Hotel Life

Since Saturday, we have been living in a quaint inn on Dartmouth's campus. Brian enjoys the commute and he comes home for lunch every day. The room is old and cute, but not equipped for a week's stay. We were able to get a tiny fridge for the room, so we don't have to eat out for every meal. Our room is pretty full, as we have most of our belongings that fit in the car on our drive here. I don't think the maids are used to cleaning around rollerblades and filing bins! I think we know all the valets. We have not had any zany mishaps, like people who live in hotels on TV. We are able to use the college gym and I can walk everywhere in town (we have eaten almost everywhere in Hanover). We are really looking foward to having our own place for the first time, but we are worried about living in our apartment for 2 weeks without lights, furniture, etc. We are in for an adventure! Oh, and we are conflicted about our apartment - another unit in the same complex is availible, and we have a few hours to decide which one we want.

Hanover is a compact, well-preserved New England town gone upscale. There are several sitdown restaurants with "American fare," plus places serving Thai, Indian, Italian, and, of course, pizza and burritos. The town has everything one would need, as long as one does not need a McDonald's (Quizno's is the only fast food) or a place to buy reasonably priced clothes (the boutiques are quite pricey). Our new home, West Lebanon, is 4 miles from Hanover and includes all the big box shopping, supermarkets, and fast food in the area. We think we'll enjoy being close to all that, while still being near Hanover's charm. There are also many interesting villages in Vermont that we've heard about but not yet explored. Hanover has one of the best small libraries in the country, but it costs a lot for non-residents to get a card and unfortunately Dartmouth employees don't get the benefit (though students do). We'll make due with the Lebanon Public Library, plus Brian can borrow from Dartmouth's library system.

Road Trip

We set off Thursday morning for New Hampshire, hoping that we had all the belongings we would need for 3 weeks smashed into the car. We stopped in Knoxville to see Brian's cousin, Kim, and made it to Virginia by night (not driving as far as we had hoped, of course). We really enjoyed our new GPS (thanks, Schladts) as it allowed us to explore new places easily. We drove though Lexington, home of Washington and Lee University. We drove through Staunton, and I pointed out the highlights, like Woodrow Wilson's birthplace.
Our main via point for the day was Gettysburg, but we were critical of the GPS directions the took us off the interstate and onto a small road, then state highway. Seeing that this was the most direct route to Gettysburg from the south, we went for it, wihtout realizing how long it was! The windy road was recently widened to 2 lane and there was a one-lane bridge. We stopped for the restroom in a large town, Charles Town. As we marvelled at the historic buildings and went to the visitor's center, we realized that we were in West Virginia! What a suprise to us! The town was founded by George Washington's brother and is where they hung John Brown (Harper's Ferry in nearby). It was a nice diversion, but we made it to Gettysburg. For those of you who have been there, there is a huge new museum that opened in 2008 that takes hours to go through. For those of you who have not, it is a beautiful country and town and you can really learn a lot. We are all set to watch the movie again. I am most amazed by the pictures of vetrans, who came for renuions in the 1930's - old men, once foes, now friends. We stayed till dark!
Tried and hungry, we made it to Harrisburg by 10pm. We used the GPS to look up hotels and found a few full. One Hampton Inn was inexpensive and available, so we headed towards it, a bit cautious. When we got there, it was obvious that it was not affiliated with the hotel chain! It was a family-run motel. We sat in the parking lot for 20 minutes calling hotels and almost all were full, the available rooms considerably more expensive. We had the clerk, an old man, show us a room and from a quick check, it was not bad. Plus, there was continental breakfast. We booked the room and searched for dinner, ready to finish the night. The first "restaurant" the GPS took us to did not exist, so we ended up at Perkins. However, the waitress forgot we were her table (there were only 2 others tables in use at 11 pm). It took forever! And the food was not worth the time. Back at the hotel, I realized that the shower had more mold than anything I had ever seen! And we had no shampoo. Breakfast was bread, a toaster, and coffee, so we gave up on it and drove to the capitol. Thank goodness there was a Cracker Barrel in town!
Brian has a collection of state capitol pictures, so we made sure to see Pennsylvania's capitol. It was gorgeous inside, recently re-done, and surrounded by historic buildings along the river. We drove to Albany, where the state capitol was part of a large legislative complex, the Rockerfeller Plaza. It was built in the 60's with tunnels and reminded us of a futuristic movie or the UN center. There was a free music festival (they had Ting there) and it was attended by old hippies and diverse crowds. The oddest feature of the plaza was The Egg, an egg-shaped concert hall from 1980, where the ground level was a pedestal for ticket sales and the seats and stage were elevated. It clearly was no longer the pride of Albany!
By the time we reached Vermont, skies were threatening to let loose a torrential storm and I began to feel ill. It was hard for me to take in the gorgeous scenery of pine covered mountains and towns from the 1700's. We made it to Hanover without much rainfall and began to settle into Hotel life.

