Friday, August 7, 2015

Across The Miles

Mt. Rainier in WA State, flanked by Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens (on right)

Last Thursday evening, 
Ramblin' Man took me for a little ramble
across the continent. 

We left our home near Mt. Rainier
and flew nearly 3000 miles
to New England to visit family,
including his 86 year old Mom, 
and to celebrate my niece's recent marriage
with family and friends. 


We arrive in the beautiful city of Boston
in the wee hours
under a bright, nearly full moon
peeking through the clouds.

Ramblin' Man and I grew up in small towns
south of Boston and were high school sweethearts.



We leave the busy airport
in our rented Jeep,
taking the Callahan Tunnel on
our way north to New Hampshire.



We cross the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge,
and settle in for the long drive north.

A gracious and generous sister-in-law
kindly leaves out a key to stay at her
charming apartment.


A sweet welcome.


We wake up to a beautiful day.
You can see the cozy apartment at the far end
of this large family home.


A pair of Cardinals fly by,
and there are Birch trees everywhere!

The forecast calls for temperatures
in the 90's with high humidity
for the 5 days of our stay.

Even so, everything is lush and green
with beautiful wildflowers lining the roads.

Goldenrod, Black Eyed Susan,
Purple Larkspur, Daisies.


We have a busy schedule of visiting and gatherings,
and first on the list is stopping by
to visit Ramblin' Man's sweet Mom.

She is renowned for her cooking,
and owned a very popular local
restaurant here for many years.

Her spaghetti sauce is the absolute best,
and she surprised us
with a lovely meal.

Every moment with her is a treasure.


Later, we stop by sister Donna and husband, Ron's
sweet cottage by the lake.

This is where the happy gathering will take place
the next day.



The newlyweds.
Aren't they sweet?



They were married in West Virginia in June
at Jon's family cabin
in a romantic country wedding
with sunflowers. <3


The beautiful bride is from New Hampshire
and this celebration is for those
family and friends
who could not attend the wedding.


My youngest son, Dustin and wife, Jen,
also made the long flight cross-country
to attend.

Dustin and Amanda are cousins.

They all had fun together in this rented
convertible, cruising to nearby Hampton Beach for
some seaside fun.


Ramblin' Man knocks on sister Donna's door.


A charming vignette
with the bride's favorite flowers.


More front porch charm.


Ramblin' Man's sisters relax on the porch.


Let's walk around and take a peek......


One of many beautiful gardens.


The screen house and guest house.


A view of the greenhouse.


The path to the lake.


The celebration takes place among the beautiful gardens,
and next time I will give you a tour.



I hope you will join me, Dear Friends!

xoxo

27 comments:

  1. What a lovely visit with the family and the newly married couple. The cottage by the lake and gardens are a pretty spot for the celebration. Lovely series of photos. Have a happy weekend!

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  2. What a lovely place for a fun family gathering! Have fun!

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  3. Sounds like some fun, family times. I love this cottage and gardens!

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  4. I know you will treasure this time with family. Such beautiful gardens for family to get together. I look forward to the next installment.....

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  5. What a wonderful family visit, Karen! I enjoyed stopping along the way with you to see all the charm and beauty. I look forward to seeing more!

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  6. What a wonderful time with family! Thank you for sharing the pretty gardens. (With those temps you might want to get in the lake!)

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  7. What a delight to get to travel and spend time with family. The bride and groom are adorable.

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  8. What a lovely visit with family and friends. The pictures were all delightful! I look forward to your next post. :-)

    Have a nice weekend ~ FlowerLady

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  9. oh, how great! yum, mama's homecooking. :) loved the porch and yard and fixtures!

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  10. What a great and happy time with the family! Nice to follow your trip and see everything...
    Have a lovely day!

    Titti

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  11. Hello sweet friend! Oh, what a lovely time you must have had with family. The pictures were a delight to look at and my, what a beautiful place! I loved the photo of the city in the dark with the moon lighting it up.

    Hugs to you, dear Karen.

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  12. Dearest Karen,
    That is always so special for flying away across the miles for seeing favorite family members!
    Looks very inviting and all do show the same love for gardening and making a house a 'home'.
    Sending you hugs for Sunday.
    Mariette

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  13. These wonderful family occasions make up the fabric of our lives - giving us precious memories forever.
    New Hampshire looks such a beautiful area of the States - I would love to visit.
    The cottage by the lake looks like a dream location.
    Lovely gardens and I'm looking forward to your tour!
    Hugs
    Shane

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  14. The setting is so different from what surrounds me in Sussex/UK - those wooden houses with the horizontal cladding and wide porches for sitting out in are absolutely charming. I love the rambling gardens too. Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay and celebrations. Judy.

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  15. Such wonderful pictures of your trip back home to visit family, what treasured times you have had, enjoyed the pretty gardens and cute little details of their homes, wishing the new couple much happiness!

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  16. What an amazing adventure! Looks like such a fun time with your family. LOVE all your beautiful photos!

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  17. Breath taking photo from the airplane. And beautiful surroundings every where you went. Cool signs idea with the (I'm his Mrs. and I'm her Mr.)..
    Glad you had a safe trip!

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  18. Lovely photo's of your trip to New England and your family. Happy to hear you had a lovely time!

    Madelief x

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  19. Such a lovely post you have shared with us, dear Karen.
    It looked as if you had a wonderful time, and that little cottage was a dream!

    Looks like a pretty sweet wedding with all the summer flowers graced with the ladies boots, love it!

    Have a beautiful day ~ debbie

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  20. What a fun vacation for you with family to visit. Thanks for sharing your journey in photographs.

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  21. Dear Karen,
    what a wonderful place! Thank you for all the lovely pictures! So glad, you had such a lovely time with your family!
    Wishing you a happy and woinderful new week,
    Love and hugs and blessings,
    Claudia xo

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  22. Wow, what great pictures of the family and the happy couplex

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  23. Looks a wonderful family time all together, any bride who choses sunflowers in her bridal bouquet has a great attitude in life :) Loved seeing your photos and happy times.
    Wren x

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  24. Hi Karen. I'm behind in my blog reading so had to backtrack to this post. What a fun trip you had to NH visiting family. And what a lovely home and property too. The bride and groom are sweet and I love their photos. Can you believe were were in NH at the same time? Thanks for sharing your photos. xx Pam

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  25. Sorry I'm still playing catch up - but I'm having such fun looking at your posts! I love this peek at other family members and homes that are special to your family. Such beautiful homes and gardens. It looks like the wedding was a lot of fun and so pretty too.
    Family celebrations like that are so special and especially because we get to be with our loved ones again.
    Blessings to you dear Friend. xo

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  26. How great to spend some time in New England with you!

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  27. Oh what a wonderful trip, Karen! Everything is so lovely. How awesome that you were able to go "home." And I love the celebration of the wedding that was occurring for those who couldn't come to the wedding. Just so sweet! I'm so excited for you, getting to go back and enjoy family and friends, and the beautiful surroundings!

    I was about two, almost three weeks behind with people before I took my week-long break, and now I'm over a month behind. Just trying to get caught up! The comments I am receiving for my posts are reduced by about half, and I know that's why. I was so happy to hear from you recently! Always know that even if I get behind, you are in my thoughts!

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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