Lulu's fishing story

By the way, girls in pastel wind breakers love us... but that has nothing to do with the story I am about to tell. It's just that pink and light blue compliment my eyes. Don't you think? Anyways...

On Wednesday we went fishing. Muma Luv (Connie) was in Bangor again and the fish were biting so we jumped in the canoe and paddled around the point to the cove near the beaver hut. That's when it happened... Glendog hooked onto a fish, Sampson got excited, jumped up on the front seat to look in the water... and fell in. Well, then things got crazy I'll tell you right now!

Maltese are not know for their strong swimming abilities. Have you ever see one wet? Without our flowing white hair, we are about as skinny as a Chihuahua. Long thin legs, no body fat, weighed down by all that wet hair... Sampson swims like a rock. He was dog paddling like his life depended on it ( and it did! ) and barely keeping his nose above water.

Glendog immediately threw down his fly rod and frantically crab walked/gunnel walked his way to the front of the canoe, in the process almost trampling me and capsizing us all into the lake. The fish on line was now desperately trying to throw the hook from it's mouth and the unattended pole was slashing from one end of the canoe to the other, entangling me in the line.

The canoe calisthenics in getting to the other end of the boat caused it to drift away from my now actively drowning brother. He was blowing bubbles out his nose and his eyes bulged below the surface. And the paddle was now at the other end of the canoe!

In desperation, Glendog threw himself over the bow and started butterflying the canoe toward Sampson. And then in an instant, Sampson flew through the air, held by a fist full of wet hair, snatched from the depths of Davy Jone's locker. He immediately scrambled to his feet and just stood there in the canoe on wobbly legs, retching and gagging and blowing water out his nose. It wasn't until Glendog started laughing at him that he began to timidly wag his tail. Soon he began to shiver from the cold and shook violently soaking us all. That made Glendog laugh even more as he fumbled about to get control of the slashing fly rod, untangle the line from around my neck and reel in a nice little bass.

So I guess it's understandable that Sampson is acting so needy these days and insists on staying close. But I'm more than a little miffed that he is getting so much attention. I mean, he's the one who fell in... my bonehead brother. And besides... I'm cuter.

written by Lulu

Lupine Season

Happy Birthday Joe

missing you,

sam n' lu

Bass are biting!!

Four bass right out front. 8", 12" 17" and 19"!! On a light fly rod! Doesn't get any better.... The big ones were crafty, rubbing their heads on the rocks, making runs and then tail walking trying to shake the hook. The biggest one actually rushed the kayak and banged his head on the side of the cockpit. Thought he was coming right in the boat! No pics. All catch and release. Some BIG fish in this pond.

Pulled up the minnow trap and an 8" mud puppy/salamander slid out. Ever try to hold one of those things?

Mirror surface on the water tonight, the loons are talking and a young eagle flew low over the cove.

What a great place...

Ryan Update

Monday consultation with the head of Orthopedics at Mass General. He gave us hope and mapped out a plan forward. I could see the lights go on behind Ryan's eyes when he said "You'll ski again."

There will be more surgeries, reinfections to be avoided, plates to come out and lots and lots of physical therapy. Still, hope is powerful stuff...

Friday morning...

We were on the water by 7:30. Sunny, blue skies, bluer water.


The area in front of the camp is wooded and filled with Lady Slippers. Have never seen as many in one place. Also lots of wood ticks. Picked up 3 in just that short walk through... and one on Sam. Also sprayed down a very healthy looking poison ivy patch.

Ah, the joys and challenges of Maine living...

Memorial Day Weekend, 2008

Busy weekend... Connie's mom was here for the long weekend and visitors included Kate & Ryan, Anne and Mary Jo, Chris, Kori, Nolan and Kera, Mike and Curly, and John, Lynne and Ida... Wicked busy.

The new swing chair got a work out. If you get it going fast enough the bugs don't land...


We headed over to Day's Store to pick up some meat for the grill. Ryan out performed... as usual. Best pork chops ever...



I heard the roar of Harley engines in the driveway and for the life of me, thought Peter Fonda and Dennis Hooper from Easy Rider fame were coming through the door. Great to see you guys...


The quiet here just kind of settles in your bones, maybe help Ryan's bones mend quicker. Nice...

scouting out the territory

Blueberry Hill is a nice little picnic area off the ridge road with an easterly view overlooking the Belgrade Lakes. Our camp is just down the hill on Long Pond. The body of water just beyond is Great Pond, then Salmon Lake and finally Messalonskee Lake where we summered last year after selling the house. Now that you've got your bearings...

It's a place of hidden majesty. Around any turn, you might stumble into jaw dropping beauty.


