The Worst Weather in the World

Day 5
October 13, 2011
New Hampshire

This Morning we got up early, to make it to Mt Washington by 8 a.m. so that after we did that we could make good time and get on to Stowe without wasting another day in the car.

Today’s weather was not gorgeous like it has been. It’s cold, gloomy, and rainy.

At first we were kinda bummed because we would not be able to see very far off the top of Mt Washington due to all the clouds, but in the end we sorta loved it because we were able to experience what Mt Washington is known for

Before I tell you about our experience, here is a little history:

As you can read above Mt Washington is known for its erratic weather

I can’t remember the specifics, but something about the convergence of several storm tracks

The Mountain trail was cut out of the Mountain in the 1850’s for the sole purpose of being a tourist attraction.

It took them several years to completely cut the trail all the way up the Mountain, as they kept running out of money.

Once the trail was open to tourist, they gave tours using horses and carriages. There was a “halfway house” approximately halfway up to give the horses a chance to rest so that they could endure the trek up the Mt.

The incline is 6,288ft and the highest peak in the Northeastern United States

The highest wind observed by man at 231mph occurred here

I’m  not a history buff, and I left a lot out, but I found all of this quite interesting…

Now for more pictures

We arrived to Mt Washington about 9:30 a.m.

We had 2 options:

1) drive up the Mountain in our car

2) ride in a van and let the experienced people take care of it

We had initially planned on driving up the Mountain ourselves, but after several people telling us that it would not be a good idea as the road is very narrow and it is easy to drive off the side, we opted to be passengers and leave it to the pro’s.

The first tour left at 9a.m. We ended up being the only ones, so we got a private tour, AND I got to sit in the front seat, since I’m the birthday girl!

Kate was our tour guide

She was awesome, very knowledgeable on the history of the Mt and I can’t help but feel that she would be impressed by this post, since it reflects a lot of what I learned

As we ascended up the Mt we crossed through 4 different forests and climate zones:

 hardwood forest
 
Borealis forest

where a different type of “fall foliage” grows

can you tell which way the wind blows???

Sub-Alpine forest

the trees are shorter, because the strong wind the farther up the Mountain you go, do not allow the trees to grow tall

Alpine Forest

as you near the top of Mt Washington, trees are non-existent

but the moss is (Kate was a BIG fan of the moss)

Once we made it to the top, we got a little taste of what the Mountain was known for…

hello, cold, rain, and violent wind!

My how you make it hard to stand up straight…

look thru the fog….and behold- the Summit!

Kate offered to take our pic if we wanted to climb up there and stand by the sign…

we kindly declined

didn’t wanna follow in Lizzie’s footsteps

I mean who wants to ‘perish’ on their bday???

We spent about 45 min exploring the top of the Mountain, before descending

I really enjoyed the tour. I feel like the fact that we basically had a private tour really made the trip.

the appalachian trail also run through the mountain

as we started seeing ‘foliage’ again, we knew we were close to the bottom

We arrived back at the starting point, around 11a.m.

the day is already MUCH more productive than yesterday

on to Vermont to continue the birthday Celebration!!!

seen any moose today?

Day 4
Bar Harbor to New Hampshire
October 12, 2011

We got up this morning…

packed the car, grabbed hot chocolate and breakfast and set out for New Hampshire

We were making good time, but not sticking to a time schedule, if we wanted to stop and get out or look at something, then we would.

Here are a few pics we took along the way:

Stopping to see Paul Bunyan is where we went terribly wrong!

Right next to this statue was a little visitor center building. It was lunch time, so we went inside to see if he suggested anywhere good to eat. Chain food is almost non-existent here. It’s mostly local restaurants, so we needed to know what was close to us.

We got a little side tracked…The man in the visitor center, “John”, wanted to know where we were coming from, which way we were travelling etc…

He recommended some restaurants, then went on to tell us that we really needed to go a different route than planned. He showed us how to go thru “moose valley”. He said that it would add about an hour and a half to our trip, but that we would, “most definitely” see a moose.

Since we were not on a set schedule, we decided the added time would be worth it if we got to see a moose.

We ate lunch at The Covered Wagon

And set out in search of a Moose…
The drive was beautiful…we got out at a few places to enjoy the view

looks like  a postcard doesn’t it?

As we kept driving and driving, we kept seeing signs such as this

But were not seeing any moose!!!

We saw a man that worked for the state on the side of the road… I told Stacey to pull over.

I rolled down my window and said, “excuse me sir, Have you seen any moose today?”. They were giggling in the background, so it was hard for me to have a serious conversation with him, but he showed me where I could find some moose tracks. So what did we do?

