Sweet Escape

This past weekend, Dan and I had the wonderful opportunity to go away together! Yes, before you fall off your seats, Dan actually got the WHOLE weekend off, and we headed up north to the White Mountains. We stayed at a beautiful inn that overlooked the presidential mountain range. Going away without the kids is always such a nice thing, and we are very thankful to the grandparent units that helped watch them.

So we arrived at our inn in the midst of a snow storm, a common thing in that area to have an afternoon squall. We were the first to arrive. We were welcomed by a very long-haired woman who directed us to our room. There were a couple Steven King's "The Shining" comments made by Dan, and we kept chanting "Red Room, Red Room" as we walked to our room.

After relaxing, waiting for the storm to pass, and a pedicure, we were able to catch up with old friends (my high school friends) who live in the area. They had dinner prepared for us, and we got to see their new house and chat about where our lives are now, and reminisce about high school days.

On Saturday, we went snowmobiling. Now, it's not much a secret to those who know me well, that I really do not like NE winters. Or any winters for that matter. I hate having to bundle up, always feeling cold, starting up your car, and now that we have kids, having to get on the boots, hats, mittens, coat, etc. for 20 minutes before you even get out to the car.
However, I must say, my snowmobile experience really started to melt the ice around my heart about snow. As I rode on the back of the snowmobile (I didn't want to drive, and yes Dan hit 60mph), I looked around at the beauty of the snow on the trees and on the mountain tops. It was truly breathtaking. As we wound our way through Franconia Notch, a place I had been camping in yearly as a little girl, I finally appreciated the beauty of our surroundings. Such endless beauty, right here in good old NH. We had an absolute blast on our 2 hour excursion.

With one exception. Prior to leaving for our weekend, I realized I didn't have snow boots. So, before we left, Dan ran to Walmart and found some $11.00 black moon boots. When he ever came back with those, I had flooding memories of elementary school. At any rate, I donned my way cool boots hoping they would do the trick. They didn't. My feet were ice cubes. I was envisioning my freshly-polished toes slowly turning black, and that they would fall off once I pulled off the moons. But, they made it. And a nice soak in the hot tub after our adventure made it all better.

That afternoon we went shopping in the quaint little town of Littleton, where we visited Chutney's candy shoppe. It had the world's longest candy counter (113 feet?). Being the sweet tooth's (or is it sweet teeth?) that we are, we started ferociously filling our bags. Well, $23.17 later, we walked out with some swedish fish, cinnamon hearts, and jelly bellies.

Overall, it was an awesome and much needed time away. It helped me gain the momentum I needed to make it through the rest of this really long winter. So much so, that I went out and bought a new bathing suit yesterday...