10/23/17 10/5-20/2017
We are off on our way to Silver Lake, New Hampshire to do some 'leaf-peeping' and some other stuff along the way. How did we choose Silver Lake, NH? That is a cool story all by itself. We attended the Orlando Fire Dept Benevolent Assn's annual picnic in April of 2016, just prior to our jaunt to California & back. We were told there was no charge but we made a donation anyway, so we were handed 5 'door prize' tickets, which Barb deposited in various hoppers relating to the prizes, and we forgot about it. We spent several hours enjoying the company with long time friends and enjoying the food and the friendship...it was a nice afternoon. It would also be the last time we saw Randy Tuten, as he & his family were going to spend a month at the beach. Sadly, Randy passed away in his sleep while at the beach. We left the picnic and went on with our plans to spend the summer traveling again. We also made arrangements to go to dinner with Jeff & Sharon Heaney before we left. At that dinner, Jeff told us we had won the Grand Prize door prize at the picnic...a week at a cabin in New Hampshire...holy cow!! So that is the short story of how we ended up in NH for a week. We contacted the owners and made sure there was no time limits, etc., and were on our way. When we got back in the middle of Nov, 2016, we started making our plans for 2017 and this trip to NH was part of the plan, an opportunity to see some colored leaves and lots of other adventures.
Our first stop was Emporia, VA, 700 miles in our little car, we were glad that was over. We stopped at a Best Western, got some dinner & crashed. It was a pretty uneventful day. The next morning we are off to Bear, Delaware with a stop at the Delaware State Capitol & a few other government buildings in Dover, DE. Our route took us across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnels between Virginia Beach & Cape Charles, VA and up through Virginia, Maryland & Delaware. This took us through numerous small towns and fishing villages, factory towns and plenty of other sights to keep one occupied. We visited the State Capitol, the Supreme Court bldg., the Old Capitol Bldg., and the Constitution Square...named after the First State, Delaware being the first state to ratify the US Constitution in 1776...they are very proud of that, which they should be. Delaware is a very small state, only 909 sq miles bigger that Rhode Island, and with only 3 counties, state legislators are pretty important people. It is a mere 45 minutes from anywhere in the state to the Capitol, so the rules of assembly are very different than most of the other states and we were schooled on how it all works. We spent several hours looking around and then made our way to Bear, 45 mins up the road. We discovered when we checked in that we were assigned this huge suite, fireplace, 2 TVs, one in each room and a couch besides the normal stuff. So, we decided to just hang out and enjoy the room.
The next day was Saturday, so we were not sure how traffic was going to affect our travels. We were off sort of early and made our way to Trenton, NJ, where we visited their State Capitol. It being Sat, well, parking was easy, but finding our way into the building was tougher, met a few grumps too. But we ended up with a nice gal who works on one of the committees in the Capitol and was very versed on all of the goings on. She spent about 75 minutes with us 2 and gave us a very nice tour..fun deal. Our destination for the night was in Ramsey, NJ, which is north of NYC but not far from The Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson. We got involved in NYC traffic on a Sat again, but we got to our hotel before dark. That is always a goal. This hotel had an attached restaurant, so we didn't have to drive anywhere...nice. We had a nice evening, got some sleep and enjoyed the stop.
Sunday morning, we are on our way to Boston and a stop at the JFK Library. Lots of cars on the road and they all seem to be in such a dang hurry. But we motored along through Connecticut on the Merritt Parkway and Wilbur Cross Parkway and eventually through Hartford and into Massachusetts and into Boston and the JFK Library. We were there in 2015 but we didn't have the Library Passport then, so we stopped to get the stamp. Then we were on our way north to New Hampshire. Boston was pretty busy, Red Sox were playing the Houston Astros at Fenway and there was a lot of traffic. But we get out of the city only to find lots of cars & trucks heading north on I-95. We also decide we will have an EZ-Pass for all the toll roads the next time we go north. We stopped at a grocery store in Ossipee and found the cabin...before dark. It is a nice 3/1 in the woods about 20 miles south of Conway off SR 16 not far from Maine, Kancamagus Hwy, Mt Washington & The White Mountains.
Monday morning & it's raining...boo! So we drove to Concord to visit the NH State Capitol, forgetting it is Columbus Day. But the parking was free, there was nobody but us touring and it was open. We met a lady in the Assembly Room, where 400 representatives gather to run the state government along with 21 Senators...and she explained it all to us, very informative. We spent maybe 30 minutes with her...very nice lady. Then we meandered out to our car and took a different ride back to the cabin. We stopped and got take-out BBQ and went back...we both have had BBQ that was a lot better. It was an learning day. 400 Representatives get paid $100/year, Speaker gets a whopping $125...no wonder they want to go to Washington
On Tuesday, the sun had appeared, so we took a ride to see leaves. The Kancamagus Hwy is close so we took that...beautiful ride. About 1/2 way to I-93 we took a road up & over the mountain to US 302 then west to Bretton Woods where we stopped at the base area of the Mt Washington Cog Railroad. We checked on tickets and made reservations for Thursday...turned out to be a very good decision. We continued west and US 3 to I-93 south and stopped and rode the gondola to the top of Cannon Mtn., beautiful view from the top. Then we moved 5 miles down the road and visited The Flume Gorge...lots of walking but a pretty place. Then we got back on Kancamagus Hwy and rode that back to Conway, then back to the cabin. It was a pretty day to be riding around in the New England woods, minimal crowds and lots of color.
On Wed, we drove to Augusta, Maine to tour the Capitol there. We caught up to a tour and tagged along. We spent time in the Senate & House Chambers...they even made Barb Speaker of the House for a few minutes. We really enjoy these tours, we have now been to 30 of them...and every one has a story to tell...it is very interesting. Our guide left us alone and we wandered through some of the other parts, nobody bothered us. We got our stamp in our book and asked the guards where to eat...they always have answers. We made our way to Portland and stopped at Dimillo's on the Harbor for a lobster...can't go to Maine without having a lobster. Then we made our way back to the cabin.
