Left Brad's around 8 and drove to Lebanon, NH, as we are staying at the Lebanon Elks for next two days.
Got settled and then headed to Saint-Gauden National Park. This was once the home of Augustine Saint-Gauden, the famous sculpture. They do a wonderful job of telling his story of how he became a master sculpture. He was very talented at a young age, learning his trait carving ivory cameo's. 
He then progressed to creating bronze statues, etc. Some of his famous work were of Lincoln, Farragut and General Sherman. The original Lincoln and Farragut statues have been returned to this location and are on display for all to see. In fact, the Lincoln statue arrived in June, for the 100th anniversary of the National Parks.Anyone interested in Art, particularly bronze statues, should see this park.
We then drove to Windsor, VT, found a covered bridge to see and drive across. Had lunch and then drove back to the coach.
September 2, 2016
We then went and played 18 holes of golf at his course, Lake Morey Golf Course. Beautiful course next to Lake Morey in Fairlee, VT.
Got back to their house around 4, had cocktails and then Mary fixed a wonderful pork roast. Had fresh vegs, potatoes, etc from their garden. Nothing better than homegrown vegs.
September 1, 2016
Left Lincoln around 9:30 and headed to Piermont, NH, where our friends Brad & Mary Simpson live. They have a home in Lake Havasu and Bobby plays golf with Brad.
We got there and parked the coach across the street from their home on the Quarry Side. Brad operates a quarry business in the summer.
Visited and spent the remainder of the day catching up. Mary fixed a wonderful dinner of BBQ chicken.
August 31, 2016
It's raining so we've decide to just take it easy and watch TV. Leave tomorrow for Piermont, NH where one of Bobby's golfing buddies (Brad Simpson) lives.
August 30, 2016
State Capital of NH is in Concord so we headed there. Not much of a capital, at least to compared to what we seen. In fact, this one is second from the bottom, pretty plain. We then went to the outlets in Tilton, NH, still did not find an IZOD store, so drove home.
On the way back, came off at exit 29 and took route 3 home. We stopped at the Jackolantern golf course, had lunch and decided we'd play golf tomorrow.
August 29, 2016
Spent morning lounging and then drove to Franconia, NH to find the Robert Frost home, that he lived in from 1915 thru 1920. The house is a basic little home but had 170 acres, which is what inspired him to write his 3rd and 4th books. When you arrive, they show you a video on his life and why he chose this beautiful area. It's the hills, serenity and of course, he spent time here as a boy, so he had fond childhood memories.
We then drove to Sugar Hill, but first stopped at Stone Iron Furnace, this was once used to melt iron and create tools, etc. Today, all you see is the furnace but can't get close as it's across the Gale river from where we had to park. Still it was interesting to see, looks like a castle vs. furnace.
Sugar Hill is a very small community near, which has a unique gift store (an old barn), where we learned about the dairy farming in this area plus learned that Betty Davis once had a home here. Bought a couple of masks for Halloween, very funny, you'll see pics of those later. Also stopped at a
small store noted for their cheese, nothing special, they don't make it here, just sell it.
Our last stop was the Ski Museum, it's located at the Tram (we did not ride). They have Bodie Miller's Olympic medals from 2002 and 2010 on display. Bodie learned how to ski on the White Mountain slopes. Must say it was cool to see the medal up close and personal.
August 28, 2016
Drove the scenic byway Kancamagus Hwy from Lincoln, ME to Conway, ME today via hwy 112. Fall is just starting to occur, so we saw some red leaves, should be spectacular come late September.
On the drive to Conway, we stopped at the over looks, taking in the views. It's very much like driving from Portland to Redmond, lots of mountains, trees and ability to hike and/or fish, if that's your desire.
We stopped at the Russell-Colbath historic home near Conway. Took the 3/4 mile loop around the area, hoping to see a moose, nope!! Took a tour of the home, it was built in 1831-1832. It's your typical farm home for that period. The cemetery tells you they were well off, it has a fence around
it, meaning they were rich.
Found the Saco River Covered bridge, actually still in use to today, we drove across it to get across the Saco River. Upon crossing the river, we found the outlet mall, did a little window shopping and then had lunch at the Muddy Moose, nice little pub.
