Thursday, December 20, 2007

I have a confession to make: yesterday was the warmest day so far (close to 32 degrees!), so I was nervous as we went driving around that our snow people would melt--it would be so depressing to see the watery remains of something that brought so much joy to me!

However, when we woke up, there was fresh snow all over the place! Everything was freshly covered again, including the table where our miniature men were...and I do mean were. You could no longer see them with the deep new covering. They had joined once again with their snowflake kin. At least they didn't melt!!!

This morning, we had planned to take a trip to Lebannon, NH, where we could go to a shopping center and buy a new memory card for my camera. Apparently, I had been taking a lot of pictures, and was running out of room...

We did get slightly lost trying to find Best Buy, which was just off the freeway...that's ok, because we got to see how the big city people lived in this area...nothing like Dallas!

We found another shopping center that had a Ritz Camera, so we stopped there and got the memory card there--1 GB!!! Now, we're REALLY set! While out, we stopped at a little Chinese restaurant, called Men At Wok (ha ha!!!!--Mine will be named Wok and Egg Woll....). It was tasty, but like every other Chinese restaurant--a lot!

Today was the day we had the sleigh ride and fancy dinner planned, so we decided to spend the time before then driving around and exploring New Hampshire.

We saw some historical sights, the world's longest covered bridge (crossed over between Vermont and New Hamshire) which we drove over a couple of times, and my favorite sight of the day--a black and white Newfoundland!!!! These are some beautiful, loving dogs, and this was the first I have ever seen that was multi-colored (they are usually solid black).

At one moment it started snowing again as we were driving around. We decided to stop in a church parking lot and admire the pretty flakes. I rolled down the window to feel the air when a snowflake landed on my black sweater.

This is the very first time I have seen a snowflake's shape. And it really is the unique pattern that God gives them. I know it sounds crazy, but it was such an amazing moment to experience. The snowflakes in Dallas seem to be all clumped together, so it was not what I thought they really were. Needless to say, we took as many pictures as we could so that we could zoom in and see the beauty!

When we arrived in South Woodstock, there was about an hour we needed to kill until the sleigh ride, so Cary drove us to a little convience store, where they sold food, beverages, and souveniers! After buying our coffee and 'hot water' (my cocoa was pretty much just that) we strolled around and looked at all of the socks, sweaters, pillows, and jams that were in the shoppe. Lucky for Cary, I didn't see anything that "I must have!!!






Around 4:00 we got to the location of the sleighride and waited for them to arrive. When he did, he was carrying along a large bed with about 8-10 teenagers on it. The hyperness that they had getting off of the ride! The guide took a moment to change out to a 2 person sleigh on one horse (instead of 2 like the other ride was) and then we were off!

It was such a beautiful, fun moment out there. It snowed the entire time, and not to mention it was at dusk with a cloudy sky...very romantic (except for the guide being the 3rd wheel!)

We learned a few things on the sleigh ride:

"I'll be there with bells on"--this was on the RSVP cards for our wedding. Mr. Kendron (very nice man) told us that it meant that no problems happened in the journey to the location. In the past, if a horse and wagon were found on the side of the road with trouble, the payment for the person stopping to help was the bells on the horse. Poor Grandma J had car trouble on the way to the wedding, so technically, she did not arrive with bells on...

We also found out that the sleigh guide was the former owner of Kendron Valley Inn, the inn we were about to go to eat. He told us a little bit of history with it (which unfortunately I do not remember)

The horse was named Dancer... and the other horse she just gave the larger tour with HATES to be alone. He was throwing a fit in his trailer as they drove away.

I know. The first bit of information was the most fascinating. I should have started with that first...but hey! Gotta change it up sometime!

After the sleigh ride, it was dark and we were FROZEN!!! We still had about 45 minutes to go until our reservations at the inn, but we decided to go there anyways and see if they would be able to fit us in....not to mention get warm!!

We got lucky--the inn had a vacancy for us...or 2...or 3...or possibly 50. We were the ONLY ones in the dining room to eat dinner. The waitress was super nice, talking with us and complimenting us. A doggie even wandered in occassionally to join us. There was laughter in the next room (a bar/hang out type area) so it didn't feel completely empty. The ONLY downer about this inn was that the fireplace was not lit...but the waitress provided us with warm apple juice with a cinnamon stick, so that warmed us right up!



This atmosphere couldn't have been more perfect for a honeymoon scene. And to top it off, my NY Strip Steak was DELICIOUS!!!!!! When we got back to the house, our snowmen were completely covered with snow. What a way to end the night!