So, where did we go next??

On our return to Minneapolis, we spent 2 hectic days with my family, preparing for our next voyage and celebrating Independence Day. It was sooo nice to spend time with them (the boat iN beautiful weather was a bonus). We drove to Nashville, so Brian could work his last week at Vanderbilt. Poor Brian's birthday was a bit lost in the good-bye parties! Brian's co-worker, Amy, was SUPER generous, and let us stay in her house for July. I somehow stayed very busy preparing for the move and trying to change my name. I saw New Hampshire for the first time on a tight housing-search trip. We had a tough choice - save money vs new apartments, pond vs washer/dryer, Vermont vs NH. We enjoyed a few last sights of Nashville while we could - the Hermatige, state capitol, and the TN state Museum. When the movers told us they could not pick-up our belongings until Aug 6, we decided to head out of town and fly me back for the moving day. Brian was anxious to start work at Dartmouth and I was ready to explore our new home. Unfortunately, our apartment will not be ready until August 1, so we are living in a quaint inn at Dartmouth.

Honeymoon

Two days after the wedding, we headed to Canada to Mont Tremblant, a ski resort near Montral. No, there was no snow! However, there were beautiful mountains, lakes, and brooks. We enjoyed gondola and luge rides, mountain biking, mini-golf, paddle-boating, and tennis. Unfortunatlety, hiking was out-of the question, as the mountain summit was dense with no-see-ums, a fierce biting knat. It was a balance between enjoying the view and accepting the pain! I struggled to remeber my French. Our first day in Quebec was St. Jean Baptiste Day, patron saint of the province, so we watched local bands by the lake and saw fireworks. We enjoyed sampling the local specialty - smoked meat sandwiches. There was even a "Parade du Follies" or silly-parade some evenings, with games, dancing, and bilingual fun for the whole family.

After 5 days, we headed back to Montreal, where we stayed in a hotel from the '67 Expo. I felt like I was in an old movie, and it led to the underground city, a web of tunnels, subway stations, and commerce totally below ground level. We explored Old Montreal, from the 1600's, including mass at the first Basilica in North America (where Celine Dion was wed). I didn't know Montreal was a man-made island, on the St. Laurence River. The piers were busy. We explored the Olympic complex, which still houses the swimming and diving pools. Perhaps we saw some 2008 Olympians practice! We acsended the world's tallest inclined tower, overlooking the pro football team's practice. We had an even better view of the city from Mont Royal, a small mountain right in town! It was quite a hike, but a perfect day. We spent one evening at Montreal's casino, which is housed in the old French pavillion from the '67 Expo. I had quite the winning streak at the roulette table, winning at least one bet on 7 or 8 consecutive spins! brian fared worse at blackjack, but we still left about 20 dollars ahead. We wondered if the country was celebrating us, because there was another holiday on our last day! Canada Day had a very diverse parade and fireworks. It was also moving day in Montreal, the day all the leases end, so the city was really bustling. Now that we live so close to Quebec, we have our eyes fixed on Quebec City!

Wedding

We wanted to start with a thank you for all the kind wishes and prayers we recieved for our wedding. The day was more beautiful than we could have expected and we wish everyday could be so silled with loved ones and enjoyment. We especially appreciate eveyone who was able to make it; we know that is was difficult for most guests. We could not have had a better way to start out our marriage! We hope to have a link to the wedding pictures soon.