our visit to New Hampshire

Glen and I drove down to Vegas on Monday, October 14th (which would have been my dad's 92nd birthday), where we stayed at Denise's for the night and spent time with mom the next day before taking a red-eye into Boston (flying in and out of Vegas allowed us to get a direct flight so no layovers to worry about). Kyle picked us up bright and early and took us to New Hampshire. It was our first time visiting them there. Unlike Hannah and Melissa, Kyle had the week off, so he was able to be a great tour guide. We had 5 1/2 wonderful days in New England. How grateful we are for Kyle and Melissa's hospitality!

Kyle and Melissa live in Dover, NH which is what I would consider a typical New England town. Lots of old, beautiful buildings, graveyards, windy roads, and colorful trees. Hannah was living about a 30 minute drive from there finishing up a 4 month contract as a dental hygienist.

That first day, Wednesday October 16th, we were pretty tired, so Kyle just drove us around town. Glen and I also walked through the Pine Hill Cemetery. It's close to Kyle's and we went several times that week. Gorgeous scenery and a peaceful place. 

Hannah came over after work and we spent the evening together (which was true for every day of our stay).  We enjoyed our evenings visiting, eating, and playing Wii games (which was hilarious-- flapping our arms to fly like a chicken, being penguins sliding back and forth on an ice flow to eat some fish, participating in a snowball fight, ski jumping, and, not as hilarious but a ton of fun--100 pin bowling).

On Thursday our "special event" was to bring pizza at lunchtime to Hannah's work place and meet her coworkers. They were very nice.

On Friday, the 18th, Kyle took us on a drive further north to enjoy the fall foliage-- leaf peeping, they call it. It was busy enough on a Friday and we couldn't image how busy it would be on the weekend, so we were glad we were able to go on a week day. We stopped off at the Poor People's Pub in Sanbornville, NH to eat lunch (my one regret is that I didn't order the French onion soup...)-- which was nostalgic for me (and Kyle). My dad used to work with someone who had a cabin on the Great East Lake and he would go there every year. I was able to go twice-- once before my mission and once after (1983 and 1985). So that was just really a fun thing for me. I had to buy a t-shirt  as my memento (they make a new design every year).

Saturday was a craft fair at a local museum, the Woodman Museum. We found out that Dover is the birthplace of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We didn't go inside to see the display, but Hannah played with the TMNT cut out that they had outside. 

The building where the TMNT were created, which has since been torn down, was only about 1 1/2 blocks from Kyle, so Glen and I had to hop over to take a photo (the building is gone, but it has a commemorative manhole cover permanently attached to the ground so no one steals it). 

That night Melissa's mom and step-dad came over for dinner, so we were able to meet each other (I won the first game of 100 pin bowling, but Melissa's mom won the 2nd game while I came in last).

On Sunday, Hannah drove us into Cambridge to attend church with her singles ward. It was so much fun to meet her friends. Great group of people. 

The church is a stone's throw from the Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, so we were able to take a little tour. Glen bought a magnet there as his memento (remember all the magnets he bought while we were in Italy?). Glen, and therefore Hannah, are descendants of Priscilla Mullins and John Alden of the Mayflower-- made famous by the poem The Courtship of Miles Standish by Longfellow, so the house had a little extra meaning for them.

That weekend, the world's largest regatta was going on at the Charles River (appropriately named Head of the Charles Regatta). They were expecting 400,000 spectators. The river is about 1 1/2 blocks from the church, so after church we walked over and watched a bit of the racing going on. It was a beautiful afternoon and we have a lovely time. 

On Monday morning, my friend Deb drove up from her place in Massachusetts to have breakfast with me in Portsmouth. We've known each other since 5th grade, though we had lost contact for many years and just reconnected a few years ago. While Deb and I were visiting, Kyle and Glen toured the USS Albacore, a former Navy research mini-submarine.

Glen and I flew out later that day and arrived in Vegas just in time to go to bed at Deni's. We visited mom again on Tuesday morning, before driving back home. 

What a wonderful week! 

there are many old mills that have been repurposed-this old mill has a river running under it

Pine Hill Cemetery

see Glen in the middle of the photo?

Beth, Hannah, Kyle, Melissa 10-16-24

   

Glen touching the Atlantic ocean

leaf peeping

   

even though we saw several "moose crossing" signs, we didn't see any moose 

Glen and me inside the Poor People's Pub

Kyle and me outside

at the museum... couldn't resist... he's lucky we let him out again

having fun with her app

just like the Atlantic ocean... Glen just had to touch it

the commemorative manhole cover

Glen having a snowball fight

Kyle playing 100 pin bowling

there was only a little ice cream left, so Glen, Kyle, Hannah, and I bowled for it

Glen enjoying his prize

Hannah photosynthesizing 10-19-24

Longfellow house (they were painting, so the shutters are down)

inside the house

gorgeous, isn't it?

our church 

  

the sun was kind of in the way

I love it when the sun sparkles on the water

after church, chilling and eating fair trade 85% dark chocolate

Nubble Lighthouse York, Maine (once again the sun wasn't in the best position for photo taking)

beach next to the lighthouse

Melissa is an excellent knitter and made this pumpkin hat for Hannah

    

Beth and Deb-- friends since 1971

Kyle on the USS Albacore

me, mom, and Deni 10-15-24