Red Tail RV Trips

Another beautiful day in the White Mountains of NH. Tuesday was a laundry day and catchup, have to have those periodically. Today we headed to the COG RAILWAY of Mt Washington. This railroad system was started in the 1800's and has today become an international tourist attraction. The trail, gog driven, climbs the west side of the mountain from 1400' up to the summit of 6288' The average gradient is 25% but on Jacob's Ladder the gradient is 37.41%. This incline means that the front of the passenger car is 14 feet higher than the rear, when on this part of the track. The engines are the original steam powered and coal fired. Lots of black smoke comes from the smokestack on the up hil trip. The fireman shovels 14 shovels every 20 seconds, using a ton (2,000lb) coal on the uphill trip. The engine also uses 1,000 gallons of water, making the necessary steam going up the hill. Once at the top you can see VT, ME, Quebec and of course NH. MT Washington is noted as having the worst weather in the U.S.
with top winds of over 200 mph. There is a full time manned weather station at the top.

Another beautiful day in the north New Hampshire White Mountains. Today we headed on the circle tour of the White Mountains, some 100 miles total. We stopped at several scenic vistas and river edges. Just too bad the leaves are not in full color. This would be the best place in New England for the color of the leaves. We did stop at the ski resort, Attitash, and rode the alpine slide. This is a sled on teflon runners that goes down the hill on a fiberglass track. You can control the speed by pushing forward on the stick to go fast and pulling back to slow down. The track is a mile long, weaving thru the trees of the ski area. From there we went on to North Conway and then across the Kancamus pass road. This road follows the Swift river, extremely scenic with swimming holes and lots of rocks that help warm the water.

Another travel day by car. This time we journeyed south to the town of Lincoln, right in the middle of the White Mountains. Here there are two different offerings of riding old trains. We chose the HOBO train. This was a ride some 1hour and 20minutes long, and you were served a hobo lunch and got to keep the ruck sack. The train followed the river and was very scenic, however in a couple weeks it will be outstanding with the fall colors.
We also stopped at the Clark's trading post where they have a steam train and trained bears. On the way home we took back roads and stopped by the home of Robert Frost.

Spent the day on back roads and exploring the town of Littleton. They have a restored grist mill that actually mills wheat for flour. They are restoring all the downtown area which is quite a project. One store of interest was the candy shop. It is in the Guinness Book of Records for having the longest candy counter in the world. It is over 150 feet long. Plus the rest of the store is filled with candies.

On the road again, this time from Kennebunkport up to the mountains of New Hampshire. Again we took the back roads, not always easy in a 40' coach towing a jeep. The scenery was spectacular, abit early for the leaves, but some were changing. Stopped at Meridith, on the west shores of Lake Winnipesaukee and had lunch at a lake side table. You could tell the impending weekend was near as many boats were on the lake. Continuing on to Twin Mountain, we passed thru rising hills, mountains. The campground was nestled inbetween them. We ventured into A couple towns after setting up camp for supplies and sightseeing. Plan to be here for some time.

Spent Wednesday and Thursday driving the back roads around Kennebunkport. Went to Perkins Cove, neat little cove with lots of small boats. They have a walking trail along the waterfront with spectacular views. The weather for the two days was perfect, clear skies, 73 degrees and only a light breeze. Thursday night a group of us went to the local summer stock playhouse (a barn built in the early 1800's) for the 'Life story of Patsy Cline'.

On the road again. Monday was a quiet day around the park in Boothbay. Today we headed south to Kennebunkport. BUT, on the way we passed thru Freeport, ME. This is the home of L L Bean. What a store and outlet. Parked the coach and walked the streets only to find the entire downtown is an outlet area for several stores. Very interesting and lots of shopping.

Proceeded on to our campground, Red Apple, at Kennebunkport. Once settled we drove the back roads into town and around the beach areas. First sandy beaches we have seen in a long time, with lots of people using them.
The houses on the waterfront were huge and probably only summer homes. Several had for sale signs, but did not check the prices. Drove by Walker Point, the home of George and Barbara Bush. They must have been home as lots of black cars were in the lane. We plan to be in this area another two days.

Bad news: We have used all the allotted space for photos until Sept 1, so no photos for a few days.

[img=http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/153999/P1000899.jpg.

Drove to Bath, about 20 miles down the road. Bath was and still is a shipbuilding area. The have the honor of building the largest wooden ship ever built. Took the free trolley tour of the town to see all the large houses, once owned by the ship captains. The captains would use their crew to build their homes when not at sea, thus keeping them employeed. The main export from Bath to Europe was ice. They would take ice to Europe and bring back ballast of bricks and granite, thus many brick houses in Bath.

Went into Boothbay Harbor and drove all the back roads around the bays. Some awesome houses, views and estates. Many looked like summer homes and they were huge. Two or three stories and covering lots of ground. All had big porches facing the water. Dinner out at McSeagull's, on the water, very nice.

On the road again. After spending some down time in Trenton and getting several items taken care of, we are now travelling again. We left Trenton, ME and headed South on highway 1 to Boothbay, ME. This is a very scenic road following the coast line. Many little towns and hamlets along the way, with huge houses and beautiful yards. Arriving in Boothbay, we set up camp and drove into Boothbay Harbor. Again, formerly a fishing village, it is now a tourist attraction with shops and restaurants. We will be here for a few days, so will tell you more as we experience it.