Neither of the two cottages we usually rent for a week in the spring and another in the fall was available this time around; both had been rented on a long-term basis. So we chose another that we have used in the past. It is actually one that I prefer with its larger kitchen working area and more spacious feel than the other two. And it worked perfectly for us this time around, since it has a large screen-enclosed porch that was very useful in accommodating the hijinks of Jack and Jill, providing them with even more space to romp about unencumbered by harness and leash since they aren't mature enough yet to trust off leash in the out-of-doors.

You'd think the older we get the wiser, in terms of not trucking along all manner of extra gear for a mere one-week stay away from home in a vacation and wilderness area, but it just isn't the case with us. To feel comfortable entirely we take along all manner of things that more sensible people wouldn't dream of encumbering themselves with. So that packing and unpacking becomes a real trial. I keep saying we'd no longer burden ourselves with so much gear, but saying isn't doing...

When we left home we'd tried to leave earlier than usual, and also took the new Highway 30 bypass so we wouldn't have to enter Montreal on our way to New Hampshire. Despite that, we still arrived at three in the afternoon. The drive was pleasant and uneventful, the weather cooperating wonderfully well. We made our usual stop just over the border at the Vermont rest station, where we had our brunch and walked the puppies about a bit, before heading back our to our destination.

The drive through the Franconia Notch was as spectacular as usual and this time the summits of the surrounding mountains were not encased in opaque fog. Mount Lafayette looms beyond Eagle's Cliff as majestically as ever, leaving us in wonder that we climbed the mountain with our children so long ago, and climbed to Eagle's Cliff itself on several occasions even earlier before going beyond to the summit.

From that point the drive to the cottage is fairly close, no more than an hour. We arrived to be embraced by Donna and Byron and gave them the bags of books my husband had hunted down to gift them with; large and colourful coffee-table-sized railroad books for Byron, a railroad aficionado, and crime novels by a particular author for Donna.

We unpacked our belongings into the cottage, then set off as usual for the Hannaford supermarket to do the grocery shopping to last us through the week. Hannaford shoppers are accustomed to seeing dogs in their store and they greet the presence of dogs with great interest and joy. As was the case with us over the years, being able to take our little fellows in with us ensconced in their carry bags placed on the child seats of the shopping carts.

Jack and Jill took readily to their temporary new surroundings, exploring wherever they could, and soon becoming accustomed to the green space that beckoned them first thing every morning, throughout the day when we weren't out hiking or looking about the area, and last thing at night before turning in to sleep soundly, worn from the day's activities.