Tag Archives: marriage

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The resort pros and cons. And this time I’m blaming the husband for the cons.

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Because our first trip to Vermont was a quickie, the husband wanted to go back and spend a bit more time in the same area… so that meant booking another condo at Smugglers Notch Resort.

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Pro:

We’ve been there numerous times and enjoy the quiet, nestled in the mountains setting. When checking in this time around, we were going to luck out and occupy one of the newly remodeled units… which after our previous stay in the 1980’s horror sounded perfect.

Con:

My husband saw they booked us on the first floor. And since nothing upsets my husband more than people stomping above us, he immediately requested a top floor unit. Naturally there were no third floor remodeled condos available, so we were stuck in the Willows.

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Tired. Outdated….

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And very …. woody.

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Pro:

It was clean, quiet and had a comfortable king size bed.

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Con:

Would it kill them to add a bed skirt and a pretty spread?

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Pro:

There were 4 beds in the unit. A king, a queen and two twins… in case you like a variety of sleeping areas.

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And the master bath’s whirlpool bath was in the bathroom.

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It even had its own television if that’s your thing.

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Con:

There were two random cows overhead.

And Holy guacamole Batman! The wallpaper. How bad was it?

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Really, really bad.

I mean, WTH? This is Vermont… not the southwest.

The decor mattered not one iota to my spouse. It was clean, comfortable, and had working appliances with no one stomping above him, he was happy. But no matter how many times he told me to enjoy the sunrise off the balcony….

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I wasn’t forgiving him for turning down the remodeled unit.

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The Crawford Notch 500

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When you take scenic drives around the White Mountains of New Hampshire you’re going to pass through a lot of notches. Roads that are cut straight through the hills make for some fantastic photos.

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Unless you’re riding with my husband who hates having anyone in front of him and is constantly jostling for position.

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I can’t tell you how many great shots I’ve lined up just to whizz past them in a blur.

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My husband may be well into the senior citizen age range but you’d never know it by the way he drives.

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Ever come up behind an elderly driver and have to slow to a turtle’s crawl?

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I can guarantee that’s not my spouse. He’s the one coming up in your rear view mirror who makes you move into the next lane to avoid him riding in your back seat.

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It may not look like it, but he was doing about 90 here, passing from the right, next to a big rock. Good times.

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After we exited Crawford Notch and I drew a deep breath?

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We finally visited a place that’s been on my bucket list for years….

To be continued.

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Franconia Notch

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This is the road you have to drive if you visit the White Mountains.

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The Notch was famous for The Old Man in the Mountain, a natural stone outcropping that resembled a face. Sadly, it crumbled years ago but there’s a museum devoted to it at the Canon Mountain gondola sight where you can grab a glimpse.

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Peak foliage was long past when we drove through and everything looked very grey.

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But it’s still an impressive sight.

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And a huge tourist destination.

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This was the road the day we drove it. Below was the road two weeks before…

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There’s something to be said for traveling off season. No traffic jams for us.

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Not as colorful, but definitely smoother sailing.

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Never a dull moment…

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Fort Knox part two.

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If you’re a history nerd like me, you’ll love exploring this fort.

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And even if you’re not, like my husband? It’s still a pretty cool place.

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Did my knee enjoy the spiral stone staircases? It did not, but I lived to tell the tale.

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Is it wrong the first thing I thought when I reached the top was… how do they get the lawn mowers up here?

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The views are lovely..

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And there’s the bridge we visited earlier in the day.

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And if you’re looking for proof this was an amazing place? There’s my husband taking pictures.

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My husband never takes pictures.

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It’s a good thing there was an ambulance because I almost fainted from shock.

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The last Notch drive and a little shopping.

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Heading back to the resort for the last time it looked like there was a hole in the sky…

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And before long we were approaching the Notch.

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These signs are on both entrance sides to the road and it took me a few minutes to figure out what they were talking about.

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TT’s won’t fit?

How odd.

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As we entered the Notch, rain. I swear the mountains make their own weather.

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Godzilla barfing?

No, just falling rocks.

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Not sure if you can tell from the photo, but the road is positively pink. Vermont has the oddest color tar in places. Perhaps it’s mixed with Ben and Jerry’s Strawberry Shortcake…?

