Had a fire this morning. A little chilly. Changed into our hiking boots and headed out on the White Ledge Trail. It was only a 4.2 mile loop, but I think it was the worst hike I’ve been on. 45% up and 45% down. Really steep in places. On our way to the summit you could almost have been on all fours it was so steep. Then we picked a spot to eat thinking the trail would start down so we had our lunch. We were both pretty beat. And we still have to go down! The trail markers up at the top are all cairns because it’s all granite up there. After lunch we followed the cairns thinking we’d be going down, but we’re still going up. STILL not at the summit. So we kept going. The view was incredible but not worth the climb up there (Mike would probably disagree with that). I hate going down the steep parts most of all because it’s so easy to slip on loose gravel and fall on your butt. And your feet push against the toes of your boots. And your legs are shaking with the strain. I was in pretty major pain by the time we got past most of the steep part. Mike did much better than I did. Took five hours. I was going pretty slow though and Mike had to keep stopping and wait for me to catch up—on the downhill part anyway. Got back and I put the pack away and jumped into the shower. Felt really good. Still in pain though. Think I’ll pop a bunch of Advil tonight. We leave for Jigger Johnson National Forest campground tomorrow. I’d much rather stay here but we’ve been here two weeks so we have to leave I guess. No phone signal over to where we’re going either—which is probably good because I’ve already gone over my minutes this month. I should use Mike’s phone more. He gets carry-over minutes. Gotta go find some pain pills.

Conway, NH: Started out cloudy and sprinkly. So we started playing Monopoly. Then it cleared off a little. So outside we go. Then it clouded up again. Back to Monopoly. Cleared off nicely. Sat outside and read for a while. Mike hauled water and we filled the tank. Nice and quiet here now. Everyone has left. Just us and the chipmunks. Mike took me to dinner at Fandangle’s in No. Conway. Traffic bad again. Damn those outlets!

Today we did the laundry and grocery shopping. Did the laundry in Conway and the grocery shopping in North Conway. North Conway is where all the outlets are and is very touristy. But Conway is pretty cute. Unfortunately, they get all the traffic heading to No. Conway. Anyway, when we were doing the laundry we noticed that “Rescue Dawn” was playing at the little theatre on Main Street. A really old neighborhood theater with the little marquee and everything. Decided after we got all our chores done we’d head back to see the 7:00 show. Got there at about 6:40, parked on Main Street right across the street from the theater and headed over. This was a really different theater experience. In order to get into the theater, you have to go next door to the Conway Cafe and buy your ticket at the little counter. I asked if there was any popcorn, and yup they had a little popcorn machine there. I asked if there was any candy, and yup there was a whole display of really good candy. You can also buy breakfast, lunch, or dinner and take it in with you. They have these little trays that fit into the cup holders and you can have your meal and watch your movie. So, off we go with our candy, popcorn, and soda down this hall and into the theater. It was a tiny little theater—50 seats. No previews or anything. Just before the movie started, a guy came in and welcomed us to the Majestic Theater and asked us to turn off cell phones, warned us about talking during the show, etc., told us to enjoy the show and then he left and they started the movie. Really different experience. But the theater was clean, they had cup holders, and the snacks were great. The movie was okay. After the movie, we’re driving back to the campground and I keep telling Mike to watch out for moose—especially since it was dark. There are signs all over warning…BREAK FOR MOOSE….IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE….HUNDREDS OF COLLISIONS. The only moose we’ve seen this trip is the one after we got turned back at the Canadian border. And she was laughing at us.

Mike is standing to the left--shows you how big it is...

Conway, NH: Nice, sunny morning. And the refrigerator is definitely fixed. Worked just fine all night. Mike fried up some bacon and we had bacon, eggs, and biscuits for breakfast. After that we headed over to Lake Winnepasegue to go on the cruise. However, the boat was chartered for a large party so we drove over there for nothing. On the way back though we stopped to see the Madison boulder. Everyone said we should go see the Madison boulder. So we did—down this horrible, rough dirt road. It was pretty neat though. The thing was dumped there by a glacier about 25,000 years ago. It’s one of the largest in the world. After that we came back and read for a while. The large group from Rhode Island is here for a long weekend because Rhode Island is the only state that recognizes VJ day as a holiday. VJ DAY??? Give me a break. They probably don’t even know what it is. So, we’re stuck with them until Monday when they leave. They turned on the radio in one of their vehicles a little while ago and had it blaring. I took that for only so long and then strode over there and asked them to turn it down—which they did. I hate it when people come to these national forest campgrounds and think they can do whatever they want and to hell with everyone else.

