Gorham, NH

We did our annual family getaway to the now-infamous Town & Country in Gorham, NH this past weekend.  In attendance were: Dad, Mom, Me, Brooke, Hunter, Max, Shea, Jamie, Whitney, Jack, Amelia, Justin, Melissa, Thomas, Elizabeth, Shawn, Kristen, Megan, Erinn, Garry, Peg, Sean, Meredith, and Griffin.  Got all that?  Good.  So some of us headed up a day early this year in order to spend more time in the great white north, and it proved to be effective.  I took Hunter for a solid 30 miles on the snowmobile Friday with Dad chauffeuring Amelia around and Jack and Jamie riding together.  We went to Lowe's for gas in Randolph and then up to the warming hut and back.  Trails were in marvelous shape.  Everyone got together for lunch at Mr. Pizza where Jamie and I then took off on our own to enjoy the still-perfect riding conditions up to Berlin and back.  Grand total of 70 miles.  We all gathered together that night for dinner at the hotel which has sadly been mediocre-at-best for the past few years.  The remaining members of our group sauntered in around 10pm, long after we were all in bed.

Saturday brought a change of plans.  Brooke took Hunter skiing at Cranmore with Justin, Melissa, Thomas and Elizabeth, and Dad, Amelia, Jack, and Jamie went to Fabyan's for lunch on the sleds.  That left me and Max to spend a nice quiet day with Whitney and mom, and it turned out awesome.  We took an extra long swim in the pool that morning after breakfast, then I took Max for a seven mile ride on the snowmobile - his first.  We parked the sled in front of the room and as soon as the engine died I heard him muffle "more?" through his neckwarmer.  The four of us then took Jamie's truck to Fabyan's to meet the snowmobilers and had yet another astounding meal there.  It's just pub food, but it's still delicious every single time.  Jack and Amelia were wiped from riding the 40-or-so miles there, so they rode home with us.  We dropped Whitney off at the hotel for a nap and then proceeded back into town to hit a few of the shops.  I finally, after all these years, made my way into the big hiking store in town, and wasn't disappointed.  While my funds limited my purchases, I did come away with a great map of the AT for the gear room downstairs.  As the day wore down we realized with a party so large we had only one real option for dinner, the hotel restaurant again.  We had to get separate tables, but the tradition lived on: some pretty good meals were outnumbered by some truly atrocious meals.  Oh well, we always have fun at dinner so the food is always secondary. 

We woke up Sunday and all went our separate ways.  Dad and mom made the trek back with us, as L.L. Bean and lunch together has become kind of a staple in recent years.  We were back home by dinner time, and another successful trip north was in the books.