Sue packed Beau and me into the car Sunday morning 06/03/18 and headed us off to hike the backside trail to Blue Job Mountain in Farmington, NH.

It was a beautiful clear day with temps in the 50s as we headed out. The hike up on both the backside trail we took as well as the main trail is just enough to get you puffing a little. Beau loved it, running all over the place until we got almost to the top where there are some side looping trails where we had to put him on his leash.

Sue took this picture of Beau reflected in her passengers rear view mirror. Is that a happy looking dog, or what!

A lot of folks bring their dogs with them, and so it's a little chaotic at times. But fun. We were surprised when a large familiar looking black lab mix came bounding down the rock face toward us. It was Emma, Colin and Ren's dog! Ren had met up with some friends and brought Emma out for a climb, though Colin was back home helping a friend get his boat moored for the season.

The Beau Dog surveying the area.

Enjoying the views!

The views from the secondary area just below the peak where we stopped were spectacular. I just sat on a rock slab hanging onto Beau while Sue and Ren chatted and Emma and Beau tried to wrestle. What a great experience that all is.

We took a different route driving back home onto River Road. It had been a long time since I had driven that, and glad that we opted to do it as it's such a pretty ride. It's rough in spots, mostly gravel, but a surging stream, Mad River, runs alongside of it. We stopped at a small pull off by a bridge, and walked down to the water. Beautiful.

The Mad River rushing over the smooth boulders.

Of course, Beau had to lie down in a shallow pool and soak himself. What a mess. Dog....

Wet dog....

We walked across the road to a ski mobile trailhead and worked our way down a small hill through the brush to the river on the other side of the bridge. Sue was explaining how the trails were on each side of the road, and I want to come back and explore them both for sure.

The River Road bridge over Mad River

But for now, we had to get back home. I had food shopping to do while Sue finished up some of her projects. It was supposed to start raining that evening and through the next couple of days, and she had some final garden work to do.

For dinner, I fixed an on the fly seared scallops and artichokes with scallions and fresh basil, and two sides. For the first side, I sauteed yellow squash, zucchini, and yellow onion slices with fresh oregano and a splash of marsala wine. For the second side, I made a turmeric and parsley infused polenta.

It had been a long time since I had tried to fix polenta, and I was a little hesitant. But how tough could it be? It came out of a box, so I was safe from trying to create it from scratch from a corn meal base. It turned out just great. But it was out of a box, so maybe next time I'll give it a go from scratch....

The reason I did polenta was because Sue had a terrific side of it at dinner at the Three Chimneys Inn the night before. What a terrific opportunity to try to duplicate it at home! Well, my infusion of turmeric and parsley threw that all out the window, but I was pleased with the outcome, though Sue thought it should be just a little softer. Okay, yup. I have to try it again.