Conway, NH: We kicked back today. Had a fire all morning. Mike ran the generator for a couple of hours and I vacuumed while I had the chance. Mike took the panel off the back of the refrigerator and cleaned out an orifice which was clogged with corrosion. That seemed to fix the problem with the refrigerator. It hasn’t turned off since. We’re keeping our fingers crossed. He is so good. The host stopped over with her cute little puppies. Played with them for a while. Read our books and after dinner we played Monopoly for a while. A big group in here from Rhode Island. But it’s pretty quiet for a Friday night. Was cloudy all morning but cleared in the afternoon. Cool day and is really getting chilly tonight.

Conway, NH: A few clouds rolled in this morning and then it started raining, then pouring, so after putzing around here this morning we headed out to Conway to check out the movie times and buy a couple of “chairs in a bag”. The traffic into Conway was horrendous. What in the world is going on we thought? First we thought we’d check the movie times. After getting turned around a couple of times we finally found the theatre in the local “mall” which consisted of a J. C. Penny, a Chinese restaurant, and the cinema. Mike pulled up front and I dashed in through a downpour threading my way through a bunch of kids and then realized there was nothing showing for anyone over 10 years of age. Dashed back to the truck and we headed to the L. L. Bean store. More horrible traffic. Finally get there and parked and slogged through a flooded parking lot into the store which was packed with people. By now we’re hating this town and everyone in it. Left there and headed to the Walmart which was relatively quiet. Got our chairs and decided to find a nice, quiet restaurant and have several drinks and a late lunch. Come to find out, Conway has every outlet known to man. People come from all over to shop here in this tiny town. After lunch (and several drinks) we decided to take a look at the next campground we’re planning to stay after we leave here. It’s on a scenic highway (two-lane road actually) which runs through the middle of the White Mountain National Forest along the Swift River. A beautiful drive. The Swift River is a beautiful boulder-strewn river which is not navigable—except by canoe or kayak in high water only. A couple of gorges and water falls. The first campground you come to is the “Covered Bridge” campground which we can’t get into because you have to cross the river on a historic covered bridge and we’re too high to clear. We’re planning on staying at the Jigger Johnson campground which we checked out and is very nice. Again, no hook-ups. Back to the camper and some Excedrin to quell this headache. Hangover?

I could not sleep last night for some reason. Finally at about 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. I took some Tylenol PM—which was a big mistake. Still couldn’t sleep and woke up feeling drugged. So we just hung out all day. Mike wanted to check the solar panels when they were in the sun anyway because he didn’t think they were working properly. But, they’re working fine—just get direct sun only a couple of hours a day. So, we’ll probably have to run the generator a little from time to time. We also keep getting an error code on the refrigerator since it’s been on gas. Mike thinks it’s some air in one of the propane tanks. If it keeps up we’ll have to take it and get it purged and refilled. We’ve never had a problem with the refrigerator, but if we need to replace it I’d rather do it while we still have a warranty. Anyway, that’s about the extent of our day. It was a perfectly beautiful day—sunny and cool in the morning. We actually had a fire this morning. Would have been great hiking weather if I’d have felt better. There are two trails we can take right from the campground. One is a 4 mile loop called the ledge trail. And the other is a much longer one up to the top of one of the mountains. Think we’ll pass on that one.

Fri, Aug 3

It’s HOT. We’ve been having trouble getting onto the Internet with our air card. Not sure if it is MSN or the air card. Started with MSN this morning. Called tech support and spent about 2 hours on the phone with them (some guy from India). That didn’t work, so called AT&T and finally got some help. He couldn’t figure out why the air card doesn’t want to work. It all seemed to start when I downloaded an update for the aircard—probably because AT&T bought Cingular. He set up some dial-up network to use. It is very slow though. Will have to call him back tomorrow when it’s cooler. It’s now 88 in the camper as I type. This must be a cruel joke since we were both bitching about the cool weather we were having on the Maine coast. Now that we have NO hook-ups it has to get hot. In the truck while we were going out to eat (no more cooking) it was between 98 and 100! It’s supposed to cool down tomorrow, thunder storms tonight—probably severe. Jeeze...

Our "facilities"--primitive but clean and good smelling

Our buddy

Our Campsite

Wed, Aug 1

Another beautiful morning. Feels like it will be a warm one. Took the computer over to the rec hall to get on the Internet. I was successful, Mike wasn’t. Back to our site and started closing things up so we could leave. Left there about 11:45 and arrived at our campground—White Ledge NF Campground—at about 2:00 after stopping for lunch. When we pulled in the temperature was about 89. Our campground is really pretty and our solar panels will get full sun. It’s in the White Mountains and they’re visible all around us. The Lakes Region in Maine which we just left is really pretty. We passed one pretty lake after another on the drive over here. Our current campsite is great and we have a couple of chipmunks which I’ve been feeding peanuts. They are so cute. After we put the peanuts away, one of them climbed into my lap looking for them. Love it!