Not only is the motto quite aggressive, so is the summer weather, which I happily got a nice dose of this past weekend. I left cozy LA and headed east for my granddad’s 90th birthday. Alex and I left LAX at noon on Friday and arrived in muggy Boston at 11:30 pm. Summers smell and sound different in NH. First of all, crickets don’t care what time of day it is, they will chirp whenever they darn well please. I assume they do this because of the heat, the humidity, and their pig-headedness. As for smell, it sometimes reminds me of a paper bag of fresh peas on a hot day. While perhaps this is not the description most people would lend to the east coast, it is the first thing that came to mind for me.
Alexis rented her first car so that we could make the couple hour drive up to Lake Sunapee, NH. Despite the late hour air conditioning was a must. The further north we drove, the more frequent we encountered flashes of lighting. I took this as nature signaling to us that we were drawing closer to our destination. Nature was inevitably right.
Saturday was devoted to exploring the lake and finding ways to cool off. We boated around the lake for a few hours then docked for lunch. Being a completely land bound creature I found it very amusing that we boated to lunch. At about 3 we tied up the boat and headed back to the house. Dissatisfied to have left the water so soon, Lutz, Alexis and I went right back to the lake but this time with kayaks! Lutz, being a much more proficient kayaker, powered ahead in straight lines while Alexis and I followed in straight but short and very angled lines. Going in one direction was not our forte. While on the water I had the privilege to witness a boat get pulled over by the water police (not their official name). No life jackets? Live free or die! Wake in the no wake zone? Live free or die!
Picture of the lake and Alexis:
We paddled all the way out to the inhabited island on the lake and back. Why someone would want to live on an island so that they must boat everywhere beats me. We pulled out of the water just before a thunderstorm struck. These storms are truly impressive. The lightening was frighteningly frequent and we could see the actual bolt every time. Although I was in the house by the time the lightening started, I felt unsafe holding my metal soda can.
The stormy view from the house, it turned out much more blue than it seemed in person:
The next day was entirely devoted to my granddad’s birthday. We ate at Simon Pearce, naturally, which is by far my granddad’s favorite restaurant. He is well known there by all the staff and has been eating there for an uncountable number of years. Lunch was amazing and about 4 times larger than it needed to be. Lunch went long, as birthday lunches should, so that Alexis and I were scheduled to have dinner with our granddad only a few hours later. In the few hours in between we decided on a trip to Woodstock, VT. Not the best idea really. While Woodstock was undeniably cute, it was also a Sunday after 5pm. Not much of anything in either New Hampshire or Vermont is open on Sunday after 5. We drove to Hanover after that. It was nice to visit Dartmouth, even if for so short a time, I had felt odd being so near without going to campus. Dinner followed.
Monday was our last day. In the morning my dad, Alexis and I went for a walk.
A cool rock discovered on the walk:
Mt. Sunapee:
Then after dropping Christine’s mom off at the bus stop, we headed into New London, another small town that I will liken to Woodstock. Happily it was Monday before 5 so we actually got the chance to go into some shops. It was all very cute and small. Then we went to get some super fresh produce from the locals of New Hampshire. By we I mean Alexis and Christine shopped while I stood outside and took pictures of the Monarchs and flowers.
There was more boating in the afternoon and more picture taking.
Then dinner with dad, Lutz, Christine, and Alexis. In case you do not know, Lutz and Christine are very good family friends. A lot like family. Lutz is also my dad’s business partner. Now you do know, and more interesting dinner conversation you will be pressed to find. I cannot even begin to relay all the things we discussed.
After dinner Alexis and I drove to Boston to stay the night there before our very early flight home. This brought a close to our “live free or die” spree as soon as we passed by “Massachusetts welcomes you.” How friendly.
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