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Published: June 23rd 2009
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We have just spent two days in New Hampshire and I can sum up our experience here in three letters: W-E-T! We did make the most of it, though. We camped at a very scenic campground called Crawford’s Notch. It was extremely secluded and private with The Saco River running behind it. You could hear the water rushing by as you slept - pretty peaceful. Our goals while in New Hampshire were to swim in the river, hike some trails, go on the alpine slide and finally - drive up to the top of Mt. Washington. We did accomplish most of our goals, but it wasn’t very pretty! Tony and the girls braved the 60-something degree river water. I, on the other hand, watched warmly from the shore. The pictures of Tony will show you how cold it really was! They did enjoy floating downstream with the currents for a few minutes before shivering their way back to our campsite. We did take a hike around Crawford’s Notch. Julia asked us to stop every few yards so that she could gather more acorns and rocks. The alpine slide eluded us twice. Each time we stood in line to buy tickets, they
would close the slide due to rain. The girls were pretty bummed!
Tony tried to lift their spirits by taking us for a drive up the Mt. Washington Auto Road. Little did we know that it was the closest we would come to dying on the trip!! Before I tell you of our terror we experienced, I’ll share some interesting facts (because this trip doesn’t have as many as our trip out West, so I’m going to give them to you as often as I can!) The Auto Road used to be called the Carriage Road because it was built back in 1854 when six-horse, 12 passenger wagons would travel up to the 6,288 foot summit. It is the tallest point in the northeastern United States. Mt.. Washington is also located where storm systems traveling from the west, south and north all collide, so the weather there is CRAZY! Winds have blown 231 mph and it’s been as cold as negative 47 degrees. On a clear day at the summit, you can see 130 miles away. The summit is in the clouds 60% of the time, though and the average, annual snowfall is 314 inches. Every year, there is
an auto time trial call Race to the Clouds where race car drivers speed to the top averaging 60 miles per hour. It only takes them 7 minutes to reach the top. Keep in mind that there are no guard rails anywhere and the entire 8 mile ascent averages a 12 percent grade! Insane! We, on the other hand, drove no faster than 20 miles per hour. In first gear, Tony was usually driving around 15 miles per hour and trust me - that seemed too fast at times! The further we climbed to the top of the mountain, the foggier it became. We were warned at the bottom that when we reached the top, we would only have 50 feet of visibility. By the time we reached 5.000 feet, I was white knuckling it and my heart was numb! I was pretty sure that our little, orange lunch box was going to be blown right off the side of the mountain. When Tony couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, he pulled over and asked what he should do. “Turn around! “, Maddie and I pleaded. “Keep going!” Julia screamed from the back of the bus. After
a few, quick photo shots outside, it was back in the bus for the descent. I couldn’t imagine traveling by horse and buggy up to the top or driving sixty miles per hour in a race car. I can tell you that I was so relieved to be on solid ground again and I was so impressed with Tony’s acute Westfalia driving skills!
Once we were back at our campground, we made a homemade pizza in Tony’s cast iron skillet and then for dessert - we had apple turnovers! We have to tell our camping buddies, The Woods, who first introduced us to the camping sandwich grills, that baking Pepperidge Farms desserts inside of them is -THE BOMB! It did take us a while to master the perfect flaky texture, but we have it now!! Maddie swears that it tastes just like apple pie - her favorite! This morning, while the girls were pumping water for us, one of our campground neighbors pointed out some moose tracks right near us. The girls were so excited to run back to tell us! They grabbed their Audobon Society Animal book full of animal tracks and went back to confirm it. Sure
enough, they had found moose tracks! Then the girls went with Tony to do a little fishing. They didn’t catch anything, but had a good time trying!
We just crossed over the Maine border and are driving to our last campground for a few nights. We’re going to camp right on the ocean tonight, so we’re all excited to see it! Tony and I are hoping to eat some lobster for dinner tonight in Bar Harbor. Can’t wait! Maddie just asked if they still serve chicken and fries in Maine restaurants. How sad! Tomorrow, we check into our B & B for some comfy slumber! I’ll blog again once we’ve had some fun in Maine! Take care!
Fun Facts: We have driven 1,153 miles, spent 23 hours driving, and have averaged 50.2 mph. We have spent $220.64 on gas. And one more thing - Tony left our gas cap a few miles ago so now - we’re using Alabama chrome - AKA duct tape!!
We have found all but seven state license plates! Tony found Hawaii yesterday while driving through NH! YEAH!!
Maddie has added to her mosquito collection and is hoping that Maine isn’t
so buggy!
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