We decided last night to sleep a little later this morning, so we asked for wake-up calls for 8:00. Olen and I had an alarm clock also, and when it went off, we got up. It did not dawn on us that we had never gotten a wake-up call until it was 8:30 and the boys had not come through the door announcing that they were ready for breakfast. When we knocked on their door, the were still asleep, but it did not take them long to get up, dressed, and ready to go. This is the first time they have not showed up on time, and this was not their fault at all. We had planned a leisurely start to our day, anyway.
Rain is predicted in New England, so we tried to re-plan the activities for today to take advantage of the good weather before the rains arrive. After breakfast we loaded the car and headed out. I explained to the boys that due to the changes in weather, the plans were fluid and we were “flying by the seat of our pants”. Bailey said, “I like it that way.” Jacob’s comment was, “I sort of like to know what the plan is.” The differences in people makes life interesting.
We talked about the mothers’ words of wisdom about eating veggies and being careful while they are gone, and behaving themselves. Each night the boys read the blog as soon as I post it. I told them if I reported on the blog everything we were doing, their brothers and sisters would probably not be allowed to go on a trip with Grandma and Grandpa when they reach the age to be able to go. Jacob shrugged and said, “At least I got my turn.” He quickly tried to retract his statement, but by that time we had all laughed at his unabashed selfishness.
Our change of plans today added a stop not on our original list. We drove to the Mount Washington area to ride the cog railway to the top of the mountain. On the way, the boys played cards in the back seat of the car. (I hope they don’t wear out the playing cards before the week is up!)
We arrived at the station, but could not get tickets until the 12:30 train. That was just enough time to have several minutes to burn, and not enough time to leave and do anything else. So, we decided to eat peanut butter crackers, apples, and snacks from the “food bag” in the back of the car and call it “lunch”. We all added granola bars and oatmeal cream pies to our daypacks also, because we knew we would get hungry again before getting back to the car. (The trip up was to take an hour, one hour on top, and another hour on the return…total three hours…a long time for 14-year-old boys to go without food.) After eating our snack, we still had a few minutes so we went in the station, found a table and played more “9-Hole” until they called us to board.
The trip to the top was exciting, and the views of the valley below were breathtaking. The pictures taken today do not do it justice, because we had cloud cover, and no blue skies.
For every four feet the train traveled, it gained one foot of rise in elevation. The weather station at the top of Mount Washington would have been of particular interest to the meteorologists in our family. It was on top of Mount Washington that they recorded the highest winds ever measured by a man-made device (231 mph), but the winds could have been stronger, because at that point the wind blew the measuring device away! The lowest recorded temperature there was minus 49, and the highest 72. Today it was perfect…a slight wind and 50 degrees.
Once on top, we all scrambled up a pile of rocks for a photo at the summit, as if we had hiked the whole way. We went through the museum and watched a hilarious video about the winds on top of the mountain.
We walked all over the top of the mountain before boarding the cog train for the ride back to the bottom.
After the train arrived at the station we got in the car and returned to Vermont via Bath, NH where Bailey had found his “super buy” on the Mountain Dew yesterday. At his request, we made another brief stop at the old store where he proudly purchased two more drinks.
Somehow, we managed to end up at the P&H Truck stop about the time we got hungry for dinner. We ordered the special, which was pasta, salad and garlic bread.
The servings were huge, and none of us were able to finish what we ordered, but it was delicious…and we all ate salads, Mom.
Finally the rain began. We drove from P&H to White River Jct., which will be our home for the next three nights. The pool is heated and inside the building, so the boys still worked in their swim, even with the rain.
Another good day comes to an end. We had only one main activity today, but the trip up Mount Washington was very special, and extremely interesting. Tomorrow we will have to “fly by the seat of our pants” again if this rain doesn’t move through the area overnight…and it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. We’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.
Still having a wonderful time…even in the rain.
Rain is predicted in New England, so we tried to re-plan the activities for today to take advantage of the good weather before the rains arrive. After breakfast we loaded the car and headed out. I explained to the boys that due to the changes in weather, the plans were fluid and we were “flying by the seat of our pants”. Bailey said, “I like it that way.” Jacob’s comment was, “I sort of like to know what the plan is.” The differences in people makes life interesting.
We talked about the mothers’ words of wisdom about eating veggies and being careful while they are gone, and behaving themselves. Each night the boys read the blog as soon as I post it. I told them if I reported on the blog everything we were doing, their brothers and sisters would probably not be allowed to go on a trip with Grandma and Grandpa when they reach the age to be able to go. Jacob shrugged and said, “At least I got my turn.” He quickly tried to retract his statement, but by that time we had all laughed at his unabashed selfishness.
Our change of plans today added a stop not on our original list. We drove to the Mount Washington area to ride the cog railway to the top of the mountain. On the way, the boys played cards in the back seat of the car. (I hope they don’t wear out the playing cards before the week is up!)
We arrived at the station, but could not get tickets until the 12:30 train. That was just enough time to have several minutes to burn, and not enough time to leave and do anything else. So, we decided to eat peanut butter crackers, apples, and snacks from the “food bag” in the back of the car and call it “lunch”. We all added granola bars and oatmeal cream pies to our daypacks also, because we knew we would get hungry again before getting back to the car. (The trip up was to take an hour, one hour on top, and another hour on the return…total three hours…a long time for 14-year-old boys to go without food.) After eating our snack, we still had a few minutes so we went in the station, found a table and played more “9-Hole” until they called us to board.
The trip to the top was exciting, and the views of the valley below were breathtaking. The pictures taken today do not do it justice, because we had cloud cover, and no blue skies.
For every four feet the train traveled, it gained one foot of rise in elevation. The weather station at the top of Mount Washington would have been of particular interest to the meteorologists in our family. It was on top of Mount Washington that they recorded the highest winds ever measured by a man-made device (231 mph), but the winds could have been stronger, because at that point the wind blew the measuring device away! The lowest recorded temperature there was minus 49, and the highest 72. Today it was perfect…a slight wind and 50 degrees.
Once on top, we all scrambled up a pile of rocks for a photo at the summit, as if we had hiked the whole way. We went through the museum and watched a hilarious video about the winds on top of the mountain.
We walked all over the top of the mountain before boarding the cog train for the ride back to the bottom.After the train arrived at the station we got in the car and returned to Vermont via Bath, NH where Bailey had found his “super buy” on the Mountain Dew yesterday. At his request, we made another brief stop at the old store where he proudly purchased two more drinks.
Somehow, we managed to end up at the P&H Truck stop about the time we got hungry for dinner. We ordered the special, which was pasta, salad and garlic bread. The servings were huge, and none of us were able to finish what we ordered, but it was delicious…and we all ate salads, Mom.Finally the rain began. We drove from P&H to White River Jct., which will be our home for the next three nights. The pool is heated and inside the building, so the boys still worked in their swim, even with the rain.
Another good day comes to an end. We had only one main activity today, but the trip up Mount Washington was very special, and extremely interesting. Tomorrow we will have to “fly by the seat of our pants” again if this rain doesn’t move through the area overnight…and it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. We’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.
Still having a wonderful time…even in the rain.
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