Boston -> Bristol (Vermont) -> NYC

The summer travels continue:

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, New York.  In 4 days.

Just a typical weekend, right?

After leaving Scott in Jacksonville, FL, I flew in to Boston two weeks later for our next rendezvous.
(He drove all that way by himself.)

As I got on the plane that evening, I noticed my face feeling hot.  And when I looked in the mirror, I saw this:

Red Cheeks

I was having an allergic reaction to ... 

I couldn't tell Scott at the time, but it was from trying on scuba masks that afternoon.  Something in/on the masks was not agreeing with my sensitive skin.

I had him googling all sorts of things trying to figure out what it was from, and I think I had him convinced it was from the salad I ate for lunch.  HA!  

It actually got worse before it got better, and there wasn't a thing I could do about it since I was already on the airplane for a 2.5 hour flight to Boston.

Once I landed and got off, he assured me it didn't look THAT bad...

His friend, Ryan, arranged his flight to land about the same time, so we picked him up, set up a camper chair in the back of the van, and took off for a quick night time tour of Boston.

Ended up at a little sushi place around midnight for some food, and then crashed, oddly enough, about two blocks from my friends Angie and Luke's house.  What are the odds!?

Saturday morning, bright and early, we hit the road from Boston to Ryan's hometown of Bristol, Vermont.  

Stopped in small-town New Hampshire for an amazing brunch, and had to get a picture of the little local farmers market, complete with "yarn bombed" trees!

We were following Ryan - through New Hampshire, in to Vermont - went he turned on to this dirt road:

And then stopped and got out.  We were going on "just a little walk" - and assured us that flip-flops would be fine.

It started out okay.  Like this:

But soon the dirt turned in to thick, slippery mud.  

And then there were a couple of water crossings.  

And hills and tree branches sticking out of the ground.

And flip-flops were definitely not okay.

It was worth it when we got to his family's cabin - a one room cabin they built on a small piece of land surrounded by national forest.

On the way back:

"Forget this again.  I'll take a piggy-back ride now."

I gave Ryan a hard time the rest of the weekend.

  What makes you think this is okay to hike in leather sandals?  

Sliding through mud.

Sticks poking you everywhere...  

Come on! ;)

We made it to Ryan's house in small-town Bristol, Vermont, and it was just gorgeous.  I hadn't ever been anywhere in the north-east, and was soon wondering why I hadn't put that on the list sooner!

We had a chill night at the house with Ryan's family and friends, grilling out, playing with the kids, and dominating the guys in a mean game of charades/taboo.

Scott and I slept in the van that night - even though Ryan and Annie had a room for us in the house.  I was excited to try out the new mattress (finally not a deflating air mattress).  Plus I knew we would more than likely be woke up by one, if not two, crying kids at some point in the night if we stayed inside. ;)

_____________________________________________________

Sunday morning, after Scott ran up this mountain, he came back to get me and we walked up again.  

(I won't mention how tired and worn out I was from just the walking part.)

The view of Bristol from the top:

Checking me for ticks once we got back - after finding one on his leg:

Later that day, after running some errands, we made a quick stop at a small waterfall along the river.

It wasn't a particularly warm day, and water was run-off from a mountain, so obviously just a little chilly.  

But the waterfall.  It was calling Scot's name -- to jump off of. 

I really wanted to do it, but the thought of being THAT cold and having no towel or warm clothes was just enough to push me towards staying on dry land.

So off Scott went, with my brand new GoPro in hand to film his jump.

GoPro in right hand:

GoPro NOT in right hand:

He dropped it as soon as he hit.  And it was gone, despite his best efforts of braving the cold water (in his underwear!) to try and find it.

Ryan and I stayed warm and dry perched above the water on the cliffs.

Sunday afternoon, Ryand and I hung out with the kids - including two nephews and some neighbor kids we picked up - at a park while Scott and Annie went for a run.  

Next up for afternoon entertainment:  the slack line

Me, who can't get more than two steps on that thing:

And Scott, who never falls off:

That night, we made homemade pizzas and had a relaxing night re-telling old travel stories. (Ryan and Annie went on an around the world one year trip, and I pretty  much think they're the coolest people ever for it.)

______________________________________________________________

Ryan and Annie both had to work on Monday, so Scott and I got the kids fed and dropped them off at daycare, which was just a quick walk down the street.

Scot was still not happy about losing my new GoPro, so he got his goggles, and we went back to the waterfall to look again.

He had higher hopes than I did.  I thought there was basically no chance of finding it.  It surely was long gone down the fast flowing river by then (almost 24 hours later) - but he wanted to look anyways.

The search didn't last too long, as the frigid water was just too cold for him without a wetsuit on.  He was turning colors in a matter of minutes and had to abort the mission.

Warmed up and back at the house, we cleaned up, showered, packed up, and hit the road towards New York City.

We stopped at some outlet malls in New York for lunch (Applebees), and I couldn't help but notice how green and tree-filled New York was.  The only "New York" I' had ever known was the cement jungle of the city, which is a stark contrast from what we drove through for hours.

Of course we had to make a stop for a picture outside the Big Apple:

NYC in the background!

It was...interesting...getting the van through New York City.  And it didn't help that I was pretty  much the worst map reading navigator that day.  (Insert a few u-turns and we were right back on track!)

Scott dropped me off at La Guardia right around rush hour -- so he had one heck of a time navigating the van out of the city on his own.  And I also had one heck of a time actually making it home!

Delay after delay in New York...and finally, by the time I actually  made it to Chicago around midnight, they had cancelled my second flight all together.  So I, along with hundreds of other stranded passengers, were directed to 500 cots they had set up in the terminal.  Since the cancellations were weather related, they weren't giving out hotel vouchers, and all the rooms within 20 miles of O'Hare were booked up.  

I was on stand-by for a flight the next day - and not an early one.  Ugh.  

Sometimes (okay, most of the time) raveling is super fun, but sometimes it's just super annoying.