On Saturday June 24, we packed up the house and prepared to drive from Leicester, Vermont to Carroll, New Hampshire. The weather was cool and there was rain in the forecast all day – both in the area we were leaving and in our new spot. Moving in the rain isn’t the most fun- especially when towing the house through the mountains but, aside from just a few downpours, it was a light drizzle for most of the way. The roads were fairly smooth and we had no major mishaps on the road. We didn’t even have to stop for gas! While the drive took almost 3 hours (due to driving most of the way on two lane roads through small towns with low speed limits) it was only about 80 miles.
We arrived at Beech Hill Campground around 2:00pm, checked in at the office, and were soon pulling into our spot. We had been given a map to our site and a pamphlet about how to protect ourselves from bears so that’s always fun. The spot was a back-in spot with trees on three sides. I was so proud of John for backing the house in with absolutely no difficulties (our last few spots had been pull-throughs so I was worried he would be a little out of practice but he totally nailed it in one try).
We came into the house and were delighted to find that the refrigerator had not tipped over (thanks to being attached to the wall by straps that were stuck in place with resin and having a 2×4 screwed into the wall in front of it) and only a few other items throughout the house were out of place. We were so excited to finally have a move go smoothly – until the power went out. After some investigation, John found that one of our wires had come loose when he was working in the area of our fuse box and he couldn’t get it back in. We found a Home Depot about 20 minutes away and were able to get new wiring (even if it did take over an hour in the store to get someone to help him). We picked up some McDonald’s for dinner then drove home. After eating outside under the awning (it was too dark by this time to see inside the house with no electric) John made pretty quick work of fixing the problem and, once electric was restored, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the house.
On Sunday we had reservations for the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway located in Franconia Notch State Park. We arrived at the park and were absolutely stunned by the beautiful mountains surrounding us. The Tramway would take us to the top of one of these mountains – an elevation of over 4,000 feet which, for a girl from Ohio, was pretty high up. I was terrified during both the rides up and back but I couldn’t wait to see the view from up top. There were only a few other people in our gondola for the ride to the top and the operator was very friendly and provided some great information about the park. As we kept going up and up and up I couldn’t imagine the people who hike up and back or, even crazier, the ones that ski down in the winter! It was an 8 minute ride and I clutched the railing the entire way.
Once we arrived at the top, we stopped by the snack bar to grab a bite to eat in hopes of settling my stomach. We tried eating outside on the balcony but the wet weather had brought about a ton of mosquitos and gnats so we quickly traded the beautiful views for the opportunity to eat without bugs flying into our ears and mouths. We shared an order of chicken fingers and fries and the biggest whoopie pie I have ever seen. The chicken and fries weren’t great but that whoopie pie..mmmmmmm. I will dream about that for a long while.
After eating, we hiked the short distance to the observation tower – to get an even higher view of the area. The mountaintop was covered in pine trees and the smell was incredible! It was a short trail but somewhat rough going due to all of the rocks and tree roots. It took us a few minutes but we eventually made it to the lookout tower.
The platform was an additional 4 stories up but it was worth it. We had been warned that the moisture content in the air plus the particulates from the fires in Canada were causing limited visibility but it was still lovely. We were told that on clear days you could see Canada to the north, Maine to the east and Vermont to the west. We could just barely make out other mountain peaks in the distance but, again, the view was still nice and we had a great time.
For the ride back down I had planned to seat myself on one of the two benches in the gondola but there was a bigger crowd and we were towards the back of the line so I had to stand again. The ride really wasn’t terrible except for when the gondola would pass the large towers that supported the cables. When we passed these, it would cause the gondola to kick out and swing back and forth. It hadn’t been as bad on the way up but the way down definitely left me feeling nauseous. Thankfully, John held on to me and rubbed my back and kept me calm for the ride down so I was able to fight the urge to throw up. The views were so pretty from the gondola but I was happy to get my feet on the ground once again.
We got back in the car and drove a short distance to the Old Man of the Mountain site. This had been a rock formation perched precariously on the edge of Cannon Mountain that resembled the side profile of a man’s face. It was a super popular tourist attraction until the rocks had finally succumbed to gravity and fallen in the early 2000’s. The area was still beautiful, however, with the mountain in the background looming over a tranquil lake so we took the path down to the viewing plaza. They have recently installed tall rods along the plaza that have the “old man” profile notched into them so if you line up the view just right, you can see what it would have looked like before the rocks came tumbling down. I thought it was a really neat way to preserve this once famous landmark without actually disturbing the animals or trees in the area.
We ended our day driving along the scenic highway then stopping for dinner at Rek-lis Brewing in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. We had some Mexican Street Corn Nachos and split a Pork Belly Banh Mi sandwich before heading home. The food was amazing!
The rest of the week so far has been dreary and rainy and, when the rain does stop, there are so many mosquitoes and other bugs that assault you the moment you step out the door, so we have been enjoying some much needed time off by relaxing in the house. We have watched some movies and television shows, read books and played video games all week – all while snuggling Harley and watching the cats be maniacs.
We did have to drive to nearby Littleton on Thursday night to pick up an Amazon order so we made the most of it by going for a drive for a few hours along the western edge of New Hampshire, across a neat bridge, then back up the eastern edge of Vermont. We found a gorgeous covered bridge that I demanded we drive across and we stopped at a few dams along the Connecticut River as well. We finally looped back to Littleton and ended up stopping at a restaurant called 99 for dinner. We discovered upon entering that it was their weekly trivia night so we played along for the last round and a half and actually got enough points to not come in last even though the other teams had been present for all 3 rounds. The food was pretty good too! John had a Vermont Burger and I had a Colossal Lobster Roll because, if the opportunity for a lobster roll presents itself, I’m not going to say no. We will still be in town next week so are hoping to come back for the full Trivia Night experience next Thursday. And if another lobster roll happens to be ordered that won’t be any fault of mine (wink wink).
Stay tuned for week two of our time in New Hampshire – we will visit Flume Gorge for an incredible hike, tell you all about our insane decision to remodel our living room, and hopefully be able to explore the nearby towns a little bit more.