The town of Belgrade Lakes runs along Route 27 between Long Pond and Great Pond and is locally known for the duck at the Belgrade Inn. I've always found to difficult to make those oily fowl edible, but they have a raspberry glaze recipe that's out of this world. I have to say their selection of house paint lacks originality. Must have been a special on white at Aubachons...


We've got three addresses. The PO Box in in Belgrade Lakes, the shipping address is Oakland and the physical address is Rome (1200 full time residents)



Sam n' Lu have to sit outside at Days Store and the Post Office. No mutts allowed. But that's ok. Get to talk to everyone coming and going. Even the pickup driving, bean booted, ball-capped woods workers stopping in for a couple "pounders" of Old Millwakee will stop to pat the pups.



We got caught in a rain squall coming across the lake yesterday. The harder it rained the more we laughed. Luckily we were back home, safe and sound when the hail started. That would have stung...

Headed to Portland tomorrow to a couple doctors appointments with Ryan. They want to do more surgery, but they're not sure why... maybe time for a trip to Boston for a specialist second opinion... ya think?

Belgrade Lakes, Maine 04918

Spring time in Maine.

Trees are budding out and the bugs are swarming. Spring peepers in the evening. The mile long, single lane, dirt camp road twists and turns up to Blueberry Hill.

Ryan and I spent Saturday afternoon on the lake learning where the rocks are and enjoying the nice weather.




Belgrade Lakes is a peculiar mix of townies, tourists and summer folk. We rented a post office box from Buzz the Postmaster ( 6 kids, married twice... to the same woman ). The coffee spot and book store, The Lazy Lab, is run by Wendy and Wendy.

But the hub of BL is unquestionably Days Country Store. Sue, Lois and Judy made us all feel welcomed. And after chatting for 5 minutes, we discovered mutual friends and family connections.

Ryan went in yesterday while I stayed outside with the dogs. They took one look at him and said "You're Glen's son...". Today we drove over for some groceries and they said to Ryan, "Hope you heal up quickly and that you come up a lot this summer...".

Just a real comfortable, homey place...

Saturday Morning on Long Pond

Back in Maine, safe and sound. We moved into Judy and Bob's lake house and Kate and Ryan are here for the Mother's Day weekend. Everyone slept until 10:00!! Such a peaceful place...

Lots of wildlife. A pair of Piliated Woodpeckers, Beavers, Loons, birds of all sorts... a little yellow finch knocked himself silly on the window. Thought he had bought the farm... or the birdhouse as it were. Placed him on the picnic table in the sun and 15 minutes later he flew away.

Reunion dinner last night with family in Brunswick. Thank you Wayne! U da Man!








I think we're going to shut the blog down for awhile. When we hit the road again, I'll let you know. The past 6 months have been great (with a few notable medical exceptions...) and we sure hope to continue our travels. So much to see. Such a magnificent country. And the freedom to just get up and go.

Thanks for following the blog. It helped us stay connected with family and friends where ever we journeyed. See you down the road...

Glen, Connie, Sam n' Lu

Sampson gets to drive...

Can I drive??? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.....

I CAN???? THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU...


HOT DOG!!!


And we got to Portland in time for dinner!!

Sunbury Ohio

Last Stop. Tomorrow we push to Portland... 11 hours give or take. Called Nate and Meggie on their birthdays ( and Brit... BIG 21). Also Wendy and Pete on their anniversary (28?). Where does time go...

Today was Missouri/Illinois/Indiana/Ohio.... unremarkable. The heartland is boring

"Are you from Missouri?"

Tonight we are... overnighting in Joplin. That was one of Joe Murphy's favorite sayings. Any time someone expressed doubt regarding an obvious event/situation...

It's peak tornado season in this part of the country. Yesterday 19 touched down over 6 states killing many and injuring dozens. We kept one eye on the sky which was pretty strange looking this evening.

Got stuck in traffic on Rte 44 outside Oklahoma City for 2 hours. When we got to the cause of the jam, there were 4 guys putting in a guard rail... glad I wasn't carrying a gun.

The drive across New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma was beautiful. The thing that continually strikes us is the expanse, being able to see broad horizons. In Maine we are usually stuck under the trees, which are also beautiful, but somewhat smothering after a decade or two. The other thing that we noticed was the absence of the continuous strip mall that you find in Rte 95 down the east coast... Burger King, Walmart, Wendy's, Walgreens, Subway, Home Depot, McDonalds, Waffle House... and repeat.

Anyway, bed time. And so good night.

Road Dogs

Traveling is soooo tiring.....

East Bound

Last night we saw the flames ripping across the mountain peak south of our location. By this morning the air was thick with smoke and white ash covered everything. The high winds made the situation worse and sections of road were closed due to sand storms and overturned trucks. Time to leave...

