New Hampshire weekend getaway

Polly's Pancake Parlor, Sugar Hill, NH.

In July Kevin and I went up north to see some family from Texas and North Carolina that came up for a vacation in New Hampshire.  So to explain the situation: My dad's oldest brother lives in Sugar Hill New Hamphsire.  My dad's second older brother lives in Dallas Texas.  This uncle loves to visit New Hampshire at least once a year, usually in September.  But they wanted to do a family vacation this year because my cousin recently moved to NC.  Most of my uncle from Texas's family was able to come up to New  Hampshire for two weeks.  So to add to the family my uncle in New Hampshire has two of his three kids living up there as well.  And all but one of my cousins that were there that weekend have children as well.  Kevin and I were only there for a weekend, but it was really nice to get away for a weekend.

Kevin and I stayed with my cousin EB.  She has a little boy and he is adorable!  We really love staying with them.  We get to hang out with my cousin, her husband, her little boy, and her extra lovable golden retriever Kebler.  Their house is beautiful and their back yard view is the White Mountains.  It's so beautiful up there.

My cousin's dog Kebler.  He's so loveable.  Even though he's an older dog he still romps like a puppy.

The day after we arrived we went for a short hike in Lincoln, NH.  It's called the Lincoln Woods Trail off of route 112.  There were so many people there that day.  There was this group of trail runners that didn't seem too serious about what they were doing.  They ran past us and then stopped 100 feet in front of us and "adjusted" them selves.  One of them wasn't wearing socks...  They kept running then stopping the whole time we were there.  We didn't end up staying long because the amount of people was getting to us.  We stopped for a few minutes so I could take some pictures on the river and so we could put our feet in the water.  Holy crap was it cold!!!  And it was JULY!

Kevin and I taking a break along the Pemigewasset River.

After our hike we got some lunch at the Black Mountain Burger Co. in Lincoln, NH.  The burgers hit the spot.  I was pretty hungry.  I think we ended up being a little late to dinner at my aunt and uncles because of this.  That's okay though.  We got to see everyone and ate some more of course.  It was nice to catch up with my cousin that recently moved to NC.  We weren't able to get an invitation to him in time for the wedding.  But he ended up telling us because of the kids they probably wouldn't have been able to swing it anyway.

Our cold beers at Black MTN Burger Co.

This photo doesn't do the moon justice.  It was huge and really bright orange.  I took this from my cousin's back deck.

The next morning we had breakfast at Polly's with a few of the cousins and then we headed up to Littleton to shop at some of our favorite stores.  There are a few thrift and antique stores we like to frequent, there's a fun farmers' market, and of course there's Chutter's candy store.  It's always a good time going to visit my family in New Hampshire.  I would definitely move back to New Hampshire if I was given the choice/chance.

Apple Picking, Twin Peaks, and THE CIRCUS!!!

It's been a while since I've written.  I almost have so many times, but sometimes posting emotions on a public site isn't the smartest idea.  I really need to break out my sketch book for that kind of an outlet.  Some things just don't need to be read by family and friends.  With that said, I wanted to post about some recent happenings in my world.

As an adult I have found I love fall the best out of the seasons.  Winter was my favorite as a child.  I was born in December and I grew up for the early part of my life in New Hampshire.  Snow was the BEST!  Now that I'm grown and have to drive in wintery conditions, it gets kind of old.  Shoveling the driveway before work every storm is a lot.  Trying to figure out the flattest route to work never really is the flattest.  Last year I hit an ice patch on my way home from work taking that route and scratched my rim on the curb of the road.   Fall? Fall is where it's at.  It just is starting to become long sleeve and sweater weather.  You can break out your slippers again and your warm heavy comforter.  The color is just beautiful this time of year.  I don't know maybe it's because I live in New England I love fall.  There are a million festivals and activities to do this time of year.  One of my favorite is apple picking at a local orchard.  

Kevin at Lasley's Orchard in Pomfret, CT.

Apples have always been my favorite fruit.  The more tart the better.  Although, I did try a baking apple in England once and that WAS too tart for me.  My husband Kevin and I went to a different orchard last weekend in north eastern Connecticut called Lapsley's Orchard.  It's in Pomfret, CT.  The other orchards we've been to in Southeastern Connecticut are usually labled and maped out as to where and what apples they have.  Lapsley's wasn't at all.  The fun of apple picking is trying the apples and they embrace that tradition.  You had to pay attention to what the apples looked like, what the leaves looked like, and the tree itself.  Kevin and I prefer tart apples so it took us a while to find which ones we liked.  It also didn't help that the season is winding down and all the close trees were bare.  We had to walk pretty far down the rows to get to trees that still had fruit.  We only went to one side of the orchard too.  There was a whole other side!  It was kind of overcast and chilly the day we went so we got our two dozen and headed back to the farm store to check out their pumpkin selection.  We each chose what we thought to be the perfect jack-o-lantern shaped pumpkin and went on our way.  

