Sue's Journal - 2006

Journal of Susan

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Our travel season is a little different this year. After spending several months in Florida work camping and staying close to family and friends we started by going to Alaska with several friends and joined family for a graduation of the only great granddaughter in the clan. We fished in Nilichick and many pounds of halibit were caught. A tour boat from Whittier to see many glaciers, plane rides out of Talkeetna, bus rides in Denli, and even snow and freezing temperatures of 22 degrees didn't detour us. Denali's striking beauty was well worth the bus ride. A paddle boat tour of the Chetna River in Fairbanks to experience the eskimo traditions and way of life. Getting close and personal with the Alaskan Pipe Line. We saw a few moose, but not many wildflowers were in bloom. The season in Alaska was just beginning or some say a little late getting started this year. A forest fire in Nannana nearly left us stranded and unable to return to Anchorage and home. We all had a great time as you can see in the pictures. Another trip and we are all still friends and talk to each other
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Upon our return to Florida we were greeted by Tropical Storm Alberto, so we weren't quite ready to get on the road and as the saying goes there was a reason. My beloved father passed away 4 days after our return from Alaska, He was 95 years young and so enjoyed his dream of traveling to Alaska. We left in a rather haste and farmed our home out at our friends in North Carolina, raced to Massachusetts for my dad's final resting place. New England didn't disappoint us as the rains came and then some. Our return south was in driving rain and flash flood warnings in Virginia. Luck was on our side and me managed to find a little sunshine on the return trip. After a restfull two weeks with friends we were finally able to get on with the summer/fall trip.

We spent one week at Clarks Hill Lake outside of Augusta, Georgia with family and friends. Two who drove from Florida to join in the fun and adventures. Two others who we have known since our children have been small and all were raised as extented family. Don and Rosie now have their own graddaughter who is just as cute and precious as can be. Our three grandsons and two daughters made a train ride to Denmark, S.C. where we picked them up during the middle of the night. Ever been to a small town train station in the middle of night? Didn't think the train was going to stop, but just before the last cars came into view it did. Three happy little boys and two worn out moms disembarked. The next morning after a couple of hours of sleep these same little boys discovered the water below our campsite. Needless to say we had to nearly feed them while they played in the water. We managed to give them boat rides and teach the oldest one to waterski. His mom also had a refresher cousre and the next day discovered the muscles were not happy. Horseback riding was the next fun event. We even managed to play pirates on floating rafts. Grandma scored the best new pirate badge by sinking a pirate ship! What comes in the middle of the night also leaves in the middle of the night. That's right another early morning trip to the small town train station. Of course it was 2 hours late departing so who needs sleep when grandchildren are envolved. We did manage to get 2 hours of sleep before breakfast was served.

We are now traveling to Indiana for service to our motorhome. Let the rest of the adventures begin. We left Georgia on Route 20 west bound and picked up I-75 north bound. Being Sunday there wasn't much traffic in any of the cities. It was rather warm and we stopped for fuel in North Georgia. We stopped for a rest in Kentucky and it was still rather warm, but the view of a horse track and the shade was mighty inviting. We decided to drive until the sun set in hope of it cooling down. We next stopped for fuel in Indiana and sure enough it was a lot cooler so we stopped for the night. Next morning we drove into Indianapolis, In. and picked up route 31 and then route 6. to Nappannee, Indiana.

Our appointment was Tuesday morning at 6:00am. It rained during the night and the wind blew along with lightening flashing and cracking nearby. Everyone was talking about the wild storm last night. We just thought it was a normal storm for us seeing were from Florida. Forgot about that tornado thing that happens in these here parts. We did learn that we must evacute to a nearby church or bank not the restroom inside the building which is where I would have gone, after all in Florida they teach you to find an inside wall away from glass and duck and cover your....head.

