1986 Weekend in NH (4/18-20/1986)

Friday, April 18, 1986

Kent came home from work at 13:00, and after a quick lunch we picked up Kyle and Erich to drive to New Hampshire. We headed up I-95 and joined I-93 north of Boston. Once in New Hampshire, we saw a couple bumper stickers. One said, “Welcome to N.H. Now go home.” The other said, “Volez avec l’aigle ou gratter avec les poulets/Fly with the eagle or scratch with the chickens.”

We were expecting a 4-hour drive and planned a snack stop, but suddenly we were nearing our destination. We took Exit 32 to Lincoln, passing Loon Mountain after a few miles, and soon found the condo development of Clearbrook. Patches of snow were on the higher mountains and on the ski slopes. We found the P condo that they loaned us to use on an off-season weekend. We unpacked and read the condo regulations. It was a beautiful place with two bedrooms and a bath downstairs with a laundry room. The kids each chose a top bunk of the two bunkbeds in one room. The entrance was on the next level with a high-ceilinged living room. Up another level was the dining room and kitchen. Sliding doors gave a great view of Loon Mountain. Another level had a sitting room (the couch could fold out to a queen-size bed), and then the loft had another bedroom and a bath. This bedroom had a view down on the living room that also had a fireplace.

The P condo

We went for a walk to the stream in the woods next door. Then back for dinner of lasagna, garlic bread and peas, with a mountain view and setting sun. After a story was read, the kids were ready for bed at 19:30! Kent and I made a fire in the fireplace. The squeaky recliner kept Kyle up until he knew what was making the noise.

Saturday, April 19, 1986

Erich was up at 5:04 to show us his bug bite! After a hearty breakfast, we were ready for the day at 7:30! We drove back through Lincoln, and up through North Woodstock on US-3. We passed several tourist places that were closed for the season. We arrived at the Franconia Notch State Park with only one other car in the parking lot. The Visitor Center was closed, but signs directed us around the building towards The Flume. We followed an asphalt road to a covered bridge over the Pemigewasset River, then followed the stream (Flume Brook) upward.

Flume Bridge

Lower end of the Flume

We saw places where the water sheeted over wide flat rocks. We entered the gorge that became narrower with the water tumbling through. There was snow on the path, and then we couldn’t go further because of frozen waterfalls down the steep sides of the gorge that had knocked out the walkway.

Frozen waterfalls

We backtracked to one of the bridges over the brook, and walked up the other side that climbed to the top of the gorge. We found ourselves at the top of a waterfall that plunged into the narrow gorge.

Above the Flume

The kids had trouble climbing the hill and actually laid down to rest! It was more difficult because the paths went straight up instead of zigzagging. It was easier to go downhill, and we passed another family.
Back at the car we had a snack, then drove to the Basin.

Pemigewasset River to the Basin

We never found the Basin itself, but did find the Baby Flume, a narrow stream going down a rock slide, around a U-curve, and finally under a wooden bridge.

Erich, Kyle, and Kent

Kyle and Erich dropped sticks in the stream, and ran down to try to fish them out at the bottom.

Baby Flume

Kyle, Kent, and Erich at the Baby Flume

We returned to the car, passing a rock formation we think is the Old Man’s Foot.

Old Man's Foot

Erich on the Old Man's Foot

Erich and Kyle

We headed north again, to stop and see the Old Man of the Mountain. We parked and saw a girl looking through a telescope in the opposite direction. We walked to Profile Lake for the best view of the rock formation that looks like the profile of an old man.

Not another picture!

The Old Man of the Mountain

The Profile

We returned to the car, and learned the girl was watching falcons.

We drove back south, stopping at Carver’s Trading Post, which was closed, but we could still see the bears in residence.

View north towards Mount Washington

Bear at the feeding tube

Kent and Erich at the feeding tube

Kyle at the feeding tube

We bought a couple bags of bear food to toss down the tubes into the bear cages, or put in tin cans and use a pulley to bring them up to a platform. After Kyle and Erich emptied their bags, we drove into Woodstock, where I checked on breakfast information at the Woodstock Inn. We wanted to eat lunch at Truant’s Tavern, but it wouldn’t open until 11:30, so we continued to Lincoln. The Common Man Restaurant was only open for dinner, so we returned to Truant’s Tavern and were seated next to a wood-burning stove. The “waitron” was wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and hiking boots. I tried a big bowl of creamy clam chowder with big clams in it. Kyle and Erich got their hamburger and cheeseburger, each 6 oz. of meat! Lots of fries and some fruit wedges. I had a BLT and Kent had a veggie pocket. About $24 let us leave.

We returned to the condo to drop off leftover hamburgers and use the restroom. We left and this time headed east to Kancamagus Pass, stopping for a view down into the next valley.

Kancamagus Pass

Still such a warm sunny day as we wound our way through the mountains with lots of white birch trees. As we continued driving along, we noticed cars stopped at the side of the road. Wildlife! Sure enough, there was a female moose lumbering in the woods. Farther along we followed a mountain stream and in it were kayakers. We arrived at the end of the Kancamagus Highway and turned north into Conway. Noticed many outlets stores, but forged on to North Conway. Got a fantastic view of Mount Washington in the distance. In North Conway we had a view of the mountain from Main Street. There were many more outlet stores, and we shopped at a Converse Outlet. We stopped at the railroad station for a picture, then turned around to head back. Stopped at a Friendly’s to take out ice cream cones. Kent gave me the car key when he took the boys to the restroom. I unlocked the car and put the key on the dashboard for Kent. But when Kent came out, he decided to just walk across the street to the Polo Outlet, which made perfect sense. I got out of the car and as I slammed the door shut, I realized the key was inside! Too late! I had a sense of doom. Kent went into Friendly’s to get a hangar, and I tried calling the police at the pay phone. I was instructed to drop in the money at the second dial tone, which I thought I did, but I was cut off. I tried again, and lost more money. I went into Friendly’s to explain my dilemma, and was told not to put in the money until my party answered. He gave me a dime to try again, and then realized I was with the guy who had the problem of the key locked in the car. He called the police, who claimed not to be able to unlock foreign cars. People offered their VW keys to try, but no luck. Finally the Friendly’s manager called a locksmith for us. He tried a flat plastic piece to reach the lock, then picking the lock, and finally got it with the hangar! We paid him $35 and left at 15:30. We stopped at a Bass Outlet in Conway, then returned to the condo. I made Cincinnati Chili that turned out watery. After already feeling badly about locking the key in the car, this made me feel worse. Kent came and straightened things out. Later we made popcorn as we sat by a fire, and tried to keep the kids up longer, so we wouldn’t have such an early morning again.

Sunday, April 20, 1986

But they were up at 5:00! We later drove to the Woodstock Inn for breakfast at 7:30. Started out with sticky cinnamon buns and fruit juices. I had poached eggs with asparagus over homemade bread with a Hollandaise sauce. Kent had “red flannel” hash, with red beets in it for color, and a poached egg with whole wheat toast. The boys had a feast with an egg, sausage, a pancake, toast, and home fries. We left $20 and returned to the condo. The kids were sent to play outside as we had to clean the condo and pack the car. We left at 10:30 to head south on I-93, but soon detoured to US-3 for a more scenic drive. Kyle and Erich fell asleep as we passed Lake Winnepesaukee. At Weirs Beach we saw several closed amusement parks, including huge water slides. We followed SR-11 east to SR-28, and stopped at Bear Brook State Park at 12:30 for a picnic lunch. Back on I-93 to I-95 and back to RI where we dropped the boys off at their mom’s, and were home by 15:00.