Cow Hampshire

We took our annual summer pilgrimage to New Hampshire last week. We flew up on Southwest Airlines as usual. I used to detest the whole no-seat-assignment-cattle-call scenario, but for some reason it seems much more civilized in recent trips. They have a new fantastic terminal and baggage claim at BWI, the customer service is superb, and it goes without saying that you can’t beat the prices. We’ll be taking them on a much longer flight out to Las Vegas next month so we’ll see how they (and I) fare on that trip.

We went to see War of the Worlds. I give it marginal thumbs down – too many eye rolling moments. Having said that, the acting was good and I was never really bored so it’s fine as a summer popcorn flick. We saw it during a thunder and lightning storm, which definitely added to the experience as lightning plays a major roll in the plot.

Usually we see some interesting wildlife in New Hampshire and while we didn’t actually see much this time, we heard the coyotes barking which is something I’ve never experienced.

Doug climbed Mt. Washington (6,288 feet) with Travis, but I had to take a pass - my knees hurt just thinking about it. Doug was able to cross that hike off his Life List Top 10 – congratulations!

While Doug and Travis were hiking the women went shopping and had ice cream for lunch so everybody won on that day!

Of course no summer trip to the Granite State would be complete without the running of the Amazing Race – Concord. This year was the 4th annual running planned by Ashley and me, and came down to a very exciting final sprint to the finish line. The theme of the race was “Historical Figures in New Hampshire History”. Next year’s race is already in the planning stages and the trash talk has already begun!

The best thing about trips to the Great White North is always the food and fellowship. We enjoyed plenty of both, including board games (Favorite: Loaded Questions) and casino games (Favorite: Craps). Fun stuff.

Back at work this week - counting down the days until our next adventure in the elk country of Pennsylvania in two weeks, and then on to Nevada and Utah in 39 days…