We went on the factory tour and learned a lot about how our rig is made. Ten units a day are produced and all are ordered either by dealers or individuals. They use to produce twenty a day, but because of the econony and the quality not quantity factors have decreased production. The workers are hard at work not standing yakking like we would see elsewhere. From what we were told they are also very well paid.
Nappannee is an Amish/ Mennonite Community. You see many people riding bicycles, or driving horse drawn carriages. We drove to Elkhart and found much the same along the way. Many recreational vehicles are made in this area. Forrest River, Jayco, Holiday Rambler, Travel Supreme, Monoco, Newmar, also many manufacuted homes are made here. Many good eating establishments and bakeries too.

After spending a week here it wasn't too bad. The temperatures were mostly in the 80's during the day and the evenings cooled down. We had a real warm 90's`day and a rainy day too. Our motorhome was finished this afternoon, so we will be headed east in the morning.

Saturday July 22, 2006
We left Nappanee, Indiana early in the morning traveling along route 6 to Interstate 69 North where we picked intsersected with I 80-90. Still a lot of farm country along the coastline of Lake Erie. On i-90 in Saybrook, Ohio we stopped for fuel and decided to spend the night. So did quite a few others. There were 3 couples traveling together two had motorhome and one with a 5th wheel. the comedy club started when the motorhome people decided to help the 5th wheeler back into a spot. There was plenty of room however the men were sampling the adult beverages and it all became a comedy of errors. Without hitting any vehicles or curbs the 5th wheel got parked, but the men were definately staggering around. The rains then started, so we were glad to be parked and off the highway.

Sunday morning we awoke to bright sunshine, cool temperatures and got on the way around Buffalo, New York. The farm country soon gave way to the Wine Country around the shores of Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. We didn't stop to sample any of the grapes this time around. We passed through Syracuse and the land of 1,000 Lakes Region. To Utica, Schenectady, on to Albany and the Massachusetts Border. This is an expensive toll road when driving a motorhome towing a vehicle. just this section cost $46.00. We stopped just outside of Worcester, Massachusetts on the Massachusetts Turn Pike. We were joined by several other motorhomes and trucks and all was quiet.

Monday morning we continued our journey North bound. Through Worcester route 190 to 495 through Lowell, Massachusetts On the the New Hampshire border. One must remember to not get off the main highways in New England to get fuel unless you know for sure you will find a large service station to accomodate the rig. You could be traveling on narrow roads for many miles to find a place to turn around and you definately will not be able to fit into a service station unless you block the road. We filled up in Salisbury, Mass. along the highway. We crosssed over into New Hampshire and stopped at the border of Maine. We have decided to drive to Bangor and get a campgound in that area and await our friends from California arrival.

We are camping at Pumpkin Patch RV in Hermon, Maine. There is a web site, www.pumpkinpatchrv.com This is a nice little place only 6 years old and very, very clean. The owners are friendly and helpful. The weather is very nice. It gets warm during the day 80's and cools off at night to the 70's or 60's. We decided to see some of the area around here and found SAMs Club, Wal-mart, and a large shopping mall. We also found a town Forrest in Orono, which is a suburb of Bangor. there is a web site for this www.oronobogwalk.org. It contains many trails and we did the East Trail out to the boardwalk. It was cool in the forrest area and became quite warm as we reached the far ends of the Bog boardwalk, which was in the sun and no shade. We found blueberries, wild cranberries, and several flowers still in bloom. Pitcher Plants, Labador Tea, Bunchberries just to name a few. Some birds and lots of rabbit trails. We did see a white inch worm, very unique. Hope the pictures come out.
There are many things to see in this area. Old Town Canoes are made here, A Covered Bridge, which I am sure I was at sometime in my earlier life. We decided to find the farmers market in Brewer. Now one must understand this is small town, The market was all of 3 white shade tents on the grounds of the YMCA recreation center, next to the city pool. Thinks were not cheap or plentiful. Not use to the prices of corn being $6.00 a dozen.

Friday,

Our California traveling partners have arrived a couple of days early so we will spend the next couple of days getting caught up on life on the road for the last year.

