Hello everyone.
I'm back in the desert after a week in very green New England. My trip was nice but certainly not restful. According to the car rental company, I drove over a thousand miles in the course of my time there. I know that I was in five states, CT, MA, VT, NH and NY. And yes, again Heather flew out and back home but she didn't present herself to the family on this trip.
I arrived Tuesday evening, ate dinner with my parents, chatted for a while and then went to bed.
Wednesday, I got Mom up for her trip to dialysis. AT FIVE FIFTEEN! She overslept, it was supposed to be 4:45 when shegot up. She usually leaves the house at 11:00 am but she was able to go in at 6:00 so we'd be able to go on an overnight trip with Mom, Dad and my sister. I bring Mom to her appointment, grab a hot cup of coffee and a Boston Creme at Dunkin, head home, get my stuff ready for our overnight trip, shower and get ready, let my sister know that everything is still on track for her to come over, wake Dad and get him ready, head out with Dad and Sister to collect Mom and strike out on our adventure.
We drive to northern New Hampshire where Mom spent time as a kid. Our plan was to dawdle long enough to not have to wait at the hotel for check-in so we stopped for some groceries to have something to snack on. We grabbed crazy snacks, salads and a sandwich as if we were a bunch of kids, each with $20 in a candy store. Off we to toward the hotel to check-in. All good!
Mom had told my sister that she'd always wanted to see the big, fancy hotels in that area such as the Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa and the Mount Washington Hotel. My sister gets the directions plugged into the GPS and we head to the Mountain View... I drop Mom, Dad and Sister at the front entrance, walk from the back 40 after parking the car and learn that Mom's not interested in seeing the interior of the hotel, "we're not staying here, we have no business being here." My sister goes up the stairs to the porch and snaps a couple of photos and comes back down to where we are standing. Mom's adamant about not going inside. I take the long hike back to the car, drive up to the valet drive and collect everyone. We drive around the area where Mom grew up with the goal of her seeing the former farm. Again, she's very specific about what she's comfortable and willing to do: "Don't go beyond this point, your uncles came here 30 years ago and the guy who owns it ran them off the property with a shotgun." I pull into the driveway going exactly as far as she wanted. Mom sees the property and new (30+ years ago built) house and says lets get out of here quickly. I put the rental in reverse, squeezing the SUV down the narrow driveway and glance up to see a guy chasing us on an ATV. My sister asks me to stop and she gets out. Mom's taking about how she's concerned. I ask Mom to be quiet so I can hear the conversation happening in front of the car. I overhear the man say, "I insist!" My sister gets in and says to Mom, "he wants you to see the place." What starts out being a stressful event turns AMAZING! Mom proceeds to tell him and his wife about the family stories, some they'd heard and some they hadn't. We were visiting much longer than we'd expected and when we left, things in Northern New Hampshire were closing. We're trying to find a place for real food to complement our room snacks. We try one place, go in, stand at the counter to order but nobody ever came to take the order. After a few minutes, we left and returned to our hotel. My sister and I brought Mom and Dad to their room then the two of us went to our hotel's restaurant to get a takeout meal for our parents and a sit-down meal for us. We chat and eat and realize that the place is closing so we go back to our parent's room to make plans for Thursday and then off to our own rooms to sleep.
Thursday morning, we all go to the hotel's buffet breakfast. After eating, we get ourselves ready to go exploring, pack up and head out. We drive through the White Mountains National Forest, stopping a few times to see different sights. At one scenic area, we must have explored for two hours. (My sister didn't want me to spend for the parking pass, I did anyway!) Our next stop was the Mount Washington Hotel. Again, Mom refused to get out of the car to see the place. My sister said that she's going to check the place out and I agreed. We walk over to the hotel, into the sitting area and marvel at the grandeur. Off to the spa and indoor pool area, gift shop, "cave" nightclub, rear porch, Adirondack chairs on the rear lawn, texting photo after photo to Mom telling her what she's missing with one having the message, "The nice lady said to come in and look around.". After about an hour, we head back to the car where Mom is just getting out to stretch her legs. I tell my sister that Mom's ready to go in and Mom agreed!!! So we get Dad out of the car and the four of us walk up to the hotel and explore the same areas and show Mom and Dad the amazing place. Everyone had a great trip! Mom got to do some things that she'd only been able to dream about for many years.
It's eleven PM, I have had a long week and I have an early morning planned.
I'll finish my blabbing in the near future.
Tomorrow night, go look at the sky! The Perseids are supposed to be amazing this year.
Have an amazing weekend!
Heather.
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