As we crossed into New Hampshire we spent a couple of days in Hinsdale, NH which is just across the Connecticut River from Brattleboro, VT. As is our custom, we went hiking and sightseeing. Dinner on the banks of the river was a pleasant change from the desert dining of AZ. There are so many interesting things to see that you won’t find in guide books that we are always busy. Hence, it takes me along time to get these stories posted. We just don’t take the time to slow down.

The drive from Ohio, across Pennsylvania, through New York and Vermont and New Hampshire was like nothing we’ve experienced before. When we left one of our overnight stops we decided to stay off the interstate and travel on the US and state highways.
That was interesting to say the least. The roads in these areas are narrow, 2 lane roads with twists and turns and blind hills. It required a special amount of concentration especially when an 18 wheeler came up from the other direction. When we came up behind an Amish carriage going down the road we had to slow down to their speed which was about 10-15 mph until we could see far enough up the road to be sure we had sufficient room to pass and hope we didn’t scare the horse. The horses are Thorobreds that have a quick, rhythmic pace that just eats up the miles.

One of the routine comments from Class A motorhome passengers is that they feel like they are falling off the road. In a Class A the driver and passenger seats are situated above the front tires as opposed to a standard vehicle in which the driver and passenger are situated inboard of the front tires. Therefore when Teri was looking out the window, all she could see was the cracked edge of the asphalt roadway and felt like we were driving off the pavement. A very nervous feeling. I, on the other hand, felt like I was driving on the other side of the road as I was sitting on the centerline and was concerned about getting hit by an oncoming vehicle. After an afternoon of this type of driving, we decided to get back on the interstate whenever we could.

The joy of the state highways was all the cute, small towns that we drove through, literally. All these little towns have the main highway routed right through the center of town. The buildings are built close to the road and several times I thought I was going to hit one of the street signs with the mirror. The treetop canopies stretch out across the road and you wonder how it is that we don’t hit the branches with the top of the coach. There were a few times when we did brush against the leaves but fortunately never hit a branch. The semi-trucks drive these roads all the time so that provided me some comfort that I wasn’t going to hit a tree or a power line. The towns are old and still have the power lines stretched overhead crossing the roads so in addition to tree branches we were concerned about pulling down a power line as well. We didn’t and again, even though they look low, semi-trucks drive these roads all the time.

We finally arrived at Gail’s house in Sanbornville, NH where we met up with Rob, Steffi and Gail. Our stay was fun-filled and packed with activities.

As we arrived Gail’s house, Rob and Steffi met us at the intersection in a golf cart to escort us in. As we neared the house we had a steep climb and there was a low power line across the dirt road. The road wasn’t much wider than the coach. Rob directed me and we were able to slide the coach under the wires without pulling them down. The wires slid across the upper driver side corner of the coach but didn’t get caught on anything and then we were parked. We had some nice shade from the tree canopy overhead and a beautiful view of the forest trees. Gail’s house is a sweet little cottage that felt very homey. Rob, Steffi and I went for a bicycle ride each morning while Gail and Teri would go for a walk. The area is beautiful. The weather was warm during the day but nothing like AZ. The roads in the area are all dirt and routinely need maintenance from a gully-washing rain. The trees are dense and the homes are amazing. The size and view of the homes goes from a small manufactured home to some amazing homes built on the lake front with a boat dock. Did I happen to mention the humidity? It is like nothing I’ve ever experienced in AZ.

We spent an afternoon walking through the Wright Museum of World War II and the downtown area of Wolfeborro. The Wright Museum is a tribute to WWII. It not only recognizes and memorializes the military but also all the folks who were not in the military but who were also doing their part to support the country. A wonderful tribute to the men and women who sacrificed at home through rationing and working in the plants to support the war effort. We also took a day and had lunch on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee and wandered through the small shops that make up the downtown area.

We took a drive up to the Castle in the Clouds, a mansion that was built in 1913 and is now an event center and museum. The views from the top of the mountain are stunning. We completed the 2.5 mile waterfall hike which gave us a view of multiple waterfalls. The water flow was low and we could only imagine how impressive these would look during a spring runoff. After that we landed in Conway and jumped on the Conway- scenic railroad. The railroad tour is much like the Verde Canyon tour in Cottonwood, AZ. It is an out and back tour of the countryside with a narrative of the history of the area. We thought the Verde Canyon Tour was more interesting.

During the time we were there we had a chance to meet Gail’s friends in the area and had a beautiful evening boat ride on Pine River Pond (a huge lake in comparison to AZ) where we all jumped into the water, off the boat, to cool off.

For the weekend, Rob, Steffi and I drove to Concord, NH where we spent the night and the next day we participated in the Kearsarge Klassic Gravel Bike Event. This was a non-race event but since there was a start line and a finish line, it was a race to us. The sky was bright blue with sunshine when we started. I crossed the finish line after a little more than 4 hours and 56 miles soaking wet and muddy due to the heavy downpour that hit while I was still an hour from the finish line. Just a little adversity to make a person stronger. Rob and Steffi both had some amazing finishing times.

Teri and I said our goodbye’s and headed for Maine after a week and a half. We ended up in Portland, ME. We can now say we’ve been to Portland on each coast and have had our toes in both oceans. The towns are small coastal beach towns reminiscent of San Diego, CA in many ways.

We stopped to tour the USS Albacore museum. The Albacore was dry docked after it was used as a testing submarine. The Navy would use the Albacore to test various equipment which included various propulsion systems. It was amazing that the number of sailors necessary to operate this machine could fit in such a small space. It was claustrophobic and had a strong smell of gear oil and grease. The stories it tells are spellbinding. We couldn’t leave the area without stopping into the Kittery Trading Post. Imagine a Bass Pro Shop, Cabella’s, REI, Sportsman’s Warehouse all rolled under one roof and you still couldn’t compete with this Trading Post. They had every brand of every item that you could imagine. Yes, we left a fair amount of money in the store. Someone had to help keep them in business.

After a few days we headed back to NH, this time to Weare, NH. I knew my cousins had lived in Contoocook (near Concord, NH) when they were younger. I took a chance and found a phone number for my cousin Bethany and we arranged to spend some time with her and Neil parked in their driveway for several days. This was a great homecoming for all of us. Bethany and Neil were fantastic hosts and arranged for a family reunion for an evening. I had never met the youngest of the cousins on my mom’s side and this was an opportunity to do so. Kent and his wife Colleen were wonderful to visit with as well as seeing my Aunt Gloria, cousin Mike and his wife Marie, Mike’s daughter, and Alan (Bethany and Neil’s son). Neil and Alan are into sled pulling as much as I am into my bicycling and formerly rock-crawling in the Jeep. The amount of time they spend building their pulling trucks and doing the math to determine how much weight to add to the truck and where to place it and the never ending job of keeping the trucks strong is amazing. But that’s what I used to do with my jeep rock-crawler and now do with my bicycles. We had a wonderful visit catching up and sightseeing. We made arrangements to meet Kent and Colleen in TN to visit additional family several weeks later. Unfortunately, we spent so much time visiting we forgot to take family photos.

Of course we didn’t just sit around a talk. We drove to Dunbarton, NH to enjoy their town heritage with their annual parade and crafts festival. It was great to see the small town heritage. We even took in some of the historical aspects, imagine that….

Philadelphia was next on our agenda. We toured the Museum of the Revolutionary War, saw lots of statues and visited the Liberty Bell. Did you know you can’t take a pocket knife into the Liberty Bell exhibit? I didn’t. After a short conversation with the armed federal security supervisor and providing my retired ID, they let me pass with the knife. The size of the bell is amazing and the story of the crack is sad in many ways but yet you can’t help but stand and read the story all the way through.

Onward we went to Washington, DC area. First up was to visit with my brother Mark and his girlfriend Nina. We spent time with them catching up and learning of all the sights to see in DC as they have worked in the city for many, many years.

We spent an entire day walking DC (10 miles) seeing all the usual monuments and memorials. The Capitol, Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson Memorials and Union Station were on the list. The Law Enforcement Officers Memorial was a special one for me. I was able to see the list of Chandler Police Officers who died in the line of duty in the Roll Call book. There aren’t many, thankfully, but 1 is too many. I worked with a few of the fallen officers and they were a tribute to the badge. The WWI, WWII, and the VietNam memorials were also on the list. I don’t know anyone on The Wall but it is very impactful. We finished the day at the Holocaust Museum. You couldn’t help but get a little teary eyed at some of the stories. A very sobering story of a sad time in world history. At the end of the day, we hailed a cab for the first time in our lives for the drive back to our parking garage. We were beat.

