Sorry I have not had time to bore everyone with my updates! Been doing a little driving! I have only driven 685 +/- miles in the last 2 days and have met 7 IAP members so far! After leaving Waterbury, CT, I drove up to North Easton, MA to meet Greggas. I was very honored to also have Rchan63 take the afternoon off of work to drive down and meet up with us. We had a wonderful lunch and the $2 tour of North Easton from Greg. then it was back to his shop to look at his incredible wood collection! I swear that guy has a wood addiction problem!
Greg kept trying to give me some of every kind of wood that he had but being a damn stubborn Texan, I did not take any! The three of us were able to spend most of the afternoon talking pens and just shooting the breeze.
I found out that Greg and I have a lot in common, so much so that Greg said that if I was a girl, he would have wanted to date me! At that point I got a little worried and was not sure about spending the afternoon cooped up in his basement! Thankfully, Richard was there to protect me!! I am still not sure about them Mass folks! I already knew that Greg was a builder but come to find out, we both also design most of the homes we build. Greg is on his city's Planning and Zoning Commission and so am I. We also have a passion for wood.
Richard was a great guy as well. He was eager to learn and hopefully, I was able to give him so good suggestions on a CA finish as well as a couple of other things. Thanks again, Richard, for thinking enough to take the day off to meet me. That was a real honor!
I then left Greg's house at about 6 pm and drove up to Londonderry, NH and had dinner with HSTurnings. Matt was easy to talk to and we ended up basically getting kicked out of the restaurant! Our waiter was a little light in the loafers and I think he had an eye for Matt! He even drew the little smiley face on the receipt, knowing that Matt was going to pay!
Sorry I did not get any pics of Matt but I did not want our waiter to think he and I were "together"!
I then drove on back to Manchester, NH and stayed the night. I got up this morning and returned my rental car and met my mom at the airport. I got to spend an hour or so visiting with her before her flight, then I took her car and headed north to Vermont.
After a nice scenic drive, I ended up at this crotchety old fart's house name ThomJ! Greenmtguy had said he was going to try to come down and low and behold, he too was there. Man, what an honor again. Dang, I really feel loved first having Richard take the day off than having Alton drive 1.5 hours to meet me!
Thomas, Alton, and I sat around shooting the breeze for a few hours, talking about everything from politics to pens! Of course, we also had to gripe and moan a little about the growing pains of IAP and some of the silly little feuds that end up happening here. Thomas' little dog was not at all interested in being my friend (he was not mean, he just did not like Texans, I guess!) so I made it a point that I was going to win him over before I left! Sure enough, by the end of the visit, he was playing with me and having a good time. Still would not let me pet him but certainly a lot more comfortable with me being there.
We then ended up in Thomas' shop and got to see his incredible collection of carving tools. Man, Thomas is one hell of a carver! He had a really super cool moose carving that he did that was really impressive. Not big but great detail and realism.
I left Thomas' house with some cool Vermont soapstone blanks from Alton as well as some FOG wood. It was really good meeting both of them as well.
Then I hit the road even further north and got to West Burke, VT at about 5pm. My mom had not told my dad I was coming. He thought he was just going to have to be by himself for the 4 days she is gone. He was surprised to see her car come driving up the driveway and thought maybe she had missed her flight! I came in and he was VERY surprised to see me. Man was he excited! He has not had a lot of energy and my mom says he mainly just sits around in his chair all day and hardly gets out. That sure changed when I got here! He could not stop talking and has already planned the next few days and where we are going! We plan to just drive around and enjoy the scenery for a next few days and enjoy some time together. I fear his days are numbered so this will be a great opportunity to spend some quality time with just him and myself.
I know one thing, it is too damn cold up here for a warm blooded Texan! Currently, it is 35 degrees F with a low expected of 21. Tomorrow's high is expected to be 40. This afternoon I talked to my wife who is visiting her brother and his wife and new baby on the Texas coast. At 4 pm Texas time, they were at the beach and Katie, my 4 year old daughter, was swimming and playing in the surf he first time. Yes, she was wearing a life jacket, even though she can swim, BTW. I talked to my foreman who is is running siding on a home I have under construction this evening and it was 91 there today!
That is it for the updates for now. I hope to be able to stop by and visit Turbowagon on the way back to the Manchester airport on Monday morning and then I connect in Chicago and am planning to skip my connecting flight and meet and visit with Ed and Dawn if they can get away. Then it will be back to the normal old grind in hot as hell Texas!
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