Enjoying the Fall Colors of New Hampshire . . . and, a Wedding!

Alan and I traveled to New Hampshire at the end of September -- without our dog, Royal, or the camper.  Our nephew, Matt, was getting married, so we flew to Manchester, NH, and then drove up to Waterville Valley, for the festivities.

It has gotten so difficult and expensive to fly anywhere from Durango, we decided to drive to Denver and fly to New Hampshire from there.  That way, we could also visit some of our kids and grandkids in Denver.



Waterville Valley is about 1-1/2 hours north of Manchester, in the White Mountain National Forest.

It was beautiful there, and the colors were changing quickly.

We met up with Alan's brother, Kent, and his girlfriend, Kim -- for a beer and a hike.

It maybe wasn't the "peak" of the colors, but it was still beautiful.  I especially loved all the red maples.

 . . . and then, it was time to put on our party clothes again!

We were glad that Alan's dad, Waller, was able to make it up from Peterborough for his grandson's wedding.

It was a perfect day for Shannon and Matt's wedding --

Alan's sister, Holly, and her family . . . 

My lovely sister-in-law, Akiko, and me . . . 

Alan, Akiko, and Alan's brother, Mark . . . 

music is "Autumn Leaves" by 101 Strings Orchestra

The next day, Alan and I took a hike in the White Mountain National Forest . . . 

This was a beautiful little spot . . . 

Camping at Navajo Lake with Dan & Libby

In just 3 days of camping at Navajo Lake, we had a full range of weather -- from sunny, hot, and dry, to hurricane winds and a sandstorm, to pouring down rain, to sunny, cold, and breezy -- with rainbows, shooting stars, crazy clouds, and beautiful sunsets thrown in.

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At the beginning of August, Alan and I loaded up the camper, and the dog, and drove to Navajo Lake, in northern New Mexico.  We were joined by our friends, Dan & Libby, and their two dogs.  We thought we knew where we were going . . .

We ended up in a different spot than we were planning on -- but, it actually turned out to be even nicer.

When we first arrived, it was hot and dry -- perfect weather for a dip in the lake . . . 

Admiring the beautiful double rainbow . . . 

The clouds looked threatening, but it didn't rain . . . that night.

The next day started off beautiful, again . . . 

After lunch, the wind picked up, and then it REALLY picked up.  It was crazy -- felt like a hurricane.  I'm glad we were in a camper and not a tent.  There were tents, rafts, and other floatie things flying away and into the lake.  Then, a full-blown sandstorm hit us.  There are no pictures of all this, because Alan and Dan were trying to put the awning down and protecting themselves outside, Libby was in her camper with their dogs, and I was in our camper with Royal.  I didn't want the camera to get ruined, either.  Then, it started pouring down rain.  It finally eased up enough for Dan and Libby to cook baked potatoes and steaks!  But, we ate inside our camper, and then played some cards . . . 

The next day was sunny and beautiful, but cold and breezy . . . 

This group, camped next to us, never stopped -- and never slept, apparently.  We're pretty sure that most of them stayed up at least until 4:30 am, which would have been no big deal, except that they were LOUD -- all night!

We had a great time -- even with the noisy neighbors and the crazy weather.  We'll definitely camp here again . . . if we can find it!

music by Eric Clapton