As we continued south we stopped in Lexington, VA. We didn’t know what was here, it was a good stopping point. We stayed for a few days. We found the Stonewall Jackson home and the Virginia Military Institute. I found the VMI museum extremely intriguing. It is considered the West Point of the South. Many military leaders from all generations and military branches have attended VMI. There was a new class starting and we could hear them counting cadence as they were conducting their various drills. It reminded me of my days at the police academy and I felt for them. I’m just glad I don’t have to do that again.

We continued to tour the area and hiked the Natural Bridge trail, the Blue Ridge Tunnel, a stop to walk across the Buchanan Swinging Bridge, and a tour of the Old Derby Inn in Blountville, TN. The Natural Bridge trail reminded me of the Tonto Natural Bridge near Payson, AZ. A geographical marvel. The Blue Ridge Tunnel was a railroad tunnel that was considered and engineering marvel. A light is a must as there is no light in the tunnel, almost a mile long with water dripping out of the walls. Fortunately, the pinpoint light at the end of the tunnel was not a train. They quit using the tunnel when the trains became too big to fit in the tunnel. The Buchanan Swinging Bridge has a long history going back to the 1800’s. A quick trip south from the Virginia side of the state line back to the TN side and we were in Blountville where they were holding a town festival. This is where we had a self guided tour through the Old Derby Inn and had a taste of small town life in TN.

After a few days we moved on to Bristol, TN to visit with cousin Theresa and Aunt Gladys. Kent and Colleen and dropped in while we were there so we were able to have a 2nd family reunion of sorts. Kent was thoughtful enough to share some pictures of our Grandad. Outside of the visiting, sharing stories, eating wonderful food, Teri and I found time and place for hiking and bike riding, if you can imagine that.

From TN we headed back north to visit with Dayna. She had insisted that we needed to visit rural Ohio around the Labor Day time as there were a number of festivals in the area that we wouldn’t want to miss.

Apparently Virginia does not believe in building roads over the mountain, they’d rather have you drive through the mountain. As we moved north from TN, the storm clouds starting gathering. As we left Canton, OH we were in rain. It was still raining when we reached Dayna’s. We were blamed for the rain but there was nothing we could do. We spent the week going to the county fair, the Amish farmers market, having fantastic meals and a wonderful visit. At one point in our visit we had to move our parking spot from one park to another. As we started to drive away from the first park, I noticed the ride seemed to be much harsher than usual. The short version is that I determined that the suspension air bag on the right rear was not inflating. We called multiple shops looking for some assistance. Several said they could help and would put us on the schedule 2-3 weeks out. We could have made that work, we are retired…… But that just was not acceptable and we felt there had to be a better alternative. As we were discussing options, Dayna’s mom contacted a friend of hers, Howard, who owns a garage. He said he’d be happy to help and suggested I call the shop. I called Kronk’s Garage and spoke with Annie. She said Howard had called and they were prepared to help. Annie obtained all the necessary information on the motorhome and said she’d call me back with additional information. We had picked up Dayna for a day on the town so we stopped into Kronk’s. Dayna and Annie had a reunion from their high school days without realizing the other was in town. Back to business and Annie said they could work on the coach the next day. True to their word, the coach was fixed the following day. While they worked on the coach, I went for a bike ride while Teri and Sarge hung out at the shop with Annie. The friendliness of the staff and their professionalism was second to none. They saved us a tremendous amount of time and frustration. Of course we didn’t just sit around letting the cobwebs gather.

We attended a Benefit Car Show. The organizers are similar to the Club 100 in AZ. The show was the Cruisin’ For Cops Car Show sponsored by Blue Line Unlimited. Blue Line Unlimited conducts fund raisers to collect funds that are used to support the families of injured and fallen police officers. There was also a fund raiser for an injured local SWAT officer who was severely injured in an on-duty car crash. His company vehicle was hit broadside by a red light runner. He had to undergo several surgeries, including one that was overseas. He was recovering but still had a long way to go. I had the chance to speak to his partner who had also been involved in the crash but who had suffered much less severity. Of all the items that were up for raffle and the number of raffle tickets we bought, we walked away with the pleasure of knowing we supported their efforts.

We also attended the Geauga County Fair with Dayna and friends. Who can’t resist a county fair?! The fairs in this part of the country are focused on the animals and animal events. Chickens, Roosters, Sheep, Cows, Horses, Draft Horses, were all on display. We also took a drive into a nearby town and found a glass blowing shop that had taken over an old church. The stained glass windows were amazing. Finally a trip to Lake Erie to walk to the lighthouse and lunch on the pier overlooking the water. A great way to end this part of the trip.

From there we started south again, headed for Georgia.

To be continued……..