough to need to go in.

The place we stayed at had a little happy hour bar outside which we made use of. I wonder how many rounds it took for Serge to let this picture be taken. There seemed to be quite a few wealthy people around (with rocks on their fingers you'd certainly choke on) but they were so cool and down to Earth (and a hoot!) that I instantly wanted to come back to this town for a lengthier visit. 

For instance. And I really hope I'm not contravening any rules right now, but this lady was so great (I know her name but don't want to get busted) and sang a fun Karaoke to us all. It was like going to a secret hideaway with a bunch of fun people that you wouldn't mind running into again. Hard to explain, but I haven't felt this vibe in a place in a long time. It's why I loved this sign:

Which of course was on the happy hour bar patio. The town has a bunch of cute shops and restaurants and during the day the beach is packed. They have a little trolley that can take you all around to the various cutesy enclaves and vistas so you just arrive, park the car and then forget about any driving until you leave. Loved that.

David in the picture turned me on to the Loseit! application for the iphone and I'm really diggin it. I'm gonna lose that paunch if it's the last of me. (Sorry for the platitudes lately, it's a byproduct of my job, I think)  When you log everything you eat and drink, you exert more self control, I dunno why. When I plugged in my info I said I wanted to lose 13 pounds and gave myself until next February to do it. My daily calorie budget is 2410 with extra if I exercise. Definitely doable.

When the tide was out, the beach was more than twice as big. It looked like they had some pretty big tides there and the little river behind the sand dunes switched directions four times a day. Unfortunately after I took this picture I dropped my camera into the sand. It wouldn't take pictures anymore no matter what I did. Finally on the way home in the car, I was able to get the lens moving again, but alas, the camera I'm afraid, has irreparable ailments. The pictures she takes now come out like this:

So getting another camera goes on the list. (I'll pinch Serge's until then.) In other exciting news, I got a speeding ticket on the way home in Vermont. He radar gunned me at 83. The limit was 65. Sheesh. Mom drove at least that fast all the way back from Vegas no problem. Stinking $166 I gotta pay or lose my privelege to drive in Vermont.

Anyway, I loved the little whirlwind trip though staying longer next time would definitely interest me since it's a 5.5 hour drive. Not sure how frequently I'll post since I have no days off but I'll try not to disappear. And this concludes the every five minute travel extravaganza. The next trip is a whopping 4 months away.

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