Post Office on Bear Island

Our Ship

Fri, Aug 17

Conway, NH: This morning was nice and partly cloudy. We walked the trail down to the Swift River through a forest of old growth pines and birches. Beautiful! And the river down there is very nice with a gravel bottom and no big boulders. A good place to get in the water and splash around—if the water weren’t so damn cold. After our walk we decided it would probably be the last chance to take the Lake Winnipesaukee cruise since the next few days are supposed to be quite chilly. So we headed down toward Weirs Beach, stopping at Dunkin Donuts for donut holes for Mike and a blueberry bagel for me. Got to what we thought was Weirs Beach and waited for the Mount Washington ship to pull in. When this much smaller boat pulled in I went and asked one of the crew where the Mount Washington was and he said “at Weirs Beach”. I said I thought we were at Weirs Beach. He said…”no, you’re at Meridith Beach”. Great. It’s now 3:00 and the Mount leaves at 3:15. But Mike was adamant he wanted to go on the very historic Mount Washington, so off we head—me thinking we’d never make the Mount and should have gone out on the smaller boat. But we made it (finally) to Weirs Beach and just caught the Mount. A huge boat—and it’s been running on Lake Winnipesaukee for 135 years! Turned into a beautiful afternoon and our two-hour cruise was well worth it. It’s a beautiful lake and we’re told the water is so clean the people who have homes on the lake use it for drinking water. Same at Squam Lake. I’m not so sure I’d want to drink it—maybe with some scotch in it. After our cruise we headed down the pier to a restaurant overlooking the lake with beautiful views of the mountains in the distance. A nice little beach town with lots to do and not too many people. I bought a NY Yankees tee shirt at one of the shops on the strip. Mike not too happy about that.

Thu, Aug 16

Conway, NH: Up early (for us) this morning and showered and dressed and headed out to explore. Right next to the campground is a historic homestead that the Forest Service bought and restored. The house and barn were built in the early 1830s. It’s great that the Forest Service bought it because it was the only homestead left on the “Kanc”. We walked over there and explored the grounds, the house and the cemetery. One of the daughters lived there all her life until about 1930. Pretty amazing. After that we drove up Bear Notch Road and picked up Rt. 302 heading northwest. The mountains are even more rugged up there. We stopped at a historic sign along Rt. 302 describing the history of what was then called the Crawford Notch—actually it’s still called that (now Rt. 302). Anyway, back in 1771 these two guys, Crawford and Sawyer, were tracking moose and one of them climbed a tree and saw this valley through the mountains they had heard about in Indian lore. So, Crawford went to see Governor Wentworth—British governor back then--and told him about what he had discovered and what it would mean for commerce in the area to have an easy east-west route. The governor made a deal with them—that if they could bring a horse across this wilderness alive, he’d give them a parcel of land and help them build a road. So, they took this poor horse and in some cases literally dragged him across some of the rough areas and then had to lower him with ropes over the rock ledges. The poor thing. But they did it. Where’s the ASPCA when you need them? Made a circuitous route and came back through No. Conway so I could stop at one of the outlets. Worked out well, traffic was coming the other way and Mike was able to stop at the chocolate store. Back to the campground and our really nice site. We found out that Jigger Johnson was a logger extraordinaire. Logging turned this area into a pretty busy and profitable place back in the 1800s.

Wed, Aug 15

Conway, NH: Awoke this morning feeling much better than I thought I would. Not too sore at all. Didn’t sleep much last night though. Although we are still in the Conway, NH, area, we moved today to another national forest campground—Jigger Johnson—which is just off “The Kanc” (which is short for Kancamagus byway—as the locals call it). It’s another beautiful campground, but this one has flush toilets and showers (coin operated, but nice). Had to go to one of the state parks to dump first and then we drove to Jigger Johnson and got set up. Sat outside and read for a while. Finished my book—Recessional by Michener. Great book. Starting “My First Five Husbands and The Ones That Got Away” by Rue McClanahan (Blanche of the Golden Girls). Should be pretty good. Went for a short walk to check out the campground but it started raining. Had an early dinner. Weather iffy for the next couple of days. No cell signal.

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.