Sunday July 30, 2006
We have moved our location closer to Bar Harbor, Maine. We are at a campground called Balsam Cove. in East Orland, Maine. web site www.balsamcove.com.We will be here until July 21. This is not a resort by any means, but the owners have been really nice and have helped us get into and on the sites they provided. Very friendly people camping here and very quiet at night. It is located on Toddy Pond which is 10miles long and full of fish; golden trout, bass, brim, salmon .Mostly anyone who has gone fishing has caught something. Dave` says he will think about it. The pictures on the web site is our view, but it definately has more trees along the shoreline and playground equipment.

Monday July 31, 2006
We drove into Bass Harbor today. We remember being here with 13 other families a few years ago. The lighthouse is still there and so it that campground, still looks the same, they have added a tenting site across the road and made the old tent sites within camper sites. It is not as hot as when we were last here. We had lunch and introduces Earlene to Lobster rolls. She said she could really like them all the time. We went through Ellsworth and Trenton which are both becoming bigger with stores and tourist.

We have had a couple of rainy nights, mostly it is warm during the daytime in the 80-90' and cools to the 60's at night. We are definately not complaining as some places it is extremely hot and humid. We have tried swimming in the lake and it was rather pleasant, not too cold and definately not beach temperature water. The town of Bucksport is about 6miles west of us. We found an Ice Cream Stand, grocery stores, places to eat, and old fort call Fort Knox. and a paper mill. Oh yeah a movie theatre which is now showing the Pirates of the Carribean, Dead Man's Chest. We will probably try going this weekend.

Thursday, August 3, 2006
We traveled into Bar Harbor today. It was quite busy for a weekday, but nothing like the weekends. School has not started here yet and some areas will be 3-5 weeks before they do. We saw a large yacht in the Harbor complete with a helicoper on deck, were informed it belonged to Wayne Heizinger. We decided to take the trolly ride and were treated to going along the Park Loop Road, to Cadillac Mountain, Sieur de Monts Wild Gardens, Thunder Hole, Sand Beach. Along with the history lesson of the first settlers, Webanake Indians, and explorer, Samuel Champlain. Along came the old money of the Rockerfellers, Ford, Astors, Morgans, Carnegies, and Vanderbilts, When in 1947 the great fire destroyed nearly all the island summer cottages, more like mansions were destroyed and never rebuilt. However others came and rebuilt and today it is a tourist paradise. Thanks to those who early on established the Hancock County Trustess of Public Reservations this preseverd the land for public use back in the 1900's. President Wilson signed an act that made this a National Park a few years later. We can all enjoy the beauty and serenity of the island.

August 7-11, 2006

On Sunday August 6 we went to the theatre in downtown Bucksport, Maine to see Pirates of the Carribean, Deadman's Chest. Good movie enjoyed it, but not quite as much as the first one. The theatre was built in 1916. With some remodeling having been done it was quite a nice and comfortable seating. It probably can seat 150 and there were about 75 people viewing the movie. The Lobby had some items on display noting its exsistance for the last 90 years. Wonder how many of the newly built cinemas will be around in 90 years from now?

Monday we decided to explore the other coastlines around here. We went to Blue Hill and it is so named after the color of it. It is famous for all the blueberries that are grown on it. Many low bush berries are farmed here. Any one who has picked low bush blueberries will tell you it is a real back breaking job. Most of the berries have now been picked and we didn't stop to pick any this time, but we have bought some and they are small, but delicious. We did manage to see our first deer on the side of the roadin this area. Our journey took us to Deer Isle and the panaramic views of the Maine Coast Line were stunning. We kept driving until we reached Stonington which is on the tip of Deer Island. Stonington is known for all the granite that was taken from and sent all over the word. It is now a lobstering port and an art community. We watched the unloading of several boats and tried to figure out how we could talk some of the out of their catch or at least a couple of the red, wiggly, clawed things. There is a Ferry that you can get from here and go to Isle au Haut. It leaves port very early in the morning. None the less we would have to get up at O Dark 30 to make this ship. Guess it will have to sail without us. We had to settle for ice cream at a little shop on the main street. It was not the best we have had so far and left much to be desired on the amount that was given. Guess we were still salivating over the lobsters. There are many old buildings and most contain the tourist shops, art work and some are lodgings. The roadways are narrow and the traffic although light the day we went is probably a mess when there is any event going on.

