Day 1 in NH

“If you don't like the weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes.”
― Mark Twain

 The New Hampshire part of the trip is mostly about sitting, relaxing, eating, and visiting, so I hadn't really planned on blogging this part of it, but I do want to recount a few of the high (low?) points.  We'll resume the on-the-road regular blog next week, but I'll fill in a few details while we're here.

For 3600 miles, we drove in a little sunshine bubble.  Honestly, we'd watch the news about approaching storms or record heat, but we seemed to just miss it every time.  For 8 days across 14 states, we didn't see a drop of rain, and the temperature varied between about 60 degrees and 90 degrees.  Even on our first night in New Hampshire, with the camping curse hanging over us, the weather was perfect.  Then we arrived at our house in Greenland!

View from our deck

The boat dock

Our house on the bay

This morning we ran some errands and went to Portsmouth Country Club for lunch.  The tradition has been to eat lunch and then take a picture next to the tree we planted in memory of my Dad nearly 21 years ago.  However, as lunch progressed the skies darkened and then opened up.  By the time we went to the car, it was POURING rain.  We pretty much cancelled the plans for the rest of the afternoon so we could hunker down and relax. 

When we got back to the house, we turned on the tv to see the emergency bulletins with the TORNADO WARNING 35 miles south and moving north ("Massachusetts residents are urged to take cover in the following towns...").  That was it... Mimi went in to action researching tornadoes, watching the Doppler radar, stacking up pillows and blankets, and examining the cellar for the best corner in which to hide! After and hour and a half of vigilance (and, I hate to admit, a little nap on my part), the storm had passed and we were safe!