Travels and Castles

Wes and I spent the last weekend near Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. I won’t comment on the “cottage” where we stayed…yes I will… The place did not allow pets, yet somehow a kitty had spent some time peeing in the cottage. Eeewww! Other than that, it was a nice weekend. On Saturday we went up to see the Castle in the Clouds, which is a mansion on a mountain top. We stopped to see some falls on the way up the mountain. The falls were pretty but I was more impressed with the mushrooms and parasitic plants. They were everywhere. It was a mycologist’s dream. I took lots of pictures!
I have toured quite a few mansions in the last year or so, but the Castle in the Clouds was my favorite. I haven’t really wanted to live in any of the grand house I have seen until now. I could live there though. I might even keep the floor plan as an idea for my someday dream house. The part that I like the best was the octagonal wings with lots of windows. Its funny that I grew up in an octagonal house with rectangular wings, but someday I want to live in rectangular house with octagonal wings. Anyway, go see it if you have the time. We were supposed to go out on a boat ride, but it started raining, so we did race prep stuff instead and then watched the Olympics.
Sunday, I got up at 5ish despite my better judgment and took Wes to his triathlon. I had considered hiking up the mountain to pass the time until the race started, but it turns out I am not a “hike up the mountain first thing in the morning” person. I went to do the spectator and professional race photographer thing instead. In between cheering Wes on as he came in and out of transition, I was a bit bored. To give myself something to do, I stalked the professionals after they won the race and got the female and male winner to sign a small pencil sketch I did of the swim. The guy, Any Pots, just missed making the Olympic team and the gal, Chrissie Wellington, came out of no where to win every race she enters and may be a future Olympian. Anyway, Wes was a fan and thought the signatures were pretty cool. I think its funny that the first autographs I ever ask for are from people that I barely know anything about. :)
After the race, Wes informs me that he needs to go to the Medical Tent because he thinks he has a ruptured ear drum. Apparently he was hit in the head in the first couple seconds of the race and almost dropped out because he thought he had a concussion. And he wonders why I have no interest in competing in the zoo. The doc in the tent said he needed to go to the hospital to get antibiotics right away. Fortunately, we had planned on having dinner with some friends in Boston and one of them is a doctor. So we got some expired antibiotics, had a nice dinner, met their sweet little girl and caught up on each other’s lives. All in all, it was a nice weekend.
Now the insanity begins. I have been doing last minute chores all day and packing up boxes. Tomorrow I have my last day at Sylvan, with my GRE student. It turns out that she lives right across the street from me. Funny! Then I pack the car and head to Norfolk on Wed morning. I don’t know when I am going to be able to post again, but you can be sure that I will be keeping busy.