Wednesday we traveled to Belfast and Camden. Your never far from the coastline while traveling along Route 1 so when the views come along you just can't seem to get enough and just want to stop and take it all in. There are many fresh water ponds or lakes along the way and the marsh areas are lush and green. You see many ducks and loons and some sea birds. Many old buildings, mansions and summer cottages dot the landscape. There is still wildflowers in bloom, Blackeye Susan's, Queens Ann Lace, and Goldenrod. What is surprising is that some planters still have pansys, astors, and other spring flowers blooming in them.

Camden is known for its Sailing Ships. We did see many Sailing Vessels and some had the sails up after they left port. We found a water fall in the center of town, just under the main street buildings and flowing out into the harbor. After a great lunch of fish and chips we decided to try a short cruise on the water around the harbor. The best part was seeing a couple of lighthouses outside of the area. The tour boat was not what we thought and the captain was even worse. The sound system was awful and you couldn't understand what was being said. The other passengers had many children and not sure who was louder, Granddad, Dad or the children. Of course the mothers just talked the whole time so even if anything was pointed out it was totally lost somewhere.

Friday we headed back to Bar Harbor and a bus ride around the island. Our only problem was the bus ride into Bar Harbor was quite rough and took its toll on Dave. So we stayed within the city and did the tourist shop hopping. With some rest for the back, the return trip was much easier as the driver and bus was better. We stopped at a restaurant in Ellisworth called Jordans and had fried clams for dinner. This was a very highly recommended place and it was very good. They have seating outside where you order your food or you can take in inside a separate building. There was also and arcade game room and another area where they have entertainment or car shows on different nights.

We might mention that we found an LL Bean outlet store, Rennys and Mardens all in Ellisworth. Needless to say we definately had to check these places out. Our friends would never forgive us if we didn't. Yes, they would have liked them and could not have been able to resist the erged to save so much money.

During this last week we discovered a quiet little community along the coast. Castine, Maine. It is one of the oldest in North America, starting in the 1600's. From being a trading post to numerous forts that were occupied by French, Brittish,and Dutch, who destroyed the buildings and walls in the late 1600's. The Brittish some 100 years later rebuilt the fort. Of course Colonial America didn't like the idea of having the Brittish occupy such a strategic area, so they set out to recapture it. Unfortunately the Colonial forces were defeated by the superior Brittish Navy. The Brittish ruled this area until 1815 when they evacuated the region and Castine became an American town. There are many markers in the town as to where the forts and other out buildings were, not many survived, however many 18th and 19th century homes have been kept up. As the years passed, prosperity came and went with the times. In 1942 the Maine Maritime Acadamy was founded, along with a year-round population but in the 1960's once again the population declined and it became a summer residence area. The Maine Maritime Aacadamy has flourished and if my children had been aware of its existance when they were choosing collages, I'm pretty sure they would have been interested. Considering its offering of Science as well as the History.

We like to visit Fish Hatcheries`whenever we can. Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery captures and releases Atlantic Salmon. Atlantic Salmon don't spawn and die off like others species. Spawing takes place in November, after an incubation period during the winter months the young (fry) hatch. In March they are placed in larger containers called troughs. In May they are released to their native streams and rivers where they will stay for the next 2-3 years feeding on insects larvae and other vertebrate. They migrate as smolts to the North Altantic Ocean off Greenland to feed. In another 2 years if they have survived they will return as adults and to the streams to spawn.

This Hatchery has been remodeled and is quite a large operation. We are glad to know these places exist to help preserve the natural wonders of the lakes and streams.

