Harrington Travels East 2009
Letter 31: New Hampshire
When we arrived at the campground in Albany, NH about 2 pm, it wasn’t long until another rig came in, from Nova Scotia and camped next to us. We struck up a conversation along with another camper behind us, full timers in a Scamp, joined in. We had an instant party that lasted until dark and it became too cold to sit out.

Friday, September 25 we explored the east end of the Kancamagus Highway by going north of Conway on West Side Drive to Diana’s Baths. When we came to Hwy 302 we drove west to Bear Notch Road and followed it all the way south to the “Kanc” as the locals call it. We stopped at a couple of the forest camps to check them out. They are very nice large spots with water available. Some have showers. There are no dumps in any of the White Mountain forest camps, but we were told of two private dumps available at either end of the Kanc.

The Rocky Gorge Scenic area was also along this highway and we stopped to see the

gorge and read the sign about an athletic young lady who fell in, in 1942. Three hours later after great effort she was discovered and pulled from the icy water. The force of the water had stripped her bathing suit from her, but she somehow survived in a tunnel of water. So this pretty little waterfall is very dangerous.

Olivia is disappointed with the new camera, because the trees in the distance, just don’t show the colors the eyes show. Also, it does not have a sports feature so the slightest movement shows a blur.

Colors are

spotty and pretty, but

aren’t at their peak.

Saturday, September 26 was a beautiful moving day. The sun was out with no clouds as we moved west to Plymouth and to visit with Dave & Joan Pushee, whom we met at Blomingdon Provincial Park in Nova Scotia. After some big studying we negotiated the trailer

down their drive to park next to their house. Dave and Snert took us on a

walk to an unoccupied new subdivision behind their home. The streets made nice walkways with views of the city of Plymouth. Joan is a Master Gardner and was off on a work project. When she arrived home they took us for a drive to the Cannon Aerial Tramway near what was the famous

“Old Man of the Mountain.” Several years ago the water damaged rocks moved the chin’s center of gravity, causing the chin block to move slightly forward past the cliff face. When that happened,

the chin toppled down and the rest of the face

dropped soon afterwards.

We rode the tram to the

top of the mountain. This is a huge ski resort area with many new slopes in the making. At the top we walked to a tower where we had a 360 degree view. On the way to the tower we saw where the

peat moss had turned fall colors.

Fred stayed in the

middle of the tram and didn’t look down.

The New England Ski Museum is at the bottom and we browsed it for a few minutes and were amused at the

snow shoes on display. Come to find out the ones on the right are for horses! Imagine that!

On the way back to the Pushee’s home we stopped to view the

“Indian Head Mountain” and the Blaire Covered Bridge. The sign over the entrance states “There is a five dollar fine for riding or driving on this bridge faster than a walk.” It is also strong enough for only one car at a time. The Pemigewasset River was ,

still and

reflective of emerging fall colors.

Sunday, September 27 we found the

Plymouth United Methodist Church, note the burning bushes in the front. When we arrived and introduced ourselves to their greeters, we also said we were from Waxahachie, Texas. They instantly asked if we new the Freto’s as they had lived and worshiped here. We answered we surely did, they were members of our church. We were all excited to have mutual friends. After the service they posed for us to wave hello to the Freto’s. Some even wrote notes to them on a bulletin. This congregation had an old church building in the middle of town and the college was surrounding it. They had little parking and their congregation was shrinking. They decided to sell the building to the college and built this new church.

They saved the windows and the memorial windows were placed in

lighted shadow boxes on the walls of the new sanctuary, and the old pews were saved and used for the

trim in the new building including railings for the stairs.
A tour of the basement showed their future work and more stain glass windows they have decided to sell.

As a result of the move their congregation has grown.

Monday, September 28 we drove the big circle tour in central New Hampshire. With lots of tips from the Pushee’s we were ready to see the beautiful sights. The leaves

are turning big time, but still not at peak. We stop at all the

pullouts to see the color.

We walked to the

Sabbaday Falls on the

east side of the Kancamagus Highway, enjoying the fall colors both in the trees and

around rocks. We turned left on Bear Notch Road and again left on Hwy 302 where we immediately saw the

Silver Cascade coming off the mountain.

Next we cleared

Crawford Notch before seeing more patchwork on the

mountain side and the Mount Washington Hotel. Too bad

Mr Washington was wearing his white wig of clouds.

Near Twin Mountain we stopped at

Sugar Loaf I and II and

Zealand Campgrounds thinking we might go this way next. They are Forest Camps with no hookups, but very nice sites and the trees were pretty.

Back south on I-93 we stopped at the

Flume Gorge where we walked up, Up and UP through the gorge. Years ago there had been a boulder stuck at the top of the gorge, but a torential rain washed it away.

At the top of the gorge was a

bear cave and Fred refused to go in and check it out. Returning on the rim trail we walked down-Down-DOWN a steep path back to the bus and visitor center.

Back at the Pushee’s we cooked spaghetti and had a nice visit, then Fred was able to watch the COWBOY’s beat the Panthers.

Joan and Dave posed for a

picture, but their dog Snert wouldn’t join the family picture. Joan quilts and this is one of her many beautiful projects.

A big thanks to Dave and Joan. They were great hosts and wonderful to be around—just a great couple! We hope they will come to Texas for a visit. They are interested in buying a trailer so maybe we can cross paths in the future too.

After we set up camp in Vermont, we drove back into New Hampshire to

finish our tour of the “Live free or Die” state. Close to Enfield we visited and toured the

Shaker Museum. A lovely lady took us all the way up to the bell tower, allowing Fred and others to ring the bell. Each floor had more to tell us and all was very interesting. They now host conferences in the rooms designed for Shaker worship and living. At its peak this prosperous Shaker village had 333 residents.

As we left this area we headed west and spontaneously turned on a road named “Scenic.” It was very pretty with color and in about five miles led us to

Interstate 89. The color there was like a patchwork quilt.

We headed up Hwy 10 to Hanover and stumbled into

Dartmouth College. What a nice surprise. On north we visited the town of Lyme and the Congregational Church that still preserved the horse sheds, built for their congregation to house their horses out of the snow during their lengthy services. We were pleased to see one of them had the family name of Pushee above the door. Dave, what do you have stored inside the locked door?

Heading east we drove to Lyme Center exploring for fall colors. We were not disappointed. A roadside waterfall caught our eye first, then as we followed the main road it eventually turned into a well maintained gravel road with trees meeting overhead and lots of color. We thought we might come out at Dorchester, but somehow the road turned south and we found ourselves in West Canaan.

So we followed Hwy 4 west back through Enfield on Lake Mascoma and Lebanon with dark purple trees around their commons.

This ends New Hampshire, stay tuned as Vermont is our next letter.

We love to hear from you, your comments, what’s happening in your life, or just to say hi, contact us at:
Olivia@bobheck.com or fredharrington@yahoo.com