Our Christmas in 2020 was a little different than in past years.
We decided to travel to our chalet in New Hampshire so we could have a change of scene and enjoy some time in the mountains. But his meant that we needed to quarantine for 14-days when we arrived. Accordingly, we packed up the car with everything we might need for 2 weeks and set off a few days early.
Our friends Mike and Denise had managed to rent the chalet next-door-but-one to ours for a few days. So, we agreed to try to have an outside and socially distanced Christmas together if we could. We wouldn’t see anyone else and we all had plenty of warm clothes from our outdoor sporting activities to wear.
To shelter from the weather but still stay outdoors we set about creating an outdoor dining area under our deck. We needed protection from strong winds, cold temperatures and heavy rain (the typical New Hampshire weather at this time of year). This was achieved with a tarp, zip-ties, bungies, a string of Christmas lights, a propane heater, and the last remaining Christmas tree from our local hardware store. In just a few hours “Cafe Dundee” was created!
Despite a wide range of weather conditions (including 3” of rain on Christmas Day) we were able to enjoy festivities outside three nights in a row without getting drenched or suffering from frostbite. There was plenty of fresh air and lots of distance between us all even when huddled around the heater. And in between all of the eating and drinking associated with Christmas we managed to fit in a couple of nice winter hikes (Peaked Mountain, Attitash Trails) and a morning on our XC ski’s at Bear Notch.
A big thank you to Mike, Dee and Mesa for joining us in this crazy Christmas adventure. We had a great time and we hope that you did too!