We have spent the last three weeks in the Bucksport Area of Maine. Made many trips into Ellisworth and Bar Harbor. Have enjoyed this area with the blueberries, fish hatcheries, and quiant little coastal towns. Sampled the cuisine of Lobster and fried clams. Needed to taste the local fare at the ice cream shops too.. We stay at a campground called Balsam Cove. Was not sure we could fit such a big rig into this one. The owner Tom assured us we could. Awfully glad we did decide to stay. The owners and staff were accommodating and friendly, to understand our situation lets explain. It had rained vey hard and quite a lot(about 5 inches) the day before our arrival. The ground being saturated and soft does not make a diesel pusher an easy thing to get into a spot and not sink the axels. Our host supplied boards and as much gravel and rock as they had on hand and we managed to get into our site. We provided the entertainment for the day with two big rigs getting into this campground ( probably all thought here goes the neighborhood.) We have met up with friends we met last year in Oregon. CH and Earlene will be with us until we leave the Rally in Vermont in October. Without sinking to the rear axel we managed to fit and fill up the site. Other than having an eight foot step up and out of our rig it only gave us fond memories of the site in Washington last year. Balsam Cove campground was clean, quiet, and all those that came to stay were friendly. Pristine Toddy Pond with its wildlife was entertaining. We could never get a complete picture of the loons, but you heard them every evening just about dusk and now and then a loon family would swim by. People swimming or fishing each day and some showing their catch to us. The smiling faces on the little children who went fishing for the first time and then showed off their catch with everyone was priceless. Balsam Cove is an older camp ground and the new owner has only had this about three year. However, we are sure site repair was needed when we left as it had rained the day before our departure and the track marks were deep. We can see that there will be good things to come from this as time goes on and we would stay again.

We moved to Pumpking Patch RV just outside of Bangor, Maine. This park has been open three years also. It is quite different with wide open level sites, and a great staff. The owners own a Newmar coach. We stayed here before and returned as it was on our way to New Hampshire off route 2. We went back to the Orono Bog and the season is beginning to change. We have already had some very cool nights and the trees are beginning to show signs of turning. The bog had high bush blueberries growing and the flowers were just about gone. The redness of the bog was still present, the cranberries were not as plentiful. We joined in for the ice cream social and the pot luck dinner. Have met some new owners of Newmar products and they will also be going to the rally in Vermont. In fact we will be staying at the same park in Vermont just before the rally. There is a restaurant next to the camp ground that we have been to. Excellent meal and great service. We ate outside as the wait was shorter and our waiter was also the owner, cook of the establishment. Quite an entertaining fellow, his wife is one of the waitresses and both are friendly and outgoing. They are open 7 days a week starting at 5:00 am. There is a saying that if the locals eat there it is good. This is really true for Herman Family Restaurant.

We took a day and went to Freeport Maine. There is a desert there, yes you read that right desert. The Desert of Maine was an original farm that raised potatoes and other crops, During excess clearing of the land, not rotating the crops, and overgrazing severe soil erosion occured. This sand appeared and started covering the farm, consuming the buildings, fences, and other out buildings. All but the barn has been buried by the sand. As a young child my parents brought me here and all that I remember from that visit is the fences, and a partial roof of a building that was visible. This time the sands have covered more area and not anything like I remember. There is also a campground adjacent to this. This anomaly is worth seeing as no one would believe that a desert would be in such a wooded, cool climate area, that gets covered by snow in the winter.

There is a web site for this www.desertofmaine.com. Just in case you want to check it out.

Another place everyone goes to in Freeport is L L Bean. Yes, we went to several L L Bean stores in town. Soooo much bigger and quite different than the little stores we went to when they first started. Of course there are many different stores in Freeport and all are new and designs are modern, bustling shoppers and crawling traffic. Not a place to be on a weekend. That is one of the advanatages to being retired, you can go to these places during the week an stay away from the weekend crowds.

 

On to New Hampshire.

