Memorial Day Weekend

Nice to finally be away for the holiday weekend. Work at the office had been continuing at the same hectic pace as the weeks before and threatened to follow me to New Hampshire. As it turned out there was enough latitude that I could keep up to what the various people I'm working for needed and over committed a bit for what I can deliver for Tuesday. I really wanted to kick back mentally as much as one could over a three day weekend. I had taken Friday off (as did Carol) to pack up the camper and drive to the campground so four days total. We had a really nice drive up to Littleton, New Hampshire which included the view as we drove through the White Mountain National Park. We arrived at Crazy Horse Campground at about 4:30 where Lois and Jim had already arrived. This place is practically full. The area we are in is nicely wooded and though we are well surrounded by other campers there is enough vegetation between each of us to create a relaxing atmosphere. Plenty of kids and adults walking around, some with dogs only a few that are annoying. Actually the people we've come in contact with here are quite pleasant. We have the full hookup, Cable TV, and wifi, you know, roughing it. Friday night we had a quick supper, after a walk around the campground Carol and I had a campfire going and we had the Redsox on the radio. I managed to doze off in my chair and eventually got up, doused the fire, went in for a little TV and hit the sack.

Saturday morning I cooked breakfast outside and we made ready to visit Littleton and stop at a few yardsales. Up until we parked in Littleton we hadn't realized that we'd been here before but we didn't let that stop us as it's still a pleasant downtown to wander around. We started at the rebuilt grist mill along the river where Lois purchased some some buckwheat pancake mix for Sunday breakfast. Afterwards walking along Main Street we stopped at a few shops one of which was a huge candy store with most anything imaginable and included their self proclaimed world's longest candy counter. Definitely the place to go for a sugar overload. There was a charity yardsale at the opposite end of the street that we poked around then we stopped for lunch at the Littleton Diner. My previous blog showed what I consumed, that picture was the first time I'd posted a blog from my cellphone. Jim and I were sitting on a bench as Carol and Lois were looking through a kitchenware store which was a good time to tryout that method of posting. After making our way back to the truck and stopping at few more yardsales we headed for the town of Whitefield in search of a hobby shop that had caught Jim's attention on his Garmin GPS while looking up local places. As it turned out that shop was in another location but it was a nice ride and we continued on to Lancaster after which we had the Garmin chart the return to the campground which turned out to be a completely different route than we had taken to get to Lancaster. It too was nice ride. Once back both Carol and Lois checked in for a nap while Jim had magazines he wanted to catch up on I decided to walk out to the campground's entrance to help get my full daily walking in. That took about ten minutes to get there and I'd need more steps to reach my daily goal so I headed up the road in the other direction than we arrived in. That route turned out to be a dead end though it included a road to a public boat launch and picnic area on a man-made lake. I poked around the shoreline for a bit, took some pictures and headed back to camp. Along the way an older couple, the gentleman was in one of those wheelchairs with four swivels, were working at cleaning out around the raised beds at their driveway entrance and we spoke for a little while - nice people, spectacular hillside view out their backyard upon which you could see a couple of houses which must have had great views themselves. Later, after grilling up some sausages for supper we partook of "do-it-yourself" ice cream Sunday night put on by the campground, goodstuff. Needless to say I ate way too much this day, once I settled down in front of the tv I fell asleep.

Today Lois made breakfast - those buckwheat pancakes, bacon and sausage patties. After a little while we took a drive to the Flume at Franconia Notch State Park. It had started to rain before we left and it was still coming down when we arrived but we hiked in none the less. With all the water rushing through the gorge it was easy to forget the rain which had lightened up as we began and had dissipated entirely by the time we left the gorge and began the descent on the loop trail back to the park entrance. Over the years Carol and I had visited the Flume a couple of times, most recently about 16 years ago with Ian when he was about four. He had a blast running ahead along the trail. We have some great pictures of that time. We then went back towards the campground an beyond to St Johnsbury, Vermont sort of in search of that hobby shop I mentioned earlier but also to see if it might be a pleasant town to visit. As it turned out there was no hobby shop to be found at the location the Garmin lead us. The town itself pretty much seemed like a nice town but not much of a tourist destination so we're back a the campground kicking back - not a bad thing.

The highway view on the way to Littleton.

Found the place with no problem.

Home for the weekend.

Lois and Jim's abode.

Breakfast adventures.

Breakfast sandwiches are today's special. As the saying goes, "take it or leave it." There were no leftovers.

The front of the grist mill...

...and the back.

Covered walking bridge to the riverside trail on the other side.

Entrance to the Flume.

Near the beginning of the trail through the Flume Gorge.

This pointed tree stump is over three feet across at the base.

The view or Franconia Notch on the way back to Littleton.