Tag Archives: travel

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Cathedral Ledge Part 2.

December 3, 2019 Rivergirl 38 Comments

Mountain views.

Valley views.

Vibrant autumn color.

And love locks… Cathedral ledge has it all.

Even lovers with a sense of humor.

It was glorious… and that was only the front half.

Walking along the sides, we made friends.

Took 100 more pictures….

And simply marveled at the beauty of nature.

Even the husband was quiet.

Honestly, there’s only so many times you can say wow.

It really was a special spot.

This way?

Beautiful.

That way?

Fabulous.

Gaze in wonder.

Take picture.

Repeat.

There were rocks!

And trees!

And they made me realize how blessed I am to live in a truly wonderful part of the world.

We made one final lap along the fence line…

And strolled a few final steps across those marvelous rocks…

I tried again…. unsuccessfully… to get a double selfie where the husband actually looks at the camera.

But no matter.

We took one last look and bid goodbye to a place I’d revisit in a heartbeat next time we’re in the area.

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White Mountains trip Day 5. Cathedral Ledge.

December 2, 2019 Rivergirl 39 Comments

Are you ready for a deluge of photos?

Good, then you’re in the right place…

Because this was probably the most scenic spot we found on our trip.

Pulling into the park, the ledge loomed ahead.

We drove up a long, winding, foliage bracketed road…

And a short walk from the parking lot at the top?

Wow.

I’m going to run out of words to describe the view pretty quickly.

Breath taking. Splendid. Dazzling. Jaw dropping. Stunning…

See?

Speechless..

And look at the rocks!

And the trees!

And the even bigger rocks…

With people climbing up them.

I was one happy camper.

Even when I saw I couldn’t use the mountaineers as target practice.

It was glorious.

Every where you turned…

Magnificent views.

Made me feel like I was on top of the world.

More to come.

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White Mountains trip, Day 4. Mother Walker Falls

November 29, 2019 Rivergirl 33 Comments

Never let it be said I’m not up for a good waterfall.

Sadly, this Mother wasn’t.

It sounded promising, so we headed down.

And while it was a pretty spot, I didn’t see a whole lot falling.

Oh, there were stacked rocks.

And precariously balanced rocks…

But even when we followed the sound of running water, there wasn’t much falling.

I’m sure it’s much more impressive in the spring.

But we still enjoyed the walk, the day, and…

The rocks.

A scenic drive…

Some foliage…

Some mountains…

And a lovely old bed and breakfast later….

We followed someone’s advice and stopped for a meal at the Sudbury Inn in Bethel.

Tucked away out back, down some dark steps… we found what I can only describe as the local dive bar.

Local workmen at the bar (shooting us disgusted looks) and slumming prep school students from Gould Academy made up the clientele. Uncomfortable chairs, spotty silverware and a disinterested (borderline surly) bartender/waiter… who made us wait longer than he had to… made us question why we were there.

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But despite the business card decorated ceiling and questionable decor…

There was surprisingly good food and at least 2 dozen beers on tap.

Mr. Personality even accommodated the husband’s preference for grilled chicken with his chicken parm.

Which just goes to show you can’t judge a bar if you’re from out of town…. or something like that.

Our 4th day ended at our resort with us walking past the strange carved bear out front.

If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was praying for new carpet.

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Step Falls Part 2… forest unmentionables.

November 28, 2019 Rivergirl 18 Comments

We kept climbing higher, getting closer to the falls.

But did you see it? In the bottom right hand corner…

I didn’t when I was filming, but then I took a picture.

Yeah.

While I usually pick up litter we find along the way while hiking? This I left alone.

I don’t even want to know….

Up a thoughtfully constructed rock staircase.

Deeper into the woods.

I kept thinking, geesh. Are we ever going to reach the top?

One required sun drenched selfie later…

Past the well marked trail tree…

We finally saw the top.

The view was going to be killer… I knew it.

Anxiously preparing for the money shot, I found this –

Huh…?

You mean I hauled my (considerable) butt up this hill/ gorge/ mini mountain for bupkus?

WTF!

They even had the flags running across the falls themselves.

Damned right it is! Why would you open a waterfall up to the public, create a trail, install a bench, mark that trail very carefully so people could find the top….and then not let them access the top? It’s criminal, I tell you.