After spending the last 5 weeks in Maine it is time to travel on. We will travel along route 2 and head west into the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This is a 2 lane road most of the way and it is repaved in places and in others it is the bumpy, pothole road. The speed limit is 45 at best and small towns dot the route. Of course you can always count on a Wal-mart to be available along the way. The scenery is pretty and the trees are starting to show signs of changing. After some detours and major road repair in places the journey was enjoyable. We took route 115 south outside of Jefferson, N.H. (someone we know just loves to here the name of that town) to route 3 which then becomes route 93 and on into Lincoln,N.H. Our campground is called Country Bumpkin Rv and Cabins. Web site www.countrybumpkins.net. It is an older park and mostly accommodates those with smaller rigs and tents. We managed to get into our space which was quite a tight fit going in,but plenty of room to expand out. We will move to a full hookup site in a couple of days. We have a nice stream running along side us. We open the windows to listen to the babbling brook during the night. This makes it all worth the effort of finding places like this to camp. This will be the last holiday weekend for most families as the last of the schools will be opening next week. The some of the attractions will close during the week and will be open for the weekend until after the Columbus Holiday that is celebrated in New England. Then it seasons will change for the snow fun loving crowd. The campground is just a half mile north of the Clarks Trading Post. We will make this a place to walk to each evening for exercise and with hopes of seeing the bears on the post during the evenings. We remember seeing and feeding the bears whenever our parents brought us here, which for me was nearly every year as I was growing up. You can no longer feed the bears from their tin cups, but at least they are still there for other generations to enjoy. There is a train ride that goes by the campground on the other side of the river. Sooo we do here the train whistle during the day and the famous gun shot from the wolfman who is along the route for the tourist on the train ride.

Seeing we are only 2 hours from where we grew up we took a day and went into Massachusetts. We took Earlene and CH with us to show them what small town New England was like growin up. We first went into Pepperell where my parents were Papermill Workers they made paper bags for sugar. The mills are still there, but not in operation. The Nashua River no longer turns color daily(depening on what color paper was being made that day the dyes would be washed into the river and some days it would be green, yellow or red.) On into Groton which every homes on the main street had to be white with Black or Green shutters. Still the same scene. On into West Groton with a blink of an eye one has passed through and not seen it. The only mill still operating there has expanded. Sue's parents homestead is still standing, but probably not for much longer as plans are in the works for multifamily units.

Down into Lowell which now has a National Park that has expanded also. There were a lot of mills that made fabric in this area. The Merrimack river provided a water source to build canals for the bales of cotten to be sent to the differnt factories to make materials for dish cloths as well as flour sacks. Earlene said she had no idea that such things were made here even though as a child she remembers people using flour sacks being made into different things such as curtains or towels. Glad we took them there.

We had a good day and just in case you were wondering, yes I did stop and plant some flowers for my dad before we left the area.

The days have been overcast or cloudy and misty rain so have postponed the mountain scenery until a clearer day. We have visited shops and towns in the area and found a few ice cream shops to do the taste testing at. Think I better do a longer walk each day to make up for this ice cream sampling. We have now been joined by another set of friends that we met last year at the rally in Oregon. Jean and Ray are also from California, southern L.A.

The weather man has said it will be just rainy this morning and clearing by the afternoon. So we decided to pack a lunch, raincoats, cameras, and binoculars and take a ride. We headed north towards Cannon Mountain, which was in the clouds, so will save it for another day and picked up route 302 down to Mount Washington and the Cog Railway. It was raining and clouds were hiding the top of Mount Washington, but the Cog was running up the mountain. Everyone enjoyed the show as we watched the engine chug its way up the hill. Enteresting fact. This rail way was first used in Arcadia National Park to reach Cadillac Mountain. When the founders there went bust they sold and shipped the cogs to New Hampshire for the use at Mount Washington.

We just couldn't resist the grandure of the Mount Washington Hotel. We have never been to this and wanted to see what the inside looked like. Much to our surprise the old desk and some of the furniture was still being used. One could almost feel the ambience of the 1900's with the woman dressed in the elegant gowns and the men in suits. Great balconies with flowers all around and big rocking charis, sunroom with all the glass and wicker furniture, sitting rooms complete with grand fireplaces and overstuff furniture, Old wood or tiled floos with scattered carpets about. Great expanse of green lawns and golf course, tennis courts and swimming pools. Well seeing one had to have a dinner jacket to be seated in the dining area we couldn't very well bring our picnic lunch so we just gawked and enjoyed the views. The sun was coming out, but the mountain still wasn't in view. Off down the road we went in search of a rest stop with tables to have our lunch complete with a brook with running water in it. At Crawford Notch we stopped at a country store in met a couple of men who have been hiking the AT since last March where they started in Georgia.

