Travel Blog ... New Hampshire/Vermont

I get to travel for work. Yes, get to. I like it. I'm allowed the opportunity to see new places & faces, while getting my lodging/car rental/gas/meals paid for. Could it be any better than this? Well sure, I could be doing it for fun rather than for work. But hey, it's pretty close to fantastic if you ask me.

This week I find myself working in Claremont, NH, which is right on the Vermont border. The place I'm staying at is the closest "chain" hotel I could find. It's in Brownsville, VT, and it's technically a ski resort. Snow skiing. As in, the-place-is-dead-and-creepy-and-there's-nobody-around. It's really quiet at night, and even though i wasn't hot (gasp! it's true, for once), i had to turn on the air conditioner so that i had a little white noise. But I shouldn't complain too much ... this is the view from my hotel parking lot:

The downside is the absolute lack of internet service. Already today I had to camp out at McDonalds and Chili's to allow myself a little internet surfing/email catch up time.

The people here are friendly ... what would a stay in Brownsville, VT be without a date proposition from a sweatpants-wearing, fanny-pack-sporting, 50-something man? And not just any date ... a "date" to walk around the empty ski-resort. Now if that doesn't sound like an invitation for date rape, I don't know what it is.

I walked out to my car today and realized it was the exact same model that Edward Cullen drives in Twilight. Imagine my delight! It's the Volvo C30 (he drives it in the movie, not in the book ...). I wouldn't buy it for myself, but it's kinda fun to test drive new cars through the winding, tree-lined roads of New Hampshire!

The area is awesome. I wouldn't mind coming back here on vacation sometime ... with someone else, of course. I'm thinking the fall season would be gorgeous ... with all the trees changing colors and all. Maybe I can swing a mid-semester check up on my new Claremont center?

Go-Kartin & Water Parkin!

So we just got back from the Dells ... Wisconsin Dells, WI for those of you who don't know where the Waterpark Capital of the World is! Way fun. And I'd recommend any/every thing we did to everyone!

We stayed in the Wilderness Resort. Can you say "most awesome hotel room ever"? I can. We had a 2 bedroom condo for 3 of us to share. And, where else can you find a moose walking around the lobby?

The Dells doesn't just have moose in the hotels, they're on top of cars as well!
We were guided through the Wisconsin River & Lake Delton by Jake on an Original Wisconsin Duck (a 7.5 Ton boat/car that weighs slightly less than Jake's Ex-girlfriend). It looks like this:

Jake had LOTS of fun facts and jokes for us ... they were never ending! I won't give them all away here, just know that you should take the tour and hear them for yourselves ... I laughed for the whole hour! The biggest joke of all being the "accidental" splash into Lake Delton, soaking Terri, Mia, and I (sitting unsuspecting in the front row like eagar tourists). At least we could go back to the hotel to dry our clothes! And I still highly recommend sitting in the front row regardless; watching the tour guide's face while he's laughing at his own jokes is almost as good as the jokes themselves.

After purchasing our matching "3-fer" t-shirt sets ... a short sleeved t-shirt, long sleeved t-shirt, and a hat for just $30! ... we went to Mt. Olympus! Big time roller coasters and go-karts!

This is me, on the go-kart:

That worker in the background was tromping around the go-karts with a big stick most of the day ... an intimidation tactic maybe? My favorite part of Mt. Olympus?

This bathroom. About two years ago a group of us (the BJAMN crew plus Sharla and Gretchen) went to the Dells for some go-kartin fun. Josette had to go to the bathroom so we headed that direction. She ran straight into the bathroom and into a stall. It was about that time that a woman walked out of the other bathroom, making us realize that Josette had gone into the Men's bathroom. She claims she didn't see the urinals, though it seems a little unlikely, since there are 6 of them! I'm still laughing about it!

This is me, in my new Ducks hat, showing you what a fantastic weekend we all had!