Despite taking me almost a month after our departure to write about our trip to New Hampshire, the trip was a huge success. A week of rainy weather did not keep us from enjoying the White Mountains, and as a matter of fact I think it helped the leaves stand out! At one point, Rylend got frustrated with me pulling over every 5 to 10 minutes to take a photo and proclaimed, “No more pictures!”
The kids had a blast at Great Grandma Daphne’s house, especially her “backyard,” complete with apple orchard and goldmine! I led two expeditions to seek out the abandoned mine, and on both trips we failed to reach our objective. As it turns out, once you get off of a trail, a dense forest can be quite intimidating!
On one particularly rainy morning, we decided to cancel our trip to the north country in favor of driving into Vermont to visit the Ben and Jerry’s Factory in Waterbury, VT. While much smaller than I thought, the tour was short but very enjoyable. They were not makingice cream that day, and while we were above the production room, I got in trouble for taking photos! I guess they don’t want all of their secrets getting out, but I easily could have been a spy hired by Hagen Daz! After a short visit to the famed Flavor Graveyard and paying our respects to such flavors as Sweet Potato Pie and Peanut Butter and Jelly, we were off to do more exploring in Vermont!
Best of all was seeing Grandma Daphne and letting her meet her newest great grandson. She had fallen ill just a few days after we planned our trip and spent almost an entire month in ICU for reasons I won’t get into here, but the day we arrived, she was sitting up smiling from ear to ear! We stopped in for a few more visits while in New Hampshire, and on our final day she had moved out of ICU and was doing much better than even days before!
To make a long story short, I miss New Hampshire a lot and cannot wait until I can go back. There are mines to explore, ponds to swim in, moose to see…the list goes on, and on…Until then, enjoy a small handful of the hundreds I shot while we were gone.
