Friday, April 3, 2009

Travelling through Maine

Section 1-----Pine Mountain

Hello again from Pine Mountain.It is spring on the ranch.It is time to divide the work again.John and his family stay at the Pine Mountain Ranch with Rocket and Starburst the horses, Pete the mule, Elsie the cow, and various other ranch animals.

Squeekers the parrot and Jeff left Pine Mountain and went to the Desert Outpost cabin to work on irrigation pumps out in the desert. Squeekers and Jeff will be back on Pine Mountain in early November to spend the winter here.The Pine Mountain Review stays at Pine Mountain.

Jeff and Squeekers have there own newsletter New Desert Times out in the desert.Well enough about Pine Mountain.Our resident poet has a new poem for us about traveling the French countryside on a bus.


Section 2-----Poetry

An.thro.po.etry by Emma.Lee D

"Onward to Paris" written six.fifteen.eight


Kerouac he sits next me whispering "Satori in Paris"
well not quite whispering, the man's a positive hatstand

well means japan.ese for "kick in da eye" we roar down toward Paris in our gas

sucking tour bus...wheeee! I'm pickin om pous lenguas de france, "je vudere un vino bianco" I like to pick it up & soak the language in..but unfortunately
our tour bus caters to this kind of "give me my

food now!" way of approaching tourism, gimme
gimme gimme more. I listen to da shins now as we drive by neon fields
of lazy black & white cows chewing the grass MOO.cow..
Sarah is sleeping & Chloe journals n front of me.

p.s. Chloe helps me 2 realize that as we stroll out of de tourist
grasp & into the wild parks of am.sta.dam in flevour
park a quiet little neighborhood park w/ street art & natural beauty that needs
no corresponding shot glass


Section 3-----Traveling Through Maine

We left Spain two weeks ago traveling from Barcelona to Boston. We then headed north on the I-95 until we reached Portland Maine. We stopped to see some old friends that we had not seen in 20 years. Portland is the largest city in Maine with about 260,000 people. Portland is about 104 miles north of Boston.


Portland Maine

April is the last month of Maple syrup harvesting. It takes cold nights and warm days to produce the best sap flows from the maple trees. Maine is also known for apples and blue berries. Maine is also known for shipbuilding, fishing, and agriculture.

Maine has cold winters and the farther away from the coast the colder it gets. Small villages dot the coast while inland there are farms woods and open spaces. The north western part of the state is mountainous. It is the northern end of the Appalachian mountain chain. Large areas of the interior are still pine tree wilderness.



Portland lighthouse


Maine was one of the first northern places that European settled. The Plymouth company established Popham settlement in 1607 but the settlement did not survive the cold harsh winters. Jamestown in Virginia became the first permanent English settlement in the new world.

Maine was originally part of Masschusetts but became it's own state in 1820. It was the 23 rd state.

We spent several days in Portland, Maine with our friends then we climbed back in our new Tiger 4 wheel drive motor home and headed south.

That was our Maine adventure. Next week our friend Jordan returns with a story of his travels through Chile, South America.


Section 4-----Pine Mountain Evening

It is another spring evening at the Pine Mountain ranch. Squeekers and Jeff are at the Desert Outpost working on pumps and things. My family and I have the ranch to ourselves for the next few months.

We have just finished dinner and we are gathered around the gas fireplace in the family room. I am reading my discover magazine while I have sugar cookies and the sample coffee of the day from www.coffeefool.com. Tonight I am trying Chocolate Raspberry. This dessert coffee is a mixture of raspberries, chocolate, and mocha coffee beans that is American roasted. It is a flavorful brew that goes well with sugar cookies.

It is getting late here at the ranch and it is bedtime so everyone have a good evening. We will see you next week.



resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine








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