On Friday July 17^th we arrived in Twin Mountain, NH staying at Twin Mountain Motor Court and RV Park. The site has wonderful views and a very fast internet connection, cable and sewer so we are comfortable for at least a week.  When we arrived we tried to find a “fix for the alarm” that would not stop beeping inside the motor home caused by the failure we had with our front jack. After some research we finally fixed this issue.

On Saturday we worked on emails from our office trying to get caught up. The blog was behind due to lack of internet service in the last few weeks so that was another top priority. After lunch we started laundry and went to the pool for an afternoon swim, hoping that the water was warmer than Vermont.  Well, no such luck but after about 10-15 minutes you were numb so you did not mind the cold water. We decided to open our new chairs and sit outside and enjoy the views of the mountains, unfortunately the mosquitoes and gnats had other ideas. Since we had no bug spray we had to go back inside and enjoy the views from there. The boys enjoyed the fact that we had cable which included the Nickelodeon channel.

Sunday was a day of well deserved rest and relaxation along with an afternoon walk stopping every other trip around to talk with our neighbors in the park. After three walks around the park, talking to neighbors and becoming dinner for mosquitoes we decided to go inside.

On Monday we decided to take the auto tour of Mount Washington which has the highest elevation, 6822 feet, in the Northeast. The eight miles up the mountain would have been very nerve racking to someone who was afraid of heights.  There were several alternatives for going to the top of Mount Washington, by car, by hiking or biking or by the Cog Railroad. The Cog Railroad was the world’s first mountain climbing Cog railroad running since 1869.  The railroad still has a coal burning steam engines in addition to the diesel engines which will soon take the place of the remaining coal burning engines.  Since we read mixed reviews of the train ride and the cost of the ride which would have been $196, we decided to take the auto road to the top of the mountain.  The cost was $43. The drive up the mountain is approximately eight miles and should take 25 minutes with no stops but we stopped at several overlooks to take pictures. The views were magnificent along the ride but the driver is not allowed to look since there are no guard rails and there was little room for error on either side of the road. Once we arrived at the top we visited the Mount Washington Observatory, which monitors the weather of one to the most extreme places on the planet, Mount Washington. Mount Washington has been given the extinction as having the nation’s worst weather since the weather can be very erratic. The mountain gets an average of 314.8 inches of snow per year and wind speed clocked at 231 mph in 1934 and the average daily wind speed is 34 mph.  The temperature at the base of the mountain was 67 degrees when we started our drive and it was 51 degrees when we reached the summit, we did not see any snow but snow has been recorded at the summit in July. The average daily temperature is 34 degrees with the coldest temperature ever recorded as -47 degrees. While at Mount Washington we decided to venture onto one of the many trails. Down the mountain over rocks, across a train track and then over more rocks which offered truly breath taking views. The last area on the trail was a very tricky climb on rock; we took pictures and started back up the mountain. The boys had no problems scaling the rocks as quickly up as they did down leaving their parents behind.

On Tuesday we did our weekly grocery shopping and trip to Wal-Mart.  We stocked up (8 packs) of our favorite RV toilet paper that we can only find at Wal-Mart.  When we got home we put away all of our purchases and then went out for a walk. It was misting rain but the down pour did not happen until around 9:00pm. The walk was very relaxing and helped curb the urge to overeat at dinner. The rest of the night was used researching Maine which will be our next stop.

On Wednesday, we spent the morning researching Maine and emails with the office. Rain was expected for most of the day so we decided not to attempt a hike. Later in the afternoon when the rain stopped we went outside with Zachary, Carson and Bella to play kickball; the grass had just been mowed so Bella ended up a light shade of green after 30 minutes of chasing the soccer ball.  When it started raining again we decided to sit outside underneath the awning but the boys decided to run around and chase each other in the rain, at least they were getting some exercise and fresh air. While they were running in the rain we decided to organize our stuff in the underneath bay areas so we could easily find anything we may need. This area is used for dirty laundry, extra supplies such as trash bags, tools and also our winter clothes and shoes. After this chore was complete we prepared dinner which was hamburgers on ciabatta bread with Swiss cheese, grilled onions and mushrooms with light mayo with sautéed green bean and fresh corn on the cob. It was mentioned during dinner that we needed to go moose hunting (of course we went moose looking), so we cleaned up really quick, grabbed the camera bag and out the door we went. We rode about 15 minutes from the campground looking for moose and the first one to spot one was the winner of fifty cents.  We got lucky, after a few minutes we spotted a moose and turned around in the road to get a closer look and take pictures. It appeared to be a female or cow moose eating vegetation along the tree line about 30 yards from our car. She could barely be seen since it was almost 9:00pm and almost completely dark.    The moose in New Hampshire average around 5-7 feet high, 8-10 feet long, and can weigh 800-1500 lbs and both males and females have dark brown or almost black fur which can make them hard to see at night.  The female or cow does not grow antler only the bull moose who shed their antlers each winter and grow a new set each spring. There are signs along moose populated roads to brake for moose and moose crossings indicating to drivers to slow down and look for moose in these areas.  There are over 200 accidents each year involving moose and vehicles.

Thursday was good weather so we went hiking on one of the many trails near our campground. The hike was to see the tallest waterfall in New Hampshire. The hike was really muddy and most of it was uphill over rocks and small streams.  The sign at the trail head stated this was a one hour hike but we took some detours, took lots of pictures and had a snack so the total time was closer to 3 hours from start to finish.  Carson was a trooper as he walked the entire trail without having to get a “free ride” on someone’s back. We made it in and out of the trail without any scrapes, bumps or bruises only a few bug bites. Since we only had a snack for lunch we ate an early dinner of homemade chicken pot pie and smores for desert.  The hike exhausted everyone so Thursday night was an early to bed night.

The rest of the week was mostly spent hanging out at the motorhome enjoying high speed internet for a change.

On Sunday, July 26^th we left New Hampshire and headed to our first stop in Maine.  We will remember New Hampshire as the place we rested.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 at 6:32 pm and is filed under Everyday Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.