Canobie Lake Park

Ellen and I visited Canobie Lake Park on Saturday. Neither of us had ever been there before, and we both enjoyed it quite a bit. It's an amusement / water park best described as a scaled-down version of Six Flags. I'm not nearly as much into the extreme rides and roller-coasters as Ellen is, but the park offered enough to satisfy us both. And Ellen was able to get me to step outside my comfort zone a bit and join her on some rides that I would never have considered previously. We were amused to note that we occupied a somewhat unique demographic among park-goers; that is, we were neither in high school nor walking around with children in tow. All in all we had a great time, and I would definitely recommend it.

Ellen has been occupied lately with helping her advisor host the annual meeting of the international radar group to which they both belong. The conference, which took place at Dartmouth all last week, gave me a unique insight into what Ellen does. More precisely (since I still have no conceptual grasp of what Ellen actually does), I got to meet a number of her colleagues from around the globe and listen to their conversations about their work. As I've mentioned previously, it is thrilling for me to watch Ellen in her professional element, to see her interact with scientific luminaries and be treated as an equal. I'm extremely proud of Ellen and everything she has accomplished!

Last Wednesday, the conference participants embarked on an "excursion" to Mt. Moosilauke in Warren, New Hampshire. As best I can figure, each year's conference host plans an outing for the attendees that showcases the local offerings / attractions in some way. And on a beautiful spring day at Dartmouth, you just can't beat a hike up Moosilauke and dinner at the Lodj (sic). It was, embarrassingly, only the second time I'd ever summitted Moosilauke. Since I did not participate in First-Year Trips as a freshman (though I led a trip my sophomore year), my first time up the mountain came my freshman summer. And although I had journeyed to the Lodj for dinner a couple times during my undergrad years, this was only my second time up the mountain. It was even more beautiful than I had remembered.

In other news, graduation season is here, and my brother Alex graduated from Princeton University last Tuesday. Congratulations Alex!