The other orchards we like to go to that I mentioned earlier are Maple Lane Farm and Holmberg Orchards.  Maple Lane is in Preston, CT and Holmberg's is in Gales Ferry, CT.  Holmberg's also makes apple, pear, and peach wine and hard cider.  They have tastings all the time at the orchard.  Maple Lane is more casual.  During the week they leave a cash box out and accept cash or checks for a peck of apples.  The trust system is in place for a lot of local farmers around where I live.

Cheddar cheese on apple pie for Twin Peaks night.

Pie is something people make a lot at this time of year.  Pumpkin and apple pie are pretty popular.  Did you know that it's a New England tradition to put sharp cheddar cheese onto of apple pie instead of ice cream or whipped cream?  I only recently found this out.  Pretty sad for growing up in New England, eh?  My husband prefers his apple pie this way.  I found out this year it is also how my mother prefers it as well.  Kevin and I started doing a Twin Peaks night at our house on Wednesday nights.  We pre-ordered the bluray box set and wanted to have people over to watch it again.  Our friend Kat was so nice and made a cherry pie the first week to keep with tradition of the show.  This week she made an apple pie.  Kevin and I put cheese on our slices.  I hope there are more Twin Peaks fans out there reading this and know about the pie obsession in that town.  We also want to get donuts because of the donut set ups in the show as well.  Another thing we have been doing is making decaf coffee because we all have to work the next day.  Coffee is another fun running theme in the show.  Out of the seven people who come over, including Kevin and myself, only three have not seen the show yet.  It's been fun seeing their reactions to what happens in the show.

Going back to my childhood...  I was kind of an odd kid.  I mean carrots were my favorite snack for goodness sake.  I changed what I wanted to be a lot.  I think that's pretty normal for children to do as they grow up.  But one of the professions I wanted to do was to be a clown.  I still love clowns.  I mean don't get me wrong I totally get why people find them creepy and scary.  I really do, but I just love them.  I love the clothes, the makeup, the stuff they get to make and do.  I even taught myself how to make balloon animals.  I still have the book.  I was a clown once for a church craft fair.  That was also when I learned I was allergic to latex, but that's another story.  One thing associated with clowns is the circus.  I always wanted to go to one as a child, but I never was fortunate to go to one.  I love going to the circus exhibit at the Big E whenever we go.  They have this tapestry hanging up in one room that looks authentic.  It's of an Aborigine woman with rings on her neck.  It looks like the "freak show" tapestries they put up in front of their tents.  I love the art work, it's simple but just sucks you in to the imagination of the circus.  I am always drawn to the carnival culture as well.  I just find it fascinating.  Last year I watched the Big Apple Circus documentary on Netflix.  It was really interesting.  I really enjoyed it.  I always keep my fascination quiet around people I know.  I have some pretty passionate vegetarian friends.  The circus is a sore spot for them.  

Finally of the circus.

So getting to the point of this rant is that Kevin bought us tickets to the Ringling Bro. and Barnum and Bailey Circus in Worcester.  BEST DAY EVER!!!  Well, it was up there in my top ten favorite days I think.  I felt pretty silly being a grown adult being as excited as the 4 year olds begging their parents for the 10 dollar light up stuff on the walk to the arena.  As we crossed the street I realized that the caravan with Ringling Bro. and Barnum and Bailey Circus on the sides of the cars was lined up across the street.  I got so excited.  We couldn't tell if it was a train car caravan or if it was on tires.  Still, it was pretty cool to see that.  I mean, the Little Engine That Could and Dumbo were some of my favorite things growing up.  This was a big deal to me.  Kevin bought me the program when we got inside.  We had front row tickets.  But we quickly realized that it's probably not a show you want front row tickets for.  The techs are in your view a lot.  I enjoyed every second.  The elephants were adorable.  The tiger show was awesome, but we wished we could have seen the tigers do more stuff.  All of the acts were just incredible.  They have some really talented people working for the show.  The unicyclists were so fun.  I loved that too.  I will never forget it.  Kevin was really impressed that all of the music was live.  I think we were kind of bummed at how the circus has had to adapt to the times.  Kevin remembers the Ring Leader introducing each act and hyping the crowd up.  They did musical numbers instead with the Ring Leader.  That was a bummer.  OH!  I just remembered, we got to see a girl get shot out of a canon!  That was awesome too.  Just a great show...

Elephants doing their show for the crowd.

The tightrope act was incredible!  Here two guys are on two other guys shoulders! 

Tightrope act again: on bikes and a girl on a chair that stood up!

Two married couples that are incredibly strong!

Even though since the wedding it's been quiet and Kevin and I haven't really done too much.  The things that we have done have been really fun and memorable for sure. We both really enjoy that life has gone back to normal since the wedding.  That we don't HAVE to go out every night now.  We can just have rice and beans for dinner and that's good enough for us.  We've been able to do more work to our back yard and inside the house now.  So glad things have slowed down.  

During the opening act: there was so much going on!  The paint splatter dressed girls were in these suspended spirals from the ceiling.