Thursday arrived with bright blue skies and not a cloud in the sky. We drove to Bretton Woods and the Cog Railroad. We took the train up the mountain, an hour each way. While we spent the hour at the top, we took lots of pictures, one showing the current weather. The guy on the train said 24% of the time you could see 10 miles, the other 75.5% you could not see 10 miles. The day we were up there, the temp was 47, visibility was 130 miles and the wind was at .6 mph...what an amazing day. We drove up there about 10 years earlier and there was snow blowing horizontally, a serious difference between the two...I told Barb we had seen both extremes...we could see Canada, wow. When we got back down, we took some more pics and took a different way back and just enjoyed the day. We stopped at Jake's Seafood and had a great dinner...beautiful day with a great ending.
Friday we did some 'local' exploring, Chocorua Lake, Silver Lake, and then into Maine to Evan's Notch, Bethel & back to Fryeburg and back towards the cabin. We stopped at Hobbs Tavern & Grill for dinner. What a beautiful drive, very few cars and lots of color...what a fun day. On Saturday, we drove to Effingham Falls, Ossipee and then SR 171 which led us to Castle in the Clouds. We walked to a waterfall on the way up the mountain and then toured the Castle, another 1910's era house. The view of Lake Winnipesaukee is pretty awesome from up there: https://www.castleintheclouds.org/
We made our way back to the cabin...a week in New Hampshire that has been great. The cabin is owned by Tim & Heather McGuire, both Orlando Firefighters. They will be happy to talk to you about renting their cabin in Silver Lake, NH. They can be reached at the following website:
http://www.lakesregioncabin.com/. We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay. But it is time to move on.
Sunday morning, we are on our way west. There is sure more traffic on weekends than during the week. After about 8+ hours, we arrive at Enola, PA, a suburb of Harrisburg. We went to get some dinner and spent the rest of the evening watching football and relaxing. We were the only car in the parking lot except the lone guy working the front desk. When we left for dinner 45 mins later, a 52 passenger bus had unloaded and basically filled the hotel. The other puzzling is the lack of colored leaves as we passed from Connecticut into NY and west...Pennsylvania is totally green.
Monday, we ate breakfast and headed to Gettysburg. I was there in the 60's, not since. We toured the visitor's center and bought a 3-CD set that we followed through the battlefield for a little over 3 hours. It is a lot different that I remember it, and Barb had never been there, so it was like a new experience to us both. The CD was very informative and we both marveled at the statistics given: 15000 casualties (dead & wounded) in 3 days...awful!! We are both glad we went and visited the bloodiest battle ever fought on our soil...reminded us of the extreme hate and how it could happen again...we can never let that happen. The difference between the firearms then & now is significant. We finished off the day by driving to Staunton, VA, about 3 hours south...lots of green trees.
The next morning, it was south again, this time Burlington, NC our destination. We arrived at our reserved hotel about 3 pm and waited about 20 mins for our room to be ready. Got changed and drove the 30 mins west to Greensboro and got there early enough to park right near the entrance, When the doors opened, we made our way to our great seats, front row in the balcony...cool! We spent the next 3 hours listening to the greatest hits by the Eagles, with Deacon Frye & Vince Gill joining the rest of the group. Having just heard them in NYC in August, our treat was better seats and the difference between the sound outdoors vs. this smallish coliseum. It was a great night. Back to the hotel, got a good nights sleep, a great breakfast and we are on the road again...great stop.
Off to Knoxville, about 5 hours west on I-40. We are going through Asheville and are hoping for some more colored leaves...nada. We got to our hotel about 3 and relaxed a bit, then called Uber for a ride to the Thompson-Boling Arena on the campus of University of Tennessee. Got there plenty early so we checked out the arena...pretty slim on the concessions so we bought a burger (awful) and went to our seats...The Struts from England opened for the Foo Fighters...another great night on Rock & Roll. Show was over about 11 and by the time we got Uber & back to our hotel it was almost 1230. It was a long night, but a great night too.
The next morning, we had breakfast and got on the road. We stopped in Hayesville, NC and found our friend Jeff Heaney, who was a rookie on my fire truck in 1986 or so...he retired with 30 years on OFD in 2016 and has a really nice place on 20 acres outside of Hayesville...he seems very content. From there we went cross country and made our way to West Augusta, GA. We got there shortly after dark, filled up the gas tank and bought subs to eat in our room while we watch Thursday Night Football. We will be home tomorrow. We got a good nights sleep.
We are on I-16 and I-95 near Savannah so our ride home will be pretty easy. We got an early start and made our way south. It is Friday and there is the normal traffic on I-95, with a twist. There are lots of motorcycles & cars & trucks towing trailers with motorcycles for cargo headed to Daytona for Biketoberfest. They all seem to be in a big hurry, so it makes driving sort of strenuous, trying to avoid it all. As soon as we pass Daytona, that all goes away. We stopped in Titusville and pick up a few groceries and we are home about 530. We have been gone 15 days and we have enjoyed our trip a lot. No tickets, no car issues, no problems. It is good to go, but nice to get home too. We will be here a while...things to do here, people to see. The holidays are coming and we have birthdays to celebrate and more concerts coming up. Stay tuned, we will write when we can.
I have posted a lot of pictures on Facebook that correlate with this time (Oct 5-20) frame. I hope you can look at them if you want. Our internet system at home has seriously degraded so it it hard to post a lot of pictures. Christmas is just ahead and then we will be back on the road enjoying Winter & Spring in Florida.
Steve & Barb Larson