Since our neighbor was caring for Lord Dudley Mountcatten… as well as feeding the fox and deer.. a thank you gift was required. This meant dragging my husband shopping and you know if it isn’t antiques he isn’t happy.

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A bottle of local Vermont wine…

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And some Vermont chocolates were perfect, but then I lost the husband in the store.

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You knew he’d find something vintage, right?

He actually collects these old gas station oil bottles and was thrilled to find a complete set with the holder. He was less than thrilled to find they were being used as decoration and not for sale.

He was so grumpy about that he wouldn’t let me go back and purchase this special maple syrup.

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Which in hindsight was probably a good thing…

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Because as soon as I saw they had various Dog liquor I wanted one of each.

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But at nearly $200 for the pair it’s a good thing they were under lock and key.

😬

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Antiquing in Brewer… continued.

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While my husband doesn’t like those crafty, shabby chic types of antique stores… he does love the kind I hate.

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The ones with massive piles of disorganized, rusted and abandoned crap that are more suited to a trash pile.

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Veritable junk yards is what they are… kitchen sink and bathroom tub included.

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But he happily pokes around, just knowing there’s a buried treasure there somewhere.

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Thankfully he didn’t find any here.

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Though he did give that industrial bread rack a hard look.

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The rehab continues.

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Another few days of sweat equity and my husband is still at it.

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His dedication to the rehab of the discarded free furniture is actually quite impressive. Shame he doesn’t show the same enthusiasm for my honey do list, but what can I say? Things you don’t have to do are always more rewarding.

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The six chairs turned out to be more of a job than he bargained for but the result was a definite improvement.

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But here’s where it got amusing… at least for me. My husband went to a craft store and purchased fabric to recover the cushions.

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Did he choose a nice quality, attractive fabric? Of course not, he’s a man. But it was fresh and clean…. and standing to the side watching him play seamstress was priceless.

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Look at that cute little Suzy Homemaker.

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Okay, there was a hammer for fine tuning… Martha Stewart he’s not. But even I had to admit the results made a difference.

Before –

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After –

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To be continued…..

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The lure of the open road.

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We picked up the husband’s motorcycle from the shop last week.

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And a mere $1,100 later….

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He was back on the road.

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And though I was ready to say goodbye to the bikes…

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I knew he was enjoying the feel of the wind in ( what’s left of ) his hair.

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There really is nothing like it.

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And I’m thinking the bikes will probably be with us a bit longer.

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And you wonder why I drink.

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The husband was late coming home from breakfast with the boys the other day and it didn’t take me long to realize why.

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My husband’s favorite word is free. And a free table and chairs on the side of the road proved irresistible.

Was it a nice table and chairs in good condition? I think you know the answer to that….

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It was horrible. The table was covered in paint and stickers with an assortment of cracks and gouges.

The chairs? Eww.

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Stained beyond all hope of cleaning. But that didn’t deter the husband, no sir. He was going to fix everything and sell it.

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I couldn’t imagine who would want it, though the table was solid oak and expanded to 8 feet with the leaves.

He spent the next 3 days working on it and with a lot of elbow grease and nail polish remover, managed to clean the table top.

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At this point I felt he had suffered enough and introduced him to the wonders of Old English scratch cover oil.

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Not perfect, but a damned sight better.

To be continued….

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Selfies ruin everything.

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I admit to taking a selfie now and then, usually when we go somewhere wonderful… but mainly because I have a husband who never takes pictures. Ever. It’s a harmless if slightly narcissistic endeavor, and my mother is dead… so if not me, who?

Then there’s the Instagram crowd. The influencers. The vapid youth of today who get paid ridiculous sums for photos that go viral. They’ll go to any lengths to get a breathtaking selfie and call me cold hearted, but I rarely feel bad when I read they fall into the Grand Canyon or off a speeding train.

Which is probably why I cringed when I read this article.

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I have been to Le Gorges du Verdon and it was fabulous. Mainly because there was no one else there.

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The husband, a friend and I drove through the French Alps for a solid 10 hours and saw only one other person. A sheep herder with his flock. It was beyond marvelous.

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That’s me sitting on the wall filing my nails waiting for the husband to climb back up from below.

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The gorge was wild and wonderful. Unspoiled nature ruled.

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As did the goats.

We visited in the early 90’s. The fact that’s it now jam packed with insipid, shallow Instagram tourists breaks my heart. And I bet the goats don’t like it either.

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