New Hampshire, Vacation Part 2 !!

With My Best Friend Kelly And Her Son David At An Apple Orchard, Picking Apples!

Hey Ya'll,

Well, as I said in my last post.  I made it to New Hampshire by 5:15 am.  I was exhausted for sure...but I was sure happy to be there!  And of course, since I had been up for so long, and was going on pure adrenalin by then just to keep going.  I wasn't yet ready to sleep!  So after I ate my breakfast, I unpacked my luggage (after taking photos of my room of course!), then attempted to call home to let everyone know that I was there and safe.

However, I realized that I didn't have phone service there, so I had to rely on emails.  So I emailed Walt, and asked him to call my parents to let them know I was there and ok.  Then I emailed everyone else.  But...I still wasn't ready to go to bed, so I watched some TV for a bit, then took my meds (including my sleeping pill), and went to bed after placing the Do Not Disturb sign on the door!!  Kelly knew that I was arriving early in the morning, so she waited until after she got home from work to contact me, thus letting me get some rest.

Late that afternoon, I get a call from the Front Desk saying that I had a package, so I opened my door and started to walk to the Front Desk, when I realized that Kelly was standing there with a big bunch of Balloons, a beautiful Bouquet of Carnations (which happens to be my favorite Flowers), some Mints, a Card, and a huge smile!!  Even though we hadn't seen each other for years, it was like it was only yesterday.  She is truly a Best Friend!

Most people have a lot of friends, but I don't.  I have friends, but only 2 Best Friends.  Kelly is one of them, and Nadene is the other.  Nadene, if you are reading this, I really hope that we get to see you in February!!

Anyway, since I had had a long day before getting some sleep (about 24 hrs up by the time I actually went to bed), Kelly decided to just have a private dinner with me that night.  So we went to Olive Garden, since she loves it too, and no one there wants to go there with her!  Then we came back to my room and talked for a couple more hours, until she needed to get home, as she had to work the next day.

So....since I wouldn't see Kelly until about 3 pm, I decided to eat my left overs from dinner for lunch.  Great idea, right?  WRONG!!  My room had a refrigerator and microwave, so I thought, no problem, I will reheat my dinner.  Well....that was a huge mistake!  I ended up dropping the container with my extra Spaghetti Sauce all over the Carpet in front of the Microwave!!  I felt so bad.  Luckily I had bought a roll of paper towels for my room the night before, so I mopped up as much of the Sauce as I could, straightened up the room, then called the Front Desk telling them of my accident.  I then left the room so they could come in and clean the carpet for about an hour.

I felt so bad making Housekeeping go above and beyond the normal cleaning, that I went to the Front Desk and asked for an envelope.  I then put a $10 bill in it, sealed it up, and gave it to the Housekeeper.  She was really sweet about it, and thanked me profusely for the extra tip.  However, that was the last time I let my room be officially cleaned while I was there (9 nights).  Because I really don't make a mess, I straightened my own bed, especially since I had to sleep on a row of Pillows, that way I could keep them on the bed, and not have them taken off, and have to figure out which pillows worked the best in what position!!  So I just requested an exchange of Towels periodically, and to have my trash taken, and replaced with new trash bags.

While I was there, Kelly and her son David came over several times to go swimming in the Indoor Pool and Jacuzzi.  Well....David swam, while Kelly and I relaxed in the Jacuzzi!  LOL  We also went to a Flea Market, a Highway Stand that specializes in making homemade Maple Donuts, and an Apple Orchard.  All on different days of course!  And Kelly came over several times to my room alone and we just had a great time talking....and no, we never ran out of things to say!!  LOL

I did eat dinner at their house a couple of times (Kelly is a great cook), but I wanted to take out Kelly's husband Rick at least once as well, since he was being such an angel and letting Kelly spend as much time as she could with me.  So one day, Rick and David were out checking the Flea Market and Yard Sales in their area, so I figured that that would be a good day to take them to dinner.  So we went to Chili's as both Rick and David likes it there.  And it was a good thing...as the next morning, both Rick and David (not to mention Kelly's daughter and son that live on their own) came down with a horrible Cold!!

So I basically stayed away from Kelly's house after that, as I was trying to stay Cold free, as I didn't want to be sick while trying to fly home.  So after that, Kelly just came to my Hotel and visited the last couple of days.  In fact, the last day there, Kelly had to work, and then they were going to celebrate Kelly's older son's birthday.  So I used the excuse that I still needed to pack before leaving for Salem, MA the next day, and I didn't want to intrude on their family birthday party.

Well....one thing that I haven't mentioned as yet.  But I was barely able to sleep the whole time I was in New Hampshire!  I mean, I was usually up until 6 am almost every night, then if I was lucky, I would get an hour to 3 hours sleep, which was the main reason why I didn't want Housekeeping to disturb me.  I was taking sleeping pills, but they just weren't working....during the whole time I was gone, which was 11 nights (or was it 12?), I only got about 20 hours of sleep total!!

So, even though I told Kelly that I was staying in my room so that I could pack that night and go to bed early....NOT!  I ended up staying up most of the night again!  Luckily for me, my check out time was 11 am, so I got dressed, went out and filled my plate of breakfast at 6 am (again!), then went to bed for a few hours, got up, showered and dressed, checked out at 11 am, and drove over to Kelly's to pick her up!  As she was going with me to Salem!!

So now that I have talked your ears off yet again....till next time when I give my Vacation Part 3 about Salem and my trip home!!  Oh, and I have included a couple more photos below, and you can click on the photo to enlarge it as well.

Aloha My Friends :)

This was my Hotel room.  Very nicely appointed.  Everything that I needed.  And you can see the Balloons that Kelly brought me attached to the Desk.

My Flowers....Kelly tried to get as many Carnations as she could, but also included a few other types.  They stayed open and smelling great the whole time I was there, so I took them to Kelly's house when I left, so she could also enjoy them at her house as well!!  That's part of the reason that I love Carnations, they smell great, but not overmuch, and they last a long time!

This is a photo that I took in Keene, NH.  I just had to take this, how often do you see an Apothecary Store?  Nowadays, you see a Pharmacy!

And me being born and raised on the West Coast, we never see towns with an old fashioned Town Square with a Gazebo!!

Just another view of the quaint Gazebo.

And you just don't see many Main Streets like this anymore.  I love it!!  But because it was such a Main Street, once parked, it could be hard to back out of the space, trust me!!

Now....how many of you remember the Movie Jumanji, with Robin Williams??  Well, they filmed part of it in Keene, NH.  Here is a mural they painted for the Movie that the Town has left in place!!  Locals to the Town, must have thought that I was crazy, or at least knew that I was a "Tourist", taking photos of an old Mural!  LOL