a frozen weekend trip

This weekend, N and I took a trip to northern New England, which involved many, many hours in the car, which was very, very salt-covered when we finally got home.  Salty roads aside, the trip was wonderful.

We stopped in Somerville, MA to visit N's brother-n-family.  Our nephew, who recently turned two, is finally starting to recognize us.  He was about to go for a walk for an "attitude adjustment" and when he was informed that we wouldn't be going with him, he became very sad and insisted that "both friends come."  It made my day.

We also took a day to drive up to New Hampshire in an attempt to get our much-needed mountain fix.  When I first saw the White Mountains from afar, I called them hills and was a little pouty (in need of an attitude adjustment myself).  I insisted on calling them "little mountains" as we got closer, but eventually gave in and appreciated their full beauty.  I might even say that I fell a little in love with them.

We stayed off the main highways and took brunch on the eastern side of Lake Winnipesaukee (above).  After a stunning scenic drive, we got a room at an inn in North Conway.  

There, we rented snow shoes and took to the trails, which had fairly deep powder.  It was my first time snowshoeing and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Afterward, we found a fantastic Indian restaurant and spoiled ourselves with hot chocolate at the "Bavarian Chocolate Haus."  N took a second to count and then declared that all the splurging was in celebration of being married six months.
We returned to Somerville for a night and had an excellent potluck dinner with Swattie friends, and then headed home again the next afternoon with our well-salted car.  During the entire trip, temperatures were very low, so it was nice to get back to our apartment which is uncontrollably overheated by a central system.

Snow-covered stream boulders.

Snowshoes!

This was just a fun shot.  Alas, we saw no moose.

A lovely view from a pass in White Mountain National Forest.