Are we there yet?

A view of Mt. Washington

It was Friday, October 4, 2013.  The day that I had been waiting 2 months to arrive.  The day I was going to New Hampshire.  The day I was going to meet my favorite author, Tom Ryan.  The day I was going to meet the famous little hiking dog, Atticus M. Finch.  The day I was going to get to hold Will, the dog whose story inspired me so much with his ability to love again, trust again and live again after a life that left him angry, hurt and confused...just like me.

I barely slept the night before.  I was too excited to sleep and I had to be up by 4am to shower and get ready for my flight at 6:30.  I ended up with about 3 hours of sleep.  My son dropped me off at the airport and from there my adventure began.  Just after getting through airport security while I finished getting my shoes back on, an American Airlines employee approached me and asked if I was Denise.  With a surprised look, I'm sure, I said that I was.  She proceeded to tell me that although I didn't know her, she knew me from the Following Atticus Facebook page and since she was an employee of the airline I was flying, she knew I was flying out that morning for the hike.  She was a very nice woman by the name of Terri and it was a lot of fun running into another fan like that.  She asked me to hug Will for her (which I did, by the way) and wished me well on my trip.  That start to my trip put a smile on my face.   What fun it was to meet her and have her share in my joy of meeting Tom, Atticus and Will.  I boarded the plane and listened to my audiobook version of Following Atticus most of the way.  I wanted to have the book fresh in my mind when I arrived so that when I saw the area in person, I could relate it back to the book and make it really come to life.

The plane landed and after getting my checked luggage, I went outside to wait for Tom, Atticus and Will to pick me up.  I wasn't nervous.  I was super excited.  But as I watched for their car, I saw one that I thought was them and I suddenly started shaking.  I had been texting some of my friends while I was waiting and I could barely type when this car pulled up.  But....it wasn't them.  It wasn't even the right kind of car, but it was similar.  However, that seemed to get rid of the jitters because when they really did pull up, I wasn't shaking at all.  I greeted Tom with a hug and then we were on our way.  I felt very comfortable with Tom, like old friends.

Will was sleeping peacefully on the floor of the backseat with his soft bedding and blankets so I didn't want to disturb him and just let him be.  I shared the front seat with Atticus instead.  Sometimes he sat beside me on the seat and sometimes he sat on my lap.  He didn't pay too much attention to me either way though for awhile.  He just looked out the window or laid down with his head facing away from me but I enjoyed just being with him.

Will asleep in the car

We made some stops along the way, in part to let Atticus and Will relieve themselves and then partly to enjoy some great views.  The stops were great because it was my first chance to see the relationship between Tom and Atticus.  It was really neat to see Atticus being playful with Tom because you don't see that side much on the Following Atticus page.   My absolute favorite game to watch them play is when Tom will tell Atticus to "stay right there" and then he will walk away and Atticus will run playfully up to Tom as if he had told him to "come" instead.  I wished I had video taped it.  It was the cutest thing to watch. Those interactions melted my heart.

Tom and Atticus playing

The stops were also my chance to hold Will and watch his little bunny hop of a walk.  What a character he is.  He actually got along better than I expected but was harder to hold than I thought he would be.  His legs are kind of stiff and his head tends to lean away from you so it can be a little hard to find a comfortable position to hold him in...both for him and for me.  I kept worrying that he wasn't comfortable enough or that I would hurt his aching joints by holding him wrong, but he never complained.  He seemed content no matter what.  It was hard to imagine that he was once angry and fearful and biting Tom all the time.

Will doing his bunny hop

By the end of the drive, Atticus and I had a friendship started.  At times, he would lay his head on my chest or in the crook of my elbow and I felt so honored that Atticus was comfortable enough to relax with me that way.  But what I really loved was the few times that he actually ran up to me to play.  That is a memory I will cherish forever.  Will had captured my heart on Facebook but it was Atticus who captured my heart in person.

Atticus and Me

Tom took me to Newburyport, MA on the way back to Jackson.  This was where he used to work as a newspaper reporter for the paper he owned called the Undertoad.  It was really neat to see this town after reading about it in his book.  It is a really nice looking town with many shops and right on the water.  We stopped at the Jabberwocky bookstore where Tom had some books to autograph.  I met Paul, the manager, who is one of Tom's good friends.  Atticus was very happy to see Paul and ran up to him to greet him.  You could tell Atticus had been there many times before as he strolled through the store like he owned the place.  Jabberwocky is a neat looking store.  It's pretty big but still feels like a small, quaint store because of it's layout.  If I remember right, the store has been in business for 41 years.  Pretty amazing in today's world for an independent store.

One of the other stops we made was at Chocorua Lake.  What a beautiful place that is with the lake against the background of Mount Chocorua.   It was raining just a little bit when we stopped there but it was even beautiful in the rain.  In looking back on this whole trip, I feel like there was so much to take in that I didn't have time to really absorb it all while I was there.  I feel like I need a lot more time there so I can enjoy each piece of it fully.  This trip was the whirlwind tour.  Now I want to go back and just sit in one place for an hour or more and then move on to another place.  I tried not to squeeze a bunch of activities into my trip so that I would have that time to just be still but it didn't work out that way.  I needed more time but there just wasn't any.  Next time.....and oh yes, there will be a next time.

Chocorua Lake

We had a few other scenic stops along the way too and then we ended up at the beaver pond.  This was a place Tom and Atticus frequent and we stopped to see if there might be any wildlife to see.  We were in luck.  There were 3 beavers swimming around the pond and then one of them decided to come out of the water and say hello.  I was there with the camera ready so was able to capture that little guy in a nice photo.  I've never seen a beaver in the wild so it was really neat to see them swimming around and especially cool to see one out of the water.  It was the only wildlife I saw all weekend so I was glad we made that stop.  I had hoped to see a bear or moose but it didn't happen.

Our beaver friend

Once in Jackson, we drove through the Jackson covered bridge.  So neat to see in person after seeing so many pictures of it beforehand.  Jackson is a really cute, quaint town.  A storybook setting...which was perfect for my fairytale I was living.  It really feels like a step back in time to a simpler life.  So pure there.  And my goodness....the foliage!  I didn't take near as many pictures as I had intended.  I was too busy just looking at everything.  It's hard for me to experience things while also taking pictures.    That's why I need more time.  Time to take pictures and then time to experience it.  One weekend was not enough time for both.

Jackson Bridge

Jackson Grammar School

I met up with my mom at the Riverwood Inn in Jackson around 6pm, had dinner and then called it a night.  Needed to get some good sleep since I didn't sleep much the night before and we had a hike to do in the morning....a very special hike with Tom and Atticus.  Day 1 in New Hampshire was a pretty awesome day and the main event hadn't even happened yet.