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May 2, 2024
Hi Folks,
Sometimes it's easy to plop down on a Thursday and just bang out something. Other times, like right now obviously, I cannot think of hardly anything to say. WARNING! Pretty much everything in this "Report" has nothing to do with climbing... It's mostly about my 2 1/2 week walkabout that I returned from early last week.
So in mid-January I decided that I needed to make a trip south to see family and friends I haven't seen in "forever". I didn't take any climbing gear, nor a bike. Tho I did take a bike helmet, shoes and shorts just in case. [ha] I blocked out basically the entire month of April with no plans and no gigs, had my car checked out and serviced, arranged for someone to keep an eye on the house and arranged for a friend to water my plants. Then right after the eclipse, I took off. First stop was in NY to hang with my guitarist/producer friend Carl Sturken. I hung out at his studio, had dinner at a great Thai place and played a bunch of music. Next stop was Philadelphia. One of my sons is living there with my ex-in-laws in center city. I was there visiting with them all for a couple of days and had some amazing food, including take-out from a fantastic Vietnamese place they knew.
From there I headed to DC where my sister, her kids and my best friend and his wife all live. My sister is 14 months younger than I am and is unfortunately in a memory-care facility for her Alzheimers. It's really sad to see her in this state. As I usually do when I'm down there, I stayed with my friend and his wife. I've known him since around 1977. We went to school in Jazz Performance at the University of Miami, he on vibraphone and me on bass, and moved to NY in 1980 to play music. As is usually the case when I am there, we played a bunch of music and performed at his church.
Next stop was Asheville NC. I've been there several times. Once in the mid-80's on tour and again around 2010 to ride my road bike. In the years since then it has really grown. I started by having lunch with a woman I've known since 1970. She was the girlfriend of a fellow musician friend in Gainesville and for some reason we have stayed in touch for 54 years. She my age and is starting to have some health issues so it was really good to see her while I could. Then I had dinner with a guy who is my oldest friend, other than family He is someone I went to high school and then college with. We flew model airplanes in Jacksonville and Gainesville. Lastly I had lunch with the guy who played keyboards with BS&T when I was in the band and we were roommates on the road for a couple of years. He has carved out a great career playing jazz both in the US and Europe. I wish we could have played, but the timing wasn't right.
The next leg of the trip was to Gainesville FL, where I lived from 1965-75. I started playing music there and honed my skills, lived the hippie life and attended the University of Florida. It was an amazing music scene at that time and I played with lots of folks, including Tom Petty and others. While I was visiting I saw lots & lots of folks I knew from BITD and got to sit in for a set with a great jazz quartet. I spent 3 full days there, and probably could have stayed several more. As you can well imagine, after 50 years the town was almost unrecognizable. I tried to find places that I had lived, but either they were gone or my memory is gone! Probably a little of both! I did make a connection with the guy who runs the jazz program at UF so I may visit again next winter to do a concert.
The original plan was to come back through Macon Georgia where I was born and raised and visit Milledgeville where I went to HS at Georgia Military College. Unfortunately altho I had made plans to see my cousins in Macon, they were going to be unavailable. So I decided to just put my head down and drive back north in 2 days, other than my planned 3. At 1350 miles, it was quite the drive. But after a horrible night at an abysmal motel in NC, I was VERY happy when I pulled into my driveway around 9:30pm and was able to crash in my own bed.
I will say that many of the people I visited with expressed the feeling that they were VERY grateful that I had made the effort to travel and see them, AND wished they could do the same. This trip was initially prompted by my having put off going to East Texas to see my cousin, and her passing before I did it it. Frankly at 76 I have my own health issues, but several of the folks I saw have more serious ones. As much of an effort as it was, and also it wasn't cheap, I am very grateful that I made the trip and I urge you to consider doing the same...
Over the week I have been back, certainly there have been several nice days. But there have been more cloudy, dreary, drizzly, rainy ones as well. I really hope that we don't see a repeat of the rainy spring we had last year! I've been wanting to get out to climb something, but between the weather and dealing with the general spring house cleanup I'm very busy busy. Putting up the screens and the gutters, swapping the snowblower and tractor, dealing with the incredible amount of pine cones in the yard, etc. I am really hoping to get out on something next week if I can coordinate between the weather and the days when I don't have other commitments. Stay tuned...
The Al Hospers Band will be at Tuckerman Brewing Company on this upcoming Saturday 3-6. We play many tunes you will know, but you may not recognize them... [LOL] PLUS there's great pizza and beer, and if the weather is nice, we will play outside on the lawn!
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20240502/Tuckerman_Al.jpg
I have done a few short rides in the hood since I got back. Some trails are decent, but there is a LOT of blow down out there. From what I understand, the east side trails are in the best shape right now.
Up on one of the Mount Washington Valley's finest crags and want to know what that climb you're looking at is? Or maybe you're on your way up from Boston and want to check out the Ice Report for your upcoming weekend plans. Or more likely, you're at work just want to daydream about your next adventure. Well if you have a smart phone handy, you can get to NEClimbs from anywhere you have cell service. While it doesn't offer every single feature of the site and it's not an "app", in mobile form, it does do a whole lot and is very useful. Here is the live link to the mobile version of NEClimbs:
http://www.neclimbs.com/mobile
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
Join us and LIKE us on Facebook. I'll try and post interesting pix every Thursday and the latest Ice Report in the season, tho certainly not the whole Report. Here's where you can check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/NEClimbs/
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
| Why ? Why, why, why do I do this ??? |
| Chuck Pratt |
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