You guessed it!

Went on a moose hunt

we found the tracks, but no moose

Just some more beautiful scenery

After no signs of any sort of wildlife, 3 extra hours in the car (because John was WAY off on his distance calculation)

We were over the “fall foliage” for the day and ready to be in New Hampshire, OUT of the car.

Needless to say, we were not very happy with John and his recs, by the end of the day. We didn’t make it to Mt Washington before it closed, so we decided to do that first thing tomorrow morning, before heading to Vermont.

People that we met along the way told us that we needed to stay in a town called Gorham, because the actual town that Mt Washington was in could get pricey.

We followed their advice…

Let me tell ya something about Gorham

there.is.nothing.there.

you can literally throw a rock from one end to the other

We were so tired of being in the car though, we planned to just find a place to stay, eat dinner, and rest since we had to be up early the next day.

And this is where we stayed….

Moosebrook Motel

wood paneling, bubble tv, hideous décor

We couldn’t decide if this or budget host was worse, but it was a bed to sleep in

and it was clean

“sanitized for your protection”

All in all a good day, we just feel like we wasted a good portion, by being in the car longer than anticipated…

But we had fun along the way, and tomorrow brings a new day

goodnight from the small tiny little town of Gorham, New Hampshire

Sunrise, Sailing, and Lobsta in Baa Habaa

Day 3

Bar Harbor, Maine

October 11, 2011

Yeah they drop The “R” in all the words up here. It’s quite amusing to sit and listen to the locals have a conversation

Well… We started the Morning VERY early!

Running on about 3 hours of sleep, We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain this morning to watch the Sunrise

It is the 1st place that the sunrises in the Continental U.S.

So, In case any of you were actually up early enough to see the sunrise…I saw it before you

Pictures do not do it Justice…It was absolutely beautiful!

And OH SO COLD!!!

Snuggle time

The wind was violent

hence, the cute hairdos

After the sunrise, we headed over to Jordan’s for Breakfast

And what better way to warm up, than with

Hot Chocolate

and Blueberry pancakes!!!

Maine is apparently known for their blueberries, so it was only fitting to eat them

After Breakfast, Grace Anne needed a nap, so we dropped her at the room and Stacey and I went back to Acadia National Park

Mountains, beach, AND ocean…what a combo!

“Sand Beach”

“Thunder hole”

When it is high tide, the waves crash in this hole and causes a huge “thunder” sound and sometimes shoots water up

The waves weren’t high enough when we were there, so it sounded more like a stomach growling

Oh…just hanging out on a cliff


After we were done gallivanting in the park…. we picked Grace Anne up, ate lunch, walked the streets of Bar Harbor for a couple hours and then went to the dock to board our sailboat for the sunset sail

The Margaret Todd

Ready to sail!

Sunset

Sunrise to sunset….Can we say it was a long day???

aboard the boat

After we made it back to the dock, it was dinna time!

In light of our last night in Maine, We felt we needed to eat Lobster. We had eaten some GREAT meals while there, but had yet to actually eat any Lobster

Grace Anne and I decided to go the safe route… and ordered a Lobster role

The Lobster is already cracked and clean for you…requiring no work on our part

We really enjoyed it!

Not as good as the crab role we had yesterday, but still pretty good.

Stacey, however, decided to go all out

and get the real deal…

For anyone that knows Stacey, knows that this was NOT a good idea!

She hated it, but I gotta admit…I love seafood, but that whole process is a bit gross

As we left the restaurant we saw the tank of live Lobsters

There was a man out there holding one, and asked if I wanted to hold it. My immediate response was, “NO way!”

But after much coaxing, jumping, and squealing….I held it and was able to stay composed long enough for a picture

After dinner, we went back to the Hotel for some Hot chocolate ( they serve it free, every night in the lobby until 11 p.m.)

When we entered the Lobby there were about 8-10 senior citizens piled up on the couches in front of the flat screen, watching dancing with the stars

We may or may not have joined them…

We realized that we haven’t seen anyone and I’m not exaggerating…like maybe only a couple of people our age. Everyone is older.

We are hoping Vt will have a younger crowd

But we have LOVED chatting it up with the ‘old folk’

Obviously, we had a FULL day and loved every second of it. It is just so gorgeous and the pics don’t even come close to doing it justice

Maine did not let us down and far exceeded any expectations we may have had. We have met so many people. I have enjoyed talking to everyone, hearing their stories, and learning the way of life of people here and around the U.S.

Tomorrow we head to New Hampshire!