New state...New Hampshire

June 21 is the first “official” day of summer, but we have been enjoying the summer for quite a while now, and today was no exception.

The boys are really in the swing of this cook-your-own-waffles-for-breakfast thing, and that is the way they started out the day today also. Breakfasts at the motels are a big help to families that are traveling.

Sadly, it was time for us to check out of the motel in Burlington, and forge ahead with our plans for the remainder of the trip. We packed up, loaded the car, and drove out of town. We were not quite out of the city limits when Bailey said, “I miss Burlington already.”

I began marking my road map as we drove on toward the state capitol in Montpelier. When I marked my map with my yellow highlighter, Jacob marked his with his pink highlighter, and Bailey marked his with his orange highlighter. Off and on all day they marked their maps, told us how many miles to the next stop, and traced our route from the beginning of the trip. Once Olen announced the number of a highway he was turning on and each of us chimed in with, “got it marked in yellow…got it marked in pink…got it marked in orange.”

We drove through Montpelier and found a parking place on the street right across from the state capitol building. We jumped out, took pictures of the building, and were back in the car before we had to feed the parking meter. This was the ultimate example of “been there, done that, took a picture.”

We had planned to hike up to a lovely overlook called “Owl’s Head” this morning, but when we got there the road was closed. I think the state of Vermont is not yet completely ready for the summer visitors.

Since we had to skip that activity, we drove on toward New Hampshire, but decided to stop for lunch at a truck stop…P&H Truck Stop in Wells River, Vermont. It is a very well-known truck stop, and they are famous for baking all of their breads, cookies and desserts. The truck stop has even been written up in Gourmet magazine. Jacob and I had their broasted chicken and Olen and Bailey had the boneless chicken. (Yes, Mamas, this meal came with mashed potatoes, salad and applesauce. Check the box for “fruits and veggies” for today.)

After lunch we crossed over into New Hampshire and stopped in the little town of Bath. There is an old covered bridge in Bath, right near the typical New England white church building and general store. We crossed the covered bridge to take a photo of all three buildings in one shot. Bath has the oldest general store in the United States, and the sign stating that fact is on the front of the store. After looking at it, Bailey commented, “I thought U.G. White was the oldest store in the world!”. Among many other things, the general store sold homemade fudge. Olen bought some, of course. Bailey found a super buy on Mountain Dew and bought himself one. Other than that, we were just “lookers”, and no other money changed hands. Shopping is not very high on the “to-do” list for this group.

From Bath we went directly to the White Mountain area of the state. (From the Green Mountains in Vermont to the White Mountains in New Hampshire…what a colorful day!) Our first stop was in Franconia Notch State Park at an area called the “Flume”, which is a series of lovely waterfalls that have cut a gorge 60-90 feet deep in the granite rock. The park has build a series of boardwalks and steps so visitors can safely walk along the falling water and view it from different angles. It was a cool and refreshing walk.

We drove on up the highway, and stopped at Cannon Mountain where there is an aerial tramway to take visitors (or skiers in the winter) to the top of Cannon Mountain. The cars can hold up to 80 passengers, but we and one other family were the only ones on our ride to the top today. Once on top, we hiked to an observation tower where we could see all over the immediate area and back into Vermont, and a little bit into Canada. On the 7-minute ride back to the bottom we saw a black bear from a distance, but he had wandered off in the bushes by the time we got close enough to try to take his photo.

We stopped briefly in the ski museum and were able to see the Olympic medals on display that were won by skier Brody Miller, who grew up in Franconia.

We located our motel and found that only five or six rooms are rented tonight. We had requested connecting rooms, so tonight the boys’ room and our room connect. This should be fun!

Deciding where to go for dinner was an exercise in technology. Bailey had an app for his phone that was supposed to direct us to the perfect place to eat. Jacob got out the yellow pages in the phone book to use for reference. After all was said and done, we decided to go to Pizza Hut for dinner. (Not sure we needed an app for that!) The plan was to come back to the motel so the boys could swim as long as they wanted to, since they had the pool to themselves. The pool is inside, very large, with glass windows all around and views of the mountains, including Cannon Mountain, from the pool. The last time I saw Olen and the boys they were enjoying the luxury of the heated pool with a view. The splash is Bailey. Jacob waits for his turn to hop in and swim.

So, we will probably not play cards tonight. Another beautiful day full of memories has come and gone. The boys seem to be enjoying themselves, and I know Olen and I are having the time of our life.

Both of the boys started out the trip with new tennis shoes. Since we are packing light and they have only one pair of shoes, those shoes have walked and hiked many miles. The shoes still look good on topside, but I imagine most of the tread will be worn off by the time they get home! We have been very busy, and there is still more to come. Stay tuned.