Brrrr! It is getting cool!

We had a full Labor Day weekend - we bought our first real furniture, a table and chairs. We are very excited about it. It is pretty and so much better than the folding table we were using before. We were even happier that it fit into Brian's Highlander, so we didn’t have to pay $80 for them to drive it 3 miles.

We went to Quechee, a touristy area just over the river, in Vermont. There is a gorge over 165 feet deep, and you can see it from the US-4 bridge or by hiking to the bottom. It was a wonderful end-of-summer day, and we were surprised by the number of sunbathers and divers in the flat. Granite rocks make pretty brooks, but are not pleasant for wading! There were stores full of local items - cheese, maple syrup, jams. We even played mini-golf.
We joined one of Brian’s co-workers for his birthday dinner, and it was nice to be social. We met more Dartmouth employees at a social hour one Thursday. It felt good to get away from setting up the apartment, and I even met a girl from Janesville, MN (where I have friends).

We finally have all the furniture we can fit, and we have stuff on the walls, so it feels like a real home. We have found creative storage solutions, as we have wall art, luggage, and folding chairs that do not easily fit into our closets!

We found more about the nightlife here - the good and the bad. The local pub has fun bands on the weekends (but not a lot of dancers). We have not yet tried the bowling alley and dance club, but apparently there is an exotic dance club in it! I guess this one business is trying to cover all possible customers in a single building.

Last week, we parted for 16 days. We have been married nearly three months, and apart for ¼ of it! Brian has been busy with recruiting and information events in Texas (it is hard keeping track of his location). He even got to the TCU football game through the rain, but it does look like Ike will cause Brian's trip to be cut short. Kate met her mom in Orlando, where sister Michelle is living while she interns at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. The first day there, her cousin Maggie from Boston joined us for dinner, as she was there with friends. Kate’s dad surprised his girls by joining them on Friday night. It was a great time - we hit all the parks and a water park and had a free day. It is odd, as Kate and Brian will go to Disney World in October when he is there for work.

Parting note - The town in Funny Farm has a strong resemblance to our new region. Hopefully, we never have that much trouble.

Hurricane Ike

For the last several days, our eyes had been nervously watching Hurricane Ike approach the Texas coast as a potentially catastrophic storm. Over the last 36 hours it became clear that Ike would strike the Upper Texas coast, and early this morning it made landfall directly over Galveston, TX. My parents reside in Friendswood, TX, a town about 25 miles to the northwest of Galveston. I've spoken to my parents early this morning and it appears that they and their house have avoided significant damage. They missed, perhaps by a margin as thin as a couple miles, the "worst" part of the storm as it ventured inland. Early reports indicate that the Houston/Galveston area was dealt a vicious blow by Ike, and that the area will awaken today with an extended recovery effort ahead. It may take several weeks just to fully restore power.

Thoughts and prayers for the people of Houston and Galveston, as well as any who are worried about friends and relatives from a distance.