The White Mountains of NH

It was hard to leave the Durham/Dover area. We had such a good time with family. Wish all our family could be together all the time. Guess that's just a fantasy. We're scattered all across this country.

We left southern NH and headed north to the White Mountains. We camped in Lancaster, NH and used that as our home base as we went sightseeing.

First we took a car tour around and through the mountains, stopping at interesting spots.

One of those places was filled with rocks and waterfalls and lots of people. Everyone was climbing rocks and sliding down small waterfalls into small pools of water. Wished I had my bathing suit with us.

While staying in Lancaster, Joni's brother and his wife Adele, and their friends Carol and John, took a motorcycle ride up to our campsite. It was a long bike ride and short visit, but was great none the less. I guess Joni is getting a little more used to riding on the bikes. She took a quarter mile ride down the street!!!!!!!!!!

There are many beautiful falls in the beautiful state of New Hampshire. We took a few hikes and enjoyed this wonderful state.

As each day passed we looked for signs of fall colors on the trees. They are just starting to turn, but still have a few weeks to go. Hope they have an early change this year.

Another interesting thing we did was take a ride up the White Mountain Cog Railroad. The train goes up to the highest peak in the mountains. It moves very slowly to an elevation of 6288 feet, small compared to the mountains of Colorado, but spectacular even so.

The train is pushed up by both steam engines or biodiesel locomotives. At the top is a restaurant, gift shop, summet musem and observatory. The views are beautiful. Sometimes somewhat noisy and shaky as the train ascends and descends, Joni was glad to finally make up back safe and sound.

Notice the picture of the small house next to the tracks. That house is actually level, so you can see how steep the train ascends.

Our original plans were to go into Maine and tour the state, but we decided to make that another trip. After one week in the White Mountains, we made our way into Joni's home state of NY.

Fun in NH

We stayed in the Durham/Dover area of NH for about 2 1/2 week, having a great time with Joni's family. We were all together for the wedding and the family time together was priceless.

Joni's mom came out to the campground a few times. She even helped us cook out for a diner. She gets all her meals cooked for her at the Sprucewood Inn so she doesn't cook anymore. She's a great cook. Wish she make us some good Italian meals.

Joni's brother Rich, and his wife Adele, had a BBQ at their house for all their friends and family who came to the wedding. We had a great backyard picnic Again it was nice for all of us to be together.

The weather was perfect and the food was great. What more could we ask for.

Nancy and Gene White, some friends of ours that we met in Florida, joined us for some camping out while we were in NH. They live in Connecticut in the winter and in Florida in the summer. Nancy and Joni went out for a few kayak rides together and we ate diner together each night of their stay. The problem was that it rained the whole time that they were camping with us. What a bummer, but we still had a wonderful time.

We love to host karaoke while we travel around the country. Mom lives at the Sprucewood Inn, a home for senior citizens. Jan, the Activities Director is always looking for something new for the residents to do so we volunteered to do a karaoke afternoon for the residents. What a hoot! They had a wonderful time. Mostly we sang songs from the 30's and 40's and 50's. We set it up so the words would appear on the big screen TV in the Great Room of the facility. That way everyone could see the words and sing from their seats. Many were in wheelchairs or used canes to walk, so we brought the mikes to them. Our friend Nancy, who was camping with us, volunteered to help us and she was wonderful.

Since Mom's birthday was in August, we decided to make it a birthday party for her also. We brought a birthday cake and drinks in. Everyone sang to her and she had a "birthday dance" to the music of "You Make Me Feel So Young". Nancy danced with Mom and Jan danced with another resident. Neat!

What was so funny is that before karaoke started, Mom said there was no way she would sing with the microphone. Well, she sang one song and that was it! She hogged the microphone after that. It was good to see her get so involved. She loved that stuff when she was young and carefree!

Needless to say, we enjoyed our family time in New Hampshire. It is a beautiful state and we hope to stay long enough to see the fall colors.

Jusitn and Amanda's Wedding

The day is finally here. Justin and Amanda got married. Justin is Joni's nephew. He married his long time sweetheart Amanda.

All the family came. Mom looked great! All the kids were there.

The bride and groom love motorcycles and both have Harley's, so the groomsmen all rode in on their motorcycles to make a grand entrance before the ceremony.

The day was beautiful for the outdoor garden ceremony. It couldn't be more perfect.
Joni's brother and his wife are the groom's parents and they couldn't have been more proud.

Joni and Rich's Mom was glowing in her beautiful dress and loved dancing with Justin and her other grandsons. Next step is for her to a great grandmother one of these days.

The bride and groom stayed in town for about a week to visit with family and then went to Aruba for a week long honeymoon.

Camping in New Hampshire

We're finally in New Hampshire! It's been a long trip to get here..... 2400 miles from Colorado to New Hampshire.

We camped at the Barrington Shores Campground close to Joni's brother's house and her Mom's place.

Joni's brother's son Justin is getting married to his long time sweetheart, Amanda so all the family came for the event. Joni's kids, Jim and his wife Barbara, Ken and Chris all came together and spent an evening at the campground. Joni's Mom came also.

It was great to all be together. We grilled out and enjoyed the campground and enjoyed visiting with each other. It's rare that we can all be together at the same time.

Mom still thinks we are crazy to be fulltiming in our motorhome, but this is great!

There's nothing better than being with family!

Andy and Betty's

As we continued on our cross country trip from Colorado to New Hampshire, we stopped in Vestal, NY. Our Florida friends, Andy and Betty Bonetti live there and decided to have a mini Ocean Resorts reunion at their house.

As we pulled up their street, we saw their beautiful house up on a hill. What a view they have. The fall colors have to be gorgeous.

Jean and Chuck Lockerby and Carol and Rich Quest also came and we had a great time.

One afternoon we went to the local tennis courts and had a wonderful afternoon of tennis. As you can see in the photo, Betty and Jean beat Delton and Andy. What a match. Joni enjoyed seeing the girls win!

On another day, we went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Coopersville. It brought back many memories for us old folks. See Delton standing with Baby Ruth and Ted Williams. Also they showed an Abbott and Costello skit - "Who's on First!" That is priceless!

W also attended a pro tennis match in Binghamton. It was a prelim for the US Open. Great match!

Andy really planned well. We attended a farm team baseball game and watched the Mets play and win in extra innings. What a game.

Andy and Betty are the best! We all had a wonderful time and look forward to seeing everyone in Florida this winter.