New Hampshire

When it was time to leave Maine, my first thought was to blow through New Hampshire and stop somewhere near Montpelier, Vermont because we had reservations at a Thousand Trails Park in Lebanon, Pennsylvania on October 8 and it was already October 3.  Not a lot of time and we still had about 800 miles to go.  800 miles might not sound like a lot, but since we drive at a leisurely pace it takes a while.  The other thing was, I had read about the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, in New Hampshire, to the summit of Mt. Washington at 6288'.  6288' isn't tall by west coast standards but in the northeast it is the tallest mountain and at that elevation, you are above the tree line.   The train ride sounded interesting but then I found out there is also a drive we could do.  So, it was off to Gorham, New Hampshire so we could drive the Mt. Washington Auto Road.  As we were driving through Maine, the fall foliage was starting to get colorful and I thought it was beautiful.  But, as we were getting closer to New Hampshire the colors continued to get more vivid.  And driving around the countryside in New Hampshire left me in awe!  It was so beautiful.  And yet, the host at our campground said the colors wouldn't peak for another week or two! We have been so fortunate to see this fall spectacle in most of its glory.

I really must do more homework on our destinations.  Who would have thought "the world's largest garage sale" was happening the same weekend we arrived in Lake George and 100,000 were converging on the town?  Needless to say, traffic was horrific but at least when we managed to get off the freeway, we were turning right, away from town and out of the gridlock. The weather had been absolutely beautiful until Sunday, October 6 when it rained all day while we were in Lake George, New York.  The rain did cause a lot of people to stay inside but it was still amazing how many diehard shoppers there were!

On Monday, October 7, we left Lake George and headed southwest toward Pennsylvania in preparation of our arrival in Lebanon.  The weather forecast had been for rain all night with high winds and heavy rain through early morning, so we were anticipating a lousy day of driving.  Well, it didn't rain at all during the night or when we were getting ready to leave.  However, when bringing the slide in on the motorhome, water had collected on the top of the slide and down it came, all over the carpet and then the first time I applied the brakes more water came down, splashing on me.  I figured that was all the water but boy was I wrong!  The park we were in was huge and had dirt roads so we were going to hook up the Jeep when we got to pavement.  So, I was driving the motorhome and  Lee was driving the Jeep.  When he stopped to dispose of the garbage, I also stopped and down came a torrent of water, this time it didn't miss me and I was drenched, not to mention the inside of the motorhome!  After a change of clothes, we were on our way.  In this part of the world there aren't a lot of campgrounds and we had found one about three hours down the road so that was going to be our destination.  We should have stuck to our original plan but decided to push on a little further, knowing the we could boondock at the Flying J Truck Stop in New Milford, Pennsylvania.  The day was turning out pretty pleasant, no rain, a little sunshine and then after passing the one campground we could have stayed at, the sky turned a little darker and then a lot darker. By this time, we had switched drivers so now Lee was driving, thankfully!  The rain started gently, then continued to get heavier and heavier until it was a torrential downpour!  Traffic slowed to about 45 mph which was fine except for the one person who wanted to go slower so Lee passed him.  After passing the car, Lee checked his mirror to pull back into the right lane and imagine his surprise when all he could see was the bedroom slide on the motorhome!!!  It had fully opened and there was nowhere to stop.  We finally got to an off-ramp and pulled off.  We were both relieved when the slide worked and we were able to retract it.  At this point we were only about 30 miles from our destination so we proceeded without any further problems.

Okay, enough of that!  It's time for some pictures.

Oh, no! Not another GPS glitch, how could we have gone so far astray?  Fortunately this Mexico is in Maine.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire

The cog railway with a steam engine train pushing up the mountain.  The average grade is 25% with a maximum grade of about 37 1/2% and it's only three miles long!  The cog railway was a dream of Sylvester Marsh in 1852 after becoming lost near the summit of Mt. Washington. He thought people needed a way to get to the top of the highest mountain peak in the Northeast so he designed the mountain-climbing train using a cog gear wheel in the train which gripped a special track.  After overcoming many obstacles, the first cog-driven train made its way to the top on July 3, 1869.

New Hampshire

Summit Stage Office, built in 1878, the chains hold the building in place during high winds, the highest recorded was 231 mph on April 12, 1934.  Mt. Washington, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire

At the base of Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, about 1500' elev.

Covered bridge constructed by Town of Albany in 1858, 120' in length.  Kancamagus Hwy, New Hampshire

Rocky Gorge, Kancamagus Hwy,  about 7 miles west of Conway, New Hampshire

Rocky Gorge, Kancamagus Hwy,  New Hampshire

Lower Falls, Kancamagus Hwy, New Hampshire

The root system on this tree (and others in the area) are simply amazing because the roots are anchored in the cracks and as they grow over the rock, they look as if they had been glued in place.

Lower Falls, Kancamagus Hwy,  about 9 miles west of Conway, New Hampshire

Glen Ellis Falls, Hwy. 16, south of Gorham, New Hampshire

Ellis River,  Hwy. 16, south of Gorham, New Hampshire

Now if the rain stops, we'll do some exploring in Pennsylvania.  And it would be nice if Congress could pass a budget so the National Parks can re-open.