My sister, her husband and their kids had asked if we could meet up before Mollie and Ella headed off for their planned trips in July so we made plans to meet for dinner in Manchester. Of course, we all had to work around our normal, busy work schedules. But I'm happy to say that we were successful! I picked up Mollie after work (1515) and we drove south via I-89, NH-3A, I-93 and I-293. We arrived in Manchester by 1645 and, while waiting for my sister's family, Mollie and I walked around in the nearby Hobby Lobby. When Katie, John, Johnnie and Ella arrived (1700), we went into the Texas Roadhouse for dinner (done at 1820). Afterwards, we drove a short disstance so we could walk around in the Mall of New Hampshire. Ella and Mollie bought a lot of things and I chatted with Katie, John and Johnnie. It was a great visit with lots of laughs and catching up with news. We were done with the Mall at 2000 and then followed John and Katie (on I-293) to a Dairy Queen that was located on the west side of the Merrimack River (on Second Street). The drive through line was extremely long but we were able to walk inside and get some ice cream. We wrapped up our visit at around 2045 and said goodbye. Mollie and I then headed north on I-293. We enjoyed the evening views of the waterfront area in downtown Manchester along the way... We got off the Interstate when we saw an exit for NH-3A - it was strange to find that we were only two miles from where we normally get on it when we transition from I-89. We stopped for gas at two different Irvings (the first one didn't have any gas in their tanks but the second one did). Mollie washed the windows (2100) and we then got back on NH-3A and followed it to I-89. There was almost no traffic all the way home but we were treated to a big lightning show to the west - fortunately, it never rained on us. We made it to my condo by 2200 and both went quickly went to bed.
