Sunday May 2, 2010 - Weirs Beach, New Hampshire - Buffalo, New York

For us, it was a pretty early & good morning. Our goal was to be on the road by 9am - an hour earlier than the mandatory 10am check-out. We hit our goal right on the nose, which felt good. For the record, I was surprised to learn that there was not an LCMS congregation literally within 100 miles of Weirs Beach. Somebody ought to start a congregation there. Truly.

In case anyone is inclined to map out our route, we took the NH3N to the NH104W, then on to the US 4W. Just before the Vermont border we hopped on I-89N before jumping back off about 10 miles later onto the US 4W. This eventually brings us across the border into eastern New York state, where we eventually transition for a short time onto the NY32S, then the US9S. This links us up with I-87S, where we exit for NY9P North before jumping onto the NY50S and then the NY67W. We're on the NY30S for just a mile before finally hitting I-90W, which we stay on all the way into Buffalo.

I left out all of the twists, turns, jumps, and hops that Google maps leads us through as these various roads do unexpected things in small towns. This was probably the most complicated of our drives thus far (and they're not likely to get *more* complicated as we head west!). We were pretty proud of our ability to follow directions.

We decided that we'd love to come back some day and spend some time in Woodstock, Vermont. Seemed like a cozy little community with lovely old homes along a meandering stream. Gena and I agreed that we would definitely come back to the Lakes region of New Hampshire as well, if that were ever a vacation option. We'd probably prefer it in the off-season again, but we'd love to take a trip sometime in the fall to New England to see the hillsides on fire with colored leaves. It must be breathtaking.

We stopped for lunch in South Glen Falls, New York. Lacking any other better options on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I made the executive decision to swing into Mr. Bill's Carhop. All the carhop spots were taken, so we dined outside underneath large red and white umbrellas. It seemed to be a pretty happenin' local spot, almost painfully so. The temperatures were in the low 80's, and it was humid but not oppressively so. A nice cloud cover lingered over lunch, further assisting the umbrellas in keeping us cool.

We arrived at our lodging in Buffalo, the Lord Amherst Hotel, around 7pm. We had a quick bite to eat before all collapsing in exhaustion. It had been a hard day for the kids, particularly Caedmon, whom we suspect might be fighting some sort of bug. However, at this point his only real symptom is excessive grumpiness. That might just be the last of the Terrible Three's shaking their way out of his system before he hits the Frightening Fours. Time will tell, and hopefully a good night's sleep will help!