The ride up to New Hampshire took almost three hours and led through a mountainous area overgrown with beautiful fall-coloured trees. Most of the time we were driving on the scenic Kancamagus Highway, named after an Indian Chief (Kancamagus = The Fearless One) who was leading a local confederacy of several native tribes from 1684 to 1691. The 55 km highway winds between Lincoln and Conway, through the White Mountain National Forest and over the Kancamagus Pass (875 m). The further we came north, the more it became obvious that we must have missed the foliage peak by just a couple of weeks because a lot of trees had already lost their leaves but some areas still looked gorgeous. When we finally reached our destination just outside a small town called North Conway, it was almost 4 pm. Aaron’s uncle had invited us to stay at his holiday “cottage” which we gratefully accepted. He and his wife, his sister and her husband were out here too, so I was introduced to some more real-life Americans. The “cottage” was – again – a great house and much bigger than what I would have expected. It was a typical American structure, built of wood and with a front porch, set in the beautiful grounds of a golf course right behind the house. Also behind the house, just a little further up the road, was a huge rock (or a little mountain, depending on how you want to see it) from where you had a great view over the area. The houses and streets here were surrounded by colourful trees in their finest fall costume and the pumpkin decorations outside most places reminded of upcoming Halloween. Overall, it was a very cosy and charming environment.

The inside of the house was at least as pretty as the outside. I especially liked the big living room with a fire place that provided heating and created a homey atmosphere. The guestrooms were upstairs from where a white kind of balcony along the corridor opened up into the living room. I also made a new friend in “Princess”, the family’s mini collie. She is a very sweet and spoiled dog, for which they couldn’t have found a more suitable name. This evening we all had dinner at Bellini’s, an Italian restaurant in North Conway. It was already dark when we went to town and with all the lights in shop windows and houses, plus the cold fresh air, I somehow felt as if it was Christmas.