New Hampshire Trip - Part I

I was away from the blogosphere August 22-27, during my trip to New Hampshire to visit family.  (My three kids were born and raised in South Dakota, but all ended up on the East Coast - in NH, NY and DC.)  My son Jeff in DC was not able to join us.  He was slaving away at the Congressional Budget Office, catching up after being away for two weddings -- he was a groomsman two weeks in a row in MN. I hope we can tag up over Christmas.

The trip got off to a stormy start.  My flight out of Lincoln, NE was delayed for two hours because the airport where we were headed (O'Hare in Chicago) had a "ground stop" -- no planes could land or take off due to severe thunderstorms.  By the time we finally arrived in Chicago, I'd missed my connecting flight, and there were no other available flights to Manchester, NH until the following afternoon. So, I got to see a lot of O'Hare during my 19-hour layover.  But it's an interesting place to look at architecture, art, and people.

O'Hare International Airport

Neon Art in Tunnel Between Concourses at O'Hare International Airport

Once we were airborne, the clouds reminded me of the song Both Sides Now.  The version I remember from my youth was sung by Judy Collins (1967), but it was written and also recorded by Joni Mitchell.  One of the verses refers to "ice cream castles in the air."

I arrived late Friday afternoon (26 hours after my original ETA), on granddaughter Madeline's 9th birthday. Here is Madeline with her Auntie Al, my almost 26-year-old daughter, Allison, who lives in Brooklyn, NY.

The grandkids gave us a tour of the backyard.  First, their tree house:

Then fairy houses:

And finally, the beautiful babbling brook that runs through their acreage:

Little brother Garrison (age 5) was happy to see Auntie Al, too!  He starts kindergarten on Tuesday.

On Saturday, my son Tim, Allison and Garrison went to Concord (my favorite city in NH) to the Farmer's Market while Madeline and her mom Carrie went to a birthday party.  We visited Dos Amigos, a great little Mexican restaurant with lots of delicious vegetarian options, and had a picnic at White Park in Concord. Later that night we feasted on a yummy vegetarian meal prepared by Tim and Allison.

Sunday we took Allison to the bus depot early in the morning, then headed to the country where Carrie participated in a 16-mile Trail Ride and Tim did a 16-mile training run.

Tim is an avid runner like his Uncle Jeff.  (My brother Jeff ran in the Boston Marathon at least 3 years when he was in his 40s.)  Tim is in training for another 50K ultra-marathon.

To be continued . . ..

TTFN
LeAnn