Hot in the City - Vacation 2010 Day 1

Today was our travel day enroute to New Hampshire for our New England vacation. We left the house this morning around 6:00am and entrusted our route planning to our Tomtom. The trip was uneventful until we realized we were headed for the Holland Tunnels outside of NYC. By the time we figured this out, it was too late..... we spent the next hour and forty-five minutes navigating our way through the traffic of the greater New York area. Although we never actually went through the tunnels, this quick tour of the city included a lovely view of the New York City skyline from the George Washington Bridge (albeit my view blocked by the pink blanket shielding Isa from the hot July sun).

Our tour of NYC also included a jaunt thru the Bronx (the birthplace of my Mother-in-law). One thing I can say for certain - New York drivers are some of the craziest I have ever witnessed. And if I haven't mentioned it yet, let me just tell you it was HOT! The temperature reading in the thermometer in the car read over 100 degrees!!!! But of course this was the outdoor temperature (not inside the car)!!!!

We stopped about five times to stretch our legs and go to the restroom - a necessary feat when traveling with a toddler in training. Isabel was an absolute angel the entire way and after watching multiple episodes of Elmo, Scooby Doo and Monsters, Inc., she finally took a brief nap the final two hours of the ride. We arrived in Hampstead, NH, at our friends' (Eric and Robert) lake house about 12 hours after our departure.

For the last two weeks Isabel has been talking about "the beach", and after a few weeks of making "sand castles" in the backyard in the dirt (more appropriately named "dirt" castles) she was very excited to see the beach. We weren't in the house five minutes (literally) when she asked to make sand castles with her new buckets and shovels so we quickly changed our shoes, grabbed our beach hats (despite the sun quickly fading) and beach toys. She had a great time entertaining herself making her own special version of sand architecture! And we are looking forward to tomorrow when we will get to go into the water!!!

Our first day of vacation concluded with a fabulous dinner prepared by Robert and a lovely view of the beach from the screened-in porch. As. The saying on the sign on the porch aptly states,"Life is good at the beach........"

Of note, I am posting our adventures this week via use of my iPad as I am getting accustomed to its features and capabilities....

Stay tuned for more fun.......