By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers
We summited Mt. Washington, an important mountain near Gorham, New Hampshire. In addition to being the highest peak east of the Rockies and the very first tourist
attraction in America, Mt. Washington is also known for having recorded the highest wind speed of any place in the world – 231 mph, which blew by in April 1934.
As regular readers of our articles know, we don’t try to tell you all the statistics and details about everything we see, preferring to whet your appetite to see for yourselves. But there are a few things about our Mt. Washington visit that you might find interesting. First, at the start (mountaineers might call it “base camp”), they warn you that it’s not for the faint of heart. The 8-mile narrow road with no rails overlooks gorges, and cars heading downhill are required to stop to allow the upward bound to pass by without losing momentum.
The Cog Railway pokes its way upward to reach Mt. Washington's summit.
We parked our GMC truck in the lower parking area at the top and climbed a long flight of stairs to the stagecoach gift shop. We continued our upward progress from there to reach the cog railway stop, museum, restaurant and second gift shop. Next, we walked through the defunct Tip Top Hotel, and eventually to the overlook platform. At that point, we ascended via rocky trail to the peak – a definite photo-op.
It was June 6th, a warm 68 degrees at the bottom of the mountain but about 45 at the top with ice and snow on the ground. The wind whipped up slightly making it uncomfortable for a few minutes, eventually causing me to don a fleece. I’m happy to say that the trip down was uneventful, and it was good to know that had we not found sweatshirts and other souvenirs we might have wanted while at the top, there is another gift shop across the road at the base.
We’ve now crossed into Maine. More beautiful countryside, more trees including fragrant birches, more memorable scenes along the back roads and byways that we prefer, and even another covered bridge.
Parked a few feet from the Sebago Lake shoreline, we weren’t sure how Mama Duck and her brood of ducklings can sleep at night with the chorus of frogs ringing out in the lake’s shallows and through the birch and maple trees.
Being outdoor types, we couldn’t visit Maine without stopping by L.L.Bean in Freeport, the vast
I think this is a gimmick to make people want to take a picture that will increase their product recognition. Well, it worked!
sporting good supplier’s headquarters. If we thought we would only be there for a quick look, we were gladly mistaken. Just to walk around all the different areas to be found in connected and unconnected buildings took more than an hour, considering that we gave deep thought to the things we might want in the future when we aren’t on the road.
Before we continued our exploring of Maine, we hopped on the L.L.Bean shuttle to their waterfront to watch potential buyers try out kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and accessories – all with a Cajun band nearby keeping an up-tempo beat.
From Freeport we wove our way down the coast to the “most photographed lighthouse in Maine.” A beautiful setting with three lighthouses in view from Fort Williams Park on Cape Elizabeth just south of Portland..
The gorgeous yachts moored at Camden Harbor, plus the beautiful homes made this a highlight of our journey.
After a few more sights, we returned to our campsite just as the clouds turned to pink and yellow, and where we were serenaded by the cacophony of tree frogs accompanied by the occasional baritone of a bullfrog hiding in the marshes. We pulled up stabilizers Monday to make the short trip to Camden on the coast. Here we walked the harbor with its magnificent boats before touring the town with its impressive New England homes. Then back to the state park to host and learn about the local area from Fred Darrow, a blog reader, and then end the evening with a light show put on by the lightning bugs.
Never bored, never bored!
From the “Never-Bored RVers,” We’ll see you on down the road.
The Lighthouse at Fort Williams is as classic a scene as you'll find anywhere.
© All photos by Barry Zander. All rights reserve
COMMENTS TO RECENT BLOGS
From Drew – [referring to the liquor store sign on the New Hampshire interstate highway] I believe this means you are in a “dry” state…meaning the sale of alcohol is regulated by the gov’t. If you go inside one of these “stores,” you will see no liquor displayed whatsoever. You need to ask the person behind the counter for the item(s) you want. Also, they have limited hours and I believe they close on Sundays and/or Saturdays. Maine is another dry state as well. Have fun,
Barry’s response – That sounds right; however in Maine, we’ve seen supermarkets with liquor for sale on Sunday.
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