Day 50 – Weare, New Hampshire

Kind of a nothing day, as far as I was concerned.  Yeah, had a nice walk with Don, including a friendly encounter with an older woman in a golf cart.  I was hoping she’d offer me a ride up the hill from the grassy area that we were in, but no such luck.  There was a lot of personal maintenance (showers and such) and vehicle maintenance (tank dumps and lighting fixture repair) going on in the morning, but nothing exciting. 

Around noon, I got my lunch and they headed into Concord, the State Capitol.  I was content to snooze through most of the afternoon, owing to the excitement of the last couple of days.  They got back a little before five, and told me about their afternoon at the Capitol building.  They had learned quite a bit about how the New Hampshire State Government operates.  They found that the Legislators get paid $100 per year for their services, and that they are in session about half of each year.  They were also told that the State had very little debt and produced a surplus of funds every year.  Don wanted to know if the services of the Legislature could be rented out the other six months of the year, ‘cause California could really use their help.  When they were going into the elevator to head up to the upper floors of the Capitol, a man got on with them, and said that he hoped that they enjoyed their tour.  They think it might have been the Governor.  When they were at the Senate Chamber door, Don went up the stairs to the Visitors’ Gallery to take a picture of the room.  When he got into position to take the shot, he found that there was someone standing at the podium, waving at him; Geri, of course!  They stopped by the Secretary of State's Office, where Michelle Bachmann had just filed her declaration for the primary election; Geri was quick to assure them that neither of them were planning to run.

They said that they learned a lot about New Hampshire history, and felt that the people of the State should be very proud of their heritage and their responsible attitude in this era of fiscal crisis in many states, including our own.  That last doesn’t mean a heck of a lot to me, as I’m not at all familiar with what a fiscal crisis looks like.  If it means I don’t get fed on time, then it could be a problem. 

Don fixed up some frozen tamales, with a topping of canned chili beans; not a masterly production, but good enough to quell the hunger pangs.  The plates were very tasty.  We’re hitting the road tomorrow, think we’re heading for Vermont.  I’ll let you know where we wind up!