Took a different route getting out of Conway, took the 16 to the 302, then Bear Notch Rd back to the 112. During the winter, this route would be closed, due to amount of snow they get in the area, many feet!!!
On hwy 302, we found the Bartlett Covered Bridge, they've converted it into a gift shop, very unique. Bought a flag for my yard!
Still have not seen a moose or black bear, think these signs LIE!!! Might have to get up mighty early to see them!
August 27, 2016
I've researched the area and there are many waterfalls and hikes in this area, so today we tackled Franconia Notch State Park. This is home to the infamous "Flume", which is basically a river running through a narrow gorge.
Even though there wasn't much water, it would take your breath away with it's beauty. It's a two mile round trip but honestly it's probably closer to 3.5 if you take all the side trips, that allow you to see views up close and personal. Along the wooden trail (amazingly they remove this wooden trail during the winter months, as it would be destroyed from the weather otherwise), which about 1/2 of the trail, you get extremely close with nature. Even though you are not allowed on the rocks (extremely slippery), you get close enough to capture great pics.
After 1/2 way around, you have the option to take short cut back to visitors center or continue onto the covered bridge and water fall, which we did. It provided breath taking views of a 1827 covered bridge and an amazing water fall.
This hike took about 3 hrs, so then we headed to "The Basin", another area inside the park. This area is visited by many that want to play in the water (it's cold, I mean cold mountain water), you can slide down many areas, allowing you to cool off, no we did not try it. I might however come back another day but doubtfully. Old age has made we smarter and wiser!!!
We waked up the trail for about a mile, taking in nature and all it's beauty.
Our last stop was "The Old Man at the Mountain", here you get to visualize what this famous rock
look like back in 2003 before a cold rain winter night it fell off the face of the rock. The rock formation looked just like a man. They had made several attempts to stabilize it, but nature just caused it to fall.
Our feet are tired, think we walked about 6.5 miles today.
August 26, 2016
On the way back, came off at exit 29 and took route 3 home. We stopped at the Jackolantern golf course, had lunch and decided we'd play golf tomorrow.
August 29, 2016
Spent morning lounging and then drove to Franconia, NH to find the Robert Frost home, that he lived in from 1915 thru 1920. The house is a basic little home but had 170 acres, which is what inspired him to write his 3rd and 4th books. When you arrive, they show you a video on his life and why he chose this beautiful area. It's the hills, serenity and of course, he spent time here as a boy, so he had fond childhood memories.We then drove to Sugar Hill, but first stopped at Stone Iron Furnace, this was once used to melt iron and create tools, etc. Today, all you see is the furnace but can't get close as it's across the Gale river from where we had to park. Still it was interesting to see, looks like a castle vs. furnace.
Sugar Hill is a very small community near, which has a unique gift store (an old barn), where we learned about the dairy farming in this area plus learned that Betty Davis once had a home here. Bought a couple of masks for Halloween, very funny, you'll see pics of those later. Also stopped at a
Our last stop was the Ski Museum, it's located at the Tram (we did not ride). They have Bodie Miller's Olympic medals from 2002 and 2010 on display. Bodie learned how to ski on the White Mountain slopes. Must say it was cool to see the medal up close and personal.
August 28, 2016
 |
| Russell-Colbath House |
Drove the scenic byway Kancamagus Hwy from Lincoln, ME to Conway, ME today via hwy 112. Fall is just starting to occur, so we saw some red leaves, should be spectacular come late September.
On the drive to Conway, we stopped at the over looks, taking in the views. It's very much like driving from Portland to Redmond, lots of mountains, trees and ability to hike and/or fish, if that's your desire.
We stopped at the Russell-Colbath historic home near Conway. Took the 3/4 mile loop around the area, hoping to see a moose, nope!! Took a tour of the home, it was built in 1831-1832. It's your typical farm home for that period. The cemetery tells you they were well off, it has a fence around
 |
| Bartlett Bridge |
Found the Saco River Covered bridge, actually still in use to today, we drove across it to get across the Saco River. Upon crossing the river, we found the outlet mall, did a little window shopping and then had lunch at the Muddy Moose, nice little pub.