Criminal.

And it made me wonder if the discarded unmentionables I saw down below were in way of protest.

I felt the same outrage! But not quite enough outrage to leave my own behind. There are limits… even for me.

Making our way back down to the parking lot I was so ticked off I didn’t take any pictures, until I saw this…

And thought…

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White Mountain Trip Day 4… Step Falls

November 27, 2019 Rivergirl 31 Comments

Trees and rocks… rocks and trees ahead.

You’ve been warned.

Oh, come on.

Early morning day 4, we woke with the sun and headed out for a hike to Step Falls.

I wish I could convey the sense of peace that envelops me when I walk into a forest. The fresh air of natural places, the gentle breeze swaying the leaves. The sweet songs of the birds, the whisper of the trees. It’s pure magic.

I don’t know who’s responsible for finding these wild and beautiful places and opening them to the public… but I’ll be forever grateful.

Step Falls in Bethel, Maine. In October when we visited… gently cascading streams. In spring during snow melt season? Torrents of angry water rushing down the mountain not caring what lies in it’s path.

Many of the places we visit are free to the public, but are maintained by local volunteers who ask that you donate to help with costs. Most people never do, so we make a point of it each and every time.

And with this Cycloptic donation box…. how could you not?

The paths were wide and friendly…

Although I couldn’t help but feel I was being watched.

Into the woods…

Up the hill, where we first heard the falls.

Up some stone steps.

Up some fortuitously placed tree roots.

We see a bit more water.

No.

Not even close…

Ever onward…

And upward…

Past some weird trees growing right around the rocks.

More of the falls.

And a not very comfortable but necessary granite bench to stop and let the husband take a breath.

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White Mountain trip Day 3… Random scenery.

November 26, 2019 Rivergirl 32 Comments

No, the vacation series isn’t over yet, I just thought I’d give you a few days break.

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Leaving the Sculptured Rocks geological site, we drove through the Cockermouth Forest.

Yes. I swear….

We did.

I’m reasoning that Cocker Spaniels are bird retrieval dogs, and therefor have tender mouths.

Yes.

That’s my explanation… and I’m sticking to it.

We headed back to our resort through Franconia Notch which was starkly devoid of leaves.

And went through the town of Carroll, where moose are clearly being held prisoner.

The Mount Washington valley still had snow..

And loomed majestic.

Back in the Bethel/Newry area, we regained the foliage.

And headed for beer.

Sunday River brewery is a large restaurant and pub that seemed to be packed with locals and tourists alike every night. We did a flight, and weren’t overly impressed with the quality…. so I switched to an Apple Smash, which was a wonderful concoction whose list of ingredients I don’t recall. But there were copious amounts of apple Crown Royal…

And isn’t that really all you need to know?

Seeing that I love soft bar pretzels and the husband doesn’t, I ordered some for my appetizer.

Holy Mother of God! Served with warm blue cheese beer sauce, they were absolutely the best I’ve ever had. I instantly forgave them their lousy beer and planned on filling a dump truck with these and riding off into the sunset.

Husband had a tasty salad..

And we both had the baked haddock, which sadly was dry and uninteresting.

Back at our resort for the night, we opted for the stairs instead of the elevator and were bombarded by yet another section of hideous carpet.

Christ, if that doesn’t give you nightmares…

Nothing will.

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White Mountains trip Day 3…. Sculptured Rocks.

November 22, 2019 Rivergirl 33 Comments

Talk about your out of the way tourist attraction.

Damn.

I kept directing the husband to drive and he kept thinking I was nuts. This place was in the back of beyond, on a dead end road, past a bunch of men with rifles taking target practice in their front yards.

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Banjo music? A distinct possibility…

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But once we found it, I was glad we persisted.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME ROCKS? *she sings in her best Hank Williams Jr. voice, which admittedly… is pretty lame*

Rocks!

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To be more specific… glacial melt water sculpted rocks.

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And what fabulous rocks they were.

Seriously… these rocks rocked.

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The forms, the shapes…

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Can you imagine the force it took to do this to solid rock?

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These were impressive rocks.

“Sculptured Rocks Natural Area, which spans 272 acres, is a unique example of nature’s powerful yet delicate artistry. The Cockermouth River carved a narrow canyon in bedrock on its way to Newfound Lake, beginning as the last ice age drew to a close. Nature used grains of sand suspended in the current to carve the walls of the canyon into curious shapes and create potholes in the bedrock.”We spent a good bit of time here.Climbing up, over and across the wonderful rocks.“

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It rocked.

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But you probably already guessed that.

And even if you’re not an aficionado like me….

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You have to admit, they’re some pretty special hunks of rock.

By the way…

The husband’s ongoing challenge?

Still going.

So to speak.

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Polar caves Part 5. The finale…

November 21, 2019 Rivergirl 30 Comments

Done with the caves, we thought we were done with the park but there was still a little left to explore.

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A nature path through the woods.

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Leading past a sugar shack…

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And an old tree.

Do I post fascinating stuff or what?

Stop that!

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There was a rock set up for climbing….

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As well as one with some munchies on top.

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And you know what?

Still better than kale.

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We kept hiking.

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Up some rocks…

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And some stairs…

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And oh boy! The husband’s face says it all…

More stairs.

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To be honest there wasn’t much more to see. But we found a gazebo on our way back down… with rather questionable graffiti.

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Okay.

I’m not sure that needed be to advertised…. but whatever floats your boat.

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One more smooth path down…

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And we neared the exit.

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Where I had to stop and feed those precious European fallow deer again.

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Such little cuties.

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Polar Caves… the end!

Half a day experiencing it , 5 days blogging about it.

Say what you want about me… (and I’m sure you will)

You can’t say I’m not thorough.

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Polar Caves Part 4….The fork in the road. More caves, more rocks.

November 20, 2019 Rivergirl 36 Comments

As so often happens in life, we came to a fork in the road.

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Mind you, by this time we’d climbed 6,492,745 steps…. so the fact that the sign to the left said difficult route? Did not fill me with joy.

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But ever the supportive wife, I let the husband decide which path we’d take. Thankfully his aching back and residual sciatica made him veer right, although the name Devil’s Turnpike didn’t inspire a lot of confidence as to it’s ease of use.

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Husband explored more caves.

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I photographed more trees and rocks.

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And climbed more steps.

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And then even more steps.

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And then thought about all the steps I’d have to climb down when we were through.

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Did I mention there were a lot of steps?

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There were a lot of steps.

Okay, back to the rocks.

Why is there never a pogo stick around when you need one?

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We walked past rocks, over rocks, through rocks….

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And occasionally under rocks.

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While praying silently for the ground to be earthquake free.

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Yeah, thanks for that helpful factoid.

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As the husband climbed the Devil’s Turnpike…..

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And entered the next cave…

I took the path that had my name written all over it.

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All day long baby…

I do give him credit though.

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He’s still pretty limber for his age…

One final cave to go… and it was called the Lemon Squeeze.

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Yours truly?

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Yup. Every party has a pooper… and that day, it was me.

Oddly enough the Squeeze was the husband’s downfall. He couldn’t do it. Too small, too tight.

And you know if he got stuck? He was staying there…. because I wasn’t going in after him.

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Polar Caves Part 3. The caves… and more rocks.

November 19, 2019 Rivergirl 40 Comments

The caves.

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I’d like to tell you I explored them all.

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But I’d be lying.

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They were tiny, cramped, straight down and seriously dark.

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So yours truly let the husband crawl through them while I took the bypasses above ground.

I know, a post about caves from above the caves doesn’t sound very satisfying….

But does that look at all comfortable?

I still got to walk through rocks…

And without all the bumps, bruises and scrapes the husband amassed that day.

Although there were some dead ends.

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I’m not sure who named the caves…

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But there certainly were a lot of them.

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And some of the exits were awesome.

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Damn!

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That’s a lot of rock.

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Husband was happy as a clam. He used to go caving as a kid and it probably brought back some good memories. You know, like terror… and claustrophobia.

He kept trying to talk me into going down there with him, but when I peered down into the blackness?

I looked something like this….

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Just….

No.

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I think he was a little nervous after reading the name of this one …

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But he shimmied through quite well.

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Then turned around and asked for my extra camera. (Pardon his language. Sh*t is a favorite word lately)

I left him happily exploring and snapping pictures in the dark… (which I won’t share with you because he can’t take a photo to save his life. They’re either blurry… or solid black) …and made my way around another bypass.

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