Business Before Pleasure

We arrived home late Sunday night from a nine day trip to the East coast. It started out as a business trip for hubby, where he spoke with two other distinguished guests to a crowd of close to 200 about the implications of the HHS mandate, both from a religious liberty standpoint and from a practical standpoint. We were treated to a dinner party the night, the talk around the table ranging from faith to books to history to baseball. I love those kinds of conversations and connections! And we stayed at a local bed and breakfast run by a precious couple–Julia and Miles–both of whom immigrated from Ireland to the US in the 1950s. Though in their 70s, they both still have their accents. It was lovely to listen to them talk! We so enjoyed our visit with such sweet, like-minded people.

But new friends weren’t all we found in our journey. I was able to connect with a writer friend for coffee! Arranging such meetings with writer friends when I travel with hubby on business has been such a joy for me. I love getting to sit down one-on-one with people I generally only see in group settings, like writers conferences. Anyway, Wendy Paine Miller makes me smile. She is such a bundle of energy and always has a smile and a word of encouragement. She writes thought-provoking women’s fiction with unusual premises and great characters. I’ve been blessed to help her with her two indie books–The Disappearing Key and The Flower Girls. Check them out!

The business portion of the trip was a whirlwind two days of travel and people, which was fun but also exhausting. We were quite happy to take off for two and a half days in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We stayed at a lovely resort, the Mountain View Grand, which was established as a hotel in 1867 and remained in the founding family for over 100 years! We spent our time moving from porch to library to dining room, all with gorgeous views, as we talked and read and read and talked. We also walked a few nature trails and spent time in the gym.

We needed that complete down time, for when we left the Mountain View Grand, we headed for Boston and three and a half days of non-stop sightseeing! More about that later this week.