River Days

For those of you that are not very familiar with Connecticut, James and I live in a small town named Haddam, located in the central part of the state right on the Connecticut River. I grew up in here and somehow after coming and going for six years or so, I found myself back where I started.

Showing my Haddam Pride in a sweatshirt that's probably as old as I am

We had a strange spring here in Connecticut. It could be summed up in two words: soggy and cold. Now that we've officially made it to summer, the weather pattern is finally starting to come around. Despite a few severe thunderstorms, we actually saw sunshine and bathing suit weather this weekend! Summer days in Haddam can guarantee you one thing - plenty of people will be flocking to the river - and this weekend we joined the crowd!

Summit thinking, "is the rain ever going to end?"

Saturday afternoon we stopped by the Murphy "river shack" to celebrate one of my bffs mother's 60th birthday. It was a surprise party and boy was she surprised! Happy Birthday Ginny! We enjoyed good food, great company and some booming thunderstorms! They didn't last all afternoon though, and when the clouds parted we were treated to an amazing rainbow!

Sues, Kelly and I enjoying a rainbow over the river

James has been itching to get his boat out on the river. James is in love with his boat. The back story goes like this: two years ago I was away on a backpacking trip with my friend Nicole when I got a phone call from James telling me he just got "the greatest deal ever" on a boat. It only cost $200. Well, let me tell you, there's no such thing as a $200 boat. The thing was in bad shape. It needed work. It needed a serious cleaning! It needed some TLC. James was just the guy. I wish I had a "before" picture but I don't (I couldn't bring myself to take a picture at the time - I was just thinking "what did he get himself into?!"). Here's an "after" picture. The boat is a 16' circa late '60's beauty. She doesn't have an official name, but James and I call her "The Seatriever". Get it?

Here are some pictures from our afternoon on the river.

Summit riding shotgun

Bald Eagle Nest - can you see him in there? (it's kind of blurry)


I got to drive - watch out!

Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam


Exploring Selden Island


Had to get a swim in


Happy boaters!