We left Ottawa a week ago in a light rain. It was comfortable enough, not having to contend with bright sun blinkering us through the driving process. We experienced the usual agony driving through Montreal and along the Champlain Bridge, negotiating past tractor-trailers and a veritable mechanical horde of other rigs, making traffic a madhouse there.

Finally, we made our way through and had a good long run to the border, with traffic light after we'd cleared Montreal. We came across a decent and friendly young male border agent, a refreshing difference from some of the arrogant and belligerent personnel we've encountered in the past; very much appreciated indeed. We were happy enough to return his courtesy of wishing us a 'happy trip'. He was professional to a T, without sacrificing any of his humanity.

We stopped at the usual Vermont rest stop to have our brunch, admiring the Viburnum and dogwood in bloom.

The rain had given way to a heavy downpour as we approached Franconia Notch; it was heavily overcast, darkly so, with a wonderfully picturesque skyfull of dark-to-light cloud formations dressing up the mountain summits.

Not long afterward we drove onto the property of our hosts Donna and Byron O'Donnell, whose cottages we have rented for one or two weeks a year for the past dozen years and more. We shared enthusiastic greetings and hugs, and exchanged news of family, of the winter months impacting on both our families' lives and listened as they held forth, smitten with Ireland, on their first trip they had taken in the fall. Both would gladly emigrate, they claimed, to the homeland of their ancestors, but family will keep them here, we're fairly confident.

We embarked on a trip to Lincoln, the closest town to the cottage we'd rented, to stock up on food for our week's stay. We're certain that little Riley remembers the various cottages we've been in over the years from previous stays. We'd forgotten to take along one of his little beds, and found a suitable one in, of all places, the Family Dollar store sitting close by the supermarket.

Back at the cottage, we unpacked and settled in, bushed.