Amherst

3dogs and I are spending our nation's birthday in the quaint little town of Amherst, New Hampshire. We drove up last night, spending a couple hours catching a bit of shuteye in a rest station somewhere in Connecticut. It was a bit cramped, but we somehow managed to all sleep. The lean green kiwi machine is actually quite conducive to snoozing.

My friend and her daughter have been living up here for the past six years. Cocoa is their chocolate lab whom at 1 1/2 years is much calmer than the El Bell. I've been a regular to New Hampshire and Maine for the last 16 years. My desire is to live where my parent's retired...Bridgton, Maine, another quaint New England town. Hmm, is there anything else but quaint New England towns? But Bridgton, unlike Amherst, offers me quick access to the mountains that I love to hike and ski, the shore where I love to walk aimlessly with 3dogs. And being that the town is nestle between lakes, there is no growing metropolis nearby. In the six year years that I've been coming to Amherst the twelve plus miles to get here from Nashua has filled up with Home Depot, Loews, Pet Smart, multiple grocery stores, and of course, the New England favorite, Duncan Donuts.

Now I've been promised that the Amherst 4th of parade will have a few of our next presidential candidates walking the route. Apparently in 2002, they had Kerry, Edwards, and a few other heavy hitters from that "other" side of the political arena. I'm hoping to shake a few big name hands, but apparently one never knows until the last moment who will be participating.