Took a different route getting out of Conway, took the 16 to the 302, then Bear Notch Rd back to the 112. During the winter, this route would be closed, due to amount of snow they get in the area, many feet!!!
 |
| Saco Bridge |
On hwy 302, we found the Bartlett Covered Bridge, they've converted it into a gift shop, very unique. Bought a flag for my yard!
Still have not seen a moose or black bear, think these signs LIE!!! Might have to get up mighty early to see them!
August 27, 2016
I've researched the area and there are many waterfalls and hikes in this area, so today we tackled Franconia Notch State Park. This is home to the infamous "Flume", which is basically a river running through a narrow gorge.
Even though there wasn't much water, it would take your breath away with it's beauty. It's a two mile round trip but honestly it's probably closer to 3.5 if you take all the side trips, that allow you to see views up close and personal. Along the wooden trail (amazingly they remove this wooden trail during the winter months, as it would be destroyed from the weather otherwise), which about 1/2 of the trail, you get extremely close with nature. Even though you are not allowed on the rocks (extremely slippery), you get close enough to capture great pics.After 1/2 way around, you have the option to take short cut back to visitors center or continue onto the covered bridge and water fall, which we did. It provided breath taking views of a 1827 covered bridge and an amazing water fall.
This hike took about 3 hrs, so then we headed to "The Basin", another area inside the park. This area is visited by many that want to play in the water (it's cold, I mean cold mountain water), you can slide down many areas, allowing you to cool off, no we did not try it. I might however come back another day but doubtfully. Old age has made we smarter and wiser!!!We waked up the trail for about a mile, taking in nature and all it's beauty.
Our last stop was "The Old Man at the Mountain", here you get to visualize what this famous rock
Our feet are tired, think we walked about 6.5 miles today.
August 26, 2016
Left Bethel, ME and traveled about 70 miles to Lincoln, NH. We spend 5-7 days here at Country
Bumpkins Family Campground. This area puts us on the west side of Mount Washington, which has tons of hikes, waterfalls, attractions, etc.
This afternoon, Bobby is doing the laundry, while I catch up on chores, including my blog.
August 25, 2016
Mt Washington is our first stop for today (drove here from our location at Bethel, ME). It's a very scenic drive between Bethel, ME
and Gorham, NH, but the weather is starting to change, as we are expecting rain
tomorrow. 
We get to the entrance to the auto road, which is about 6
miles south of Gorham around 9.
Purchased our trip up the mountain, they charge for the car (includes
the driver) and the passenger is extra, plus they give you a CD, explaining the
history of the area and mountain. Could
have taken a guided tour but without know what's along the route, I elected to
drive.
The drive is 8 miles up at a 12% grade and the road is
barely wide enough for two autos (large trucks, RV, etc. are forbidden), you
really have to watch your mirrors and how close you get to the edge, as there are no guard rails.
After about 6 miles, the weather got foggy or cloudy, not
sure which, but we could barely see the road, a little nervous for me,
especially since I a was driving...lol.
Got to the top and it was totally socked in from the clouds. On a clear day, they say you can see the
Atlantic Ocean (east), Vermont (west), Quebec (north) and Massachusetts
(south). However we were not that
lucky today. We did get to see the town
of Gorham but that's about it. Just
the luck of the weather, per the CD, this is the worst weather in the
world. In fact it holds the record for
the highest wind ever recorded by man at 234 mph in April 1934. On avg they get over 200" of snow. Thankfully we just had clouds/fog.
After we spent time looking around and hoping for weather to
change, we drove down and headed to Glen Ellis Falls, about 4 miles away. Now this is what I expected to see in
Grafton Notch State Park yesterday.
After spending an hour or so, headed to Gorham, looked
through a couple of shops and then we headed home. Tomorrow we travel to Lincoln, NH.
Last stop for the day was the Sunday River Covered Bridge,
great old bridge built in 1872. It's one
of those old wooden bridges, but this one was not painted. Unusual, as they are usually white or
red. Very interesting to look at the
craftsmanship that went into building this structure.
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