We said goodbye to our new found family/friends and promised to come back soon. Palm Springs is pretty cool and, God willing, we'd love to make a return trip.

We headed down "The 10" as the natives call it and skirted up 177 through the Joshua Tree National Park. Spectacular, rugged, jagged peaked. We drove through the desert for 100 miles to Lake Havesu, Nevada and then east on old Route 66 and onto Rte 40. By the time we got to Kingman, Arizona we were ready for food and bed. The mountains look like a mini Grand Canyon and the sunset was brilliant... with no wind and no ash.

Good news from home. Katie is home safe and sound, now older (she had her birthday in Azerbaijan) and wiser (travel will do that to you...). Ryan had his first PT and the latest blood tests show the infection level coming down some. Hallelujah!

Off to bed. Road warriors need a good night sleep ;-)

The Hokie Pokey man

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote 'The Hokie Pokey' died peacefully at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started.

Shut up. You know it's funny.

April 29th Blog Post

Ryan turned the corner about a week ago. He's crutching around and back at work here and there when doctors appointments allow. It will be a long road back, but we're hopeful and he has the right attitude... ornery. Hard to keep a Foss down.

I flew back to Palm Springs California on Sunday. Connie and I are wrapping things up and headed for Maine for the summer which was our plan all along. My friend Bob and his wife Judy have rented us their lake house in the Belgrade Lakes. Can't thank them enough. We will be close enough to Portland and Bangor to spend time with family and friends. And we will take the time to process the past 6 months and explore what we will do next. We want to explore the Northwest and check out the National Parks for sure.

Now that we have discovered we enjoy RV life so much (who knew Connie would relish such simplicity... "Canyon Connie"...befriending every walk of life in her "trailer park" helping them with daily struggles... guess I should have... she's incredible). We might figure that into the equation. Gotta run the numbers with $4 ($5, $6...) gas. Gordie & Dalonna, thanks again for sharing this beautiful RV with us (and sharing your family. Them Coor's are good people!). We have had a ball.

Katie called us yesterday on her birthday from Azerbaijan. She sounded real good, enjoyed the people and the place. Said they LOVE Americans and treated her like a rock star. Wait! The press says that everyone HATES Americans? Hmmmm...

Sorry for the interrupted blog postings, but there wasn't much worth writing about these past 2 weeks. No fun ...especially for Ryan. Hope this rough patch is behind us. Thanks to everyone (you know who you are) for all your concern and support (especially Wendy, Pete, Gail, Craig).

Took a last hike up the canyon. 95 degrees. Everything is brown and dry and beautiful.

I'll try to keep the blog current and we travel back across the country. See you in Maine...

Friday

A great day. 2 doctors appointments. At the oncology center he received 2 IV infusions and it was like the clouds lifted and the sun shone through. He felt better than he had in 3 weeks. He is scheduled for weekly repeats over the next month (he asked for it daily...). On our way to the orthopedic appointment, he asked to stop and pick up some fried chicken (not on the mega-vitamin nutritional diet regime but...) and ate like a ravenous dog. 

We figured out that his waves of nausea corresponded with the automatic antibiotic infusion that he receives every four hours for an hour for the next 5 weeks from a portable pump that he carries around attached to a PICC line in his arm. He now has anti-nausea medicine that he takes just before these infusions. Hoping that helps his appetite.

The bone doctor x-rayed and was pleased with the alignment. The swollen knee is inflamed tissue, not fluid, which is good. They think he may be ready to begin PT when his overall health improves.

Sitting in the oncology center, a large open room with many recliners and brightly colored walls, surrounded by bald women and men receiving chemotherapy was also an awakening. Surrounded by extreme courage and hope. Neither of us missed the message...

Maybe more information than you wanted to read, but I want to share the up days. Too many down days lately. Hoping the trend continues...

Sending love and admiration to my honey in an RV park on the west coast... miss my travel buddy.

update

Ryan continues to battle the infection that has knocked him down. Doctors appointments daily; orthopedic, infectious disease, hematologists... specialists all... ah, the US healthcare system (don't get me started...) He is weak, has lost 20 pounds and is anemic. Prayers are welcomed and invited.

This is not the type of message I had hoped to post on this travel blog. Only put it up because those of you who have been following our journey have been emailing and calling. Please forgive my lack of responses. Thanks so much for all your concern and well wished. Gotta catch a break here soon...

down but not out...

Last Wednesday Ryan had his 5th surgery. They flushed, cleaned and scoped his knee attempting to get aggressive with the infection. His cousin Chris got him home on Thursday and I got home late Friday night, He's been on the couch ever since. Lotta pain. He's anemic so feeding him lots of sardines, liver, green leafy veggies, beef. Also following a nutritional/vitamin program that Sayde provided. Thanks to everyone for the love/support. One day at a time...