In North Conway.N.H. we stopped and decided to do the train ride, it was really neat and the views were pretty, lots of farm land and meadows along the trip. With a stop at an LLBean outlet we were then on our way back to route 112 which is the Kancamagus Highway. This route follows the Passaconaway river so you find many gorges and falls along the way. Very pretty when the leaves are in full color and the traffic also follows.

All in all it was a good day even if we didn't see the top of Mount Washington. Everyone had a good time and the weather did clear up,but not in time to see Mount Washington.

 

Cannon Mountian.

In spite of the clouds we decided to take a chance and go on the Tram Ride up Cannon Mountain. It wasn't very crowded and the tram ride was very smooth to eveyone's surprise. This is about a 15 minute ride up to the summit. From there you can take a half mile hike up to the observation tower. Now where else would you expect us to go. The scent of the cedar trees were just wonderful to smell along the way and the views were not too bad either. Jean and Ray decided to join us and they were glad they did. We did climb to the top of the tower and had fun finding the different mountains from the insturment guide at the top. We journeyed down a shorter path to the summit and sat to have a warm drink and meet up with CH and Earlene. From here you can see all of gorge area and just into Vermont. The trees are really starting to turn colors now and withing a couple of weeks they will be brillant. So good to be here this time of the year. Quite different then seeing the bright greens of summer.

The Basin

Dave and I decided to hike around the Basin here at Franconia Notch. This was an area where as children we could come and swim within the waters. Although the Highway now goes by this section there is a place to park and walk to it. We did a trail that was a half mile up to Kinsman Falls. Very steep in places and quite worth the trip. The trail had a lot of tree branches exposed and some muddy areas, but some places are not for everyone. The trees are changing on a daily basis and the view of the mountains and the fall was worth the effort. These falls are part of the Pemigewasset River. Pemi for short. The Pemi river starts at Profile Lake which is where the Old Man of the Mountain was. It is also the river that flows by our campsite. It eventually flow into the Merricmack River somewhere near Franklin N.H. Then flows down into Massachusetts where Dave and I were originally from then out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Tuesday September 12, 2006

Today Dave and I decided to explore Lost River, It is a gorge formed by a glacier that passed over the Kinsman Notch some 10,000 years ago. When it receded it blocked the drainage of the valley and created a gorge some 50feet deep. As time passed the ice melted and the water carved out potholes, and huge bolders cracked and fell creating caves. This is not an attraction for the weak or physically disabled. One must climb may stairs.(800+) There are bypasses for those that don't want to enter the caves. Being the adventurers that we are we went caving. Yes, there were places that we crawled on our hands and knees, and sprawled on our bellies like reptiles to get through the openings. One much be honest. there was one we could not get into. It is called the lemon squeeze. If you couldn't get through the trial opening it was advised not to enter. So woman with boobs and men with potbellies are excluded. Unfortunately there was a wonderful waterfall that we couldn't get pictures of. (We saw the photo's after our walk). Needless to say Dave managed to do justice to another one that we did squeeze into to get. Such fun, by tomorrow we will have sore knees and a few extra black and blues in places.

This is a rest day today and tomorrow we much pack up and drive a distance into Vermont. (all of 40miles) The distance is so far we figure it will require two stops, plus a picnic lunch stop. Sorry to leave this area. I know our friend Tom doesn't feel that way. We will miss our walks to Clarks Trained Bears each night and the ducks and fish in the pond. We discovered two new baby ducks they are so cute, yellow fluffy balls that they are. Jean and Ray will leave us and travel down to Massachusetts and Connecticut and rejoin us in a couple of weeks just before the rally. It is raining again, as usual for New England. The cold temps have left us (36) the last couple of mornings but we are sure they will catch up with us in Vermont.