Mt. Monadnock

Mount Monadnock is visible from Keene, NH and is one of the great local landmarks. We didn't see much of it during my July visit, but it was very visible last week. On Sunday, I persuaded Doug to come climb it with me. (And you know that he must REALLY love me to give up football watching to climb a mountain.)



It was the perfect day to make the climb. A brisk air, but very clear and dry. Unfortunately, about 500 other people must have thought the same thing because the place was a madhouse!


We didn't really know what to expect, and the ascent was a bit longer than we thought. Our goal was to make it home by supper (and the Colts game, of course) but it took about 2 hours to reach the top. There were loads of people in front and behind us the whole time. The second half of the trek was very rocky and required climbing up and over boulder fields and very steep rocky areas. People were backed up trying to get up and down the same narrow area. Ug.


But the scenery was fantastic. I'm glad we did it. Although the next day I could barely walk... Good thing I had nothing better to do than sit in a car for 15 hours!

I Heart Vermont

Greg played hookey took the day off work on Thursday so we could all travel up to Vermont. Greg and Meesh were excellent tour guides, taking us to a Cider Mill,

Ben & Jerry's Factory,


a brief but pretty hike,


the von Trapp Lodge (with drop-dead gorgeous views),





and even humored me with a visit to the King Arthur Flour store! (my favorite flour and great baking catalog):

Road Trip!!!!!!!

So Doug and I finally got to make our long-awaited road trip out to New Hampshire. We packed the mini-van full of the nursery furniture (thanks Uncle Rick and Aunt Catherine!) and drove it out to it's new home.


The drive was really not bad - 15 hours in all. We packed lots of snacks so we only stopped for 23 minutes the whole time, according to the Garmin. :-) We listened to a book on CD from the library and that really helped to pass the time.

We had a wonderful visit. It was the first time in a long time that we vacationed without the girls somewhere other than at home. So there were truly no responsibilities. Plus we got to see Michelle and Greg and we always enjoy spending time together. :-)

It was great to see Michelle's belly in person. So cute, dontchathink?


Aside from some CrAzY New Hampshire drivers, ahem,


we had a lovely first day taking in some scenery and meeting Greg for lunch at a local restaurant.