DFT19 - New Hampshire

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After driving across Vermont and tasting the best Maple Syrup of all time, we ended up in New Hampshire.  We were suppose to spend our last night camping for several days but it was raining as we arrived at the campground, so we upgraded to a cabin.  The campground was super old,  but had just been purchased and they were in the process of upgrading it.  It was really nice and at the nicest and hottest showers I have ever had at a campground.  I would gladly stay there again.  We had dinner at Black Mountain Burgers and it was really good too! The next morning we had breakfast at the White Mountain Bagel Company before starting our day exploring the White Mountain National Forest.

We first stopped at the Flume Gorge.  It is a part of the North Franconia State Park.  It actually cost $16 each to hike 2 miles around the Gorge Loop.  At first I thought it was a little crazy, but it ended up being totally worth it.  The facilities including the trail are very well maintained.  They even have a cafe and a gift shop in the visitors center....and the bathrooms are super clean, which is always a plus.  The trail had two really nice waterfalls and great mountain views.









After we finished there we continued to our drive around the White Mountain Scenic Byway.  We were trying to get to the Mt. Washington Auto Road and realized we were on the wrong side of Mt. Washington.  So I used trusty google to find us a way around, it took us on some random dirt road for about 12 miles, but we eventually got there.  However, it did drive us right by the site where those 7 motorcyclists were killed last Friday.  It was very somber and hard to see.

We then paid to drive up Mt. Washington.  But for the price we got a bumper sticker, a certificate, and a CD to listen to on the way up and the way down.  It was optional to return the CD at the end of the drive, so we kept it.  However the top of Mt. Washington was really nice.  They have a really nice museum with great interactive exhibits to listen to and watch.  I would have loved to have spent more time, but a two year old isn't really end that.  There is a great observation deck, a post office, and a weather station.  We got to watch to Cog come up and down the mountain.  And part of the AT passed across the top of Mt. Washington.  All in All is was a great experience, and better than Mt. Evans was in Colorado last year.






Eventually we made it to our hotel in Portland.  After bathing EG, she and Daniel went to sleep and I went to pick WoWo up from the airport.  So we could all get up and start our big adventures in Maine.

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