The face on the mountain

We decided to leave today. It was hard to go because Andy and his family have been so wonderful to us and their place is so beautiful … but the road was calling and we had to follow.














We had such a spectacular day today. Leaving Lincoln, we drove north on 93 in the White Mountains. The views were incredible. First we went to The Basin. The water was crystal clear and absolutely freezing. As we walked along Bernie did her investigating, going in and out of the water. Then the water called to Mar too and even she had to try it out. Everyone who was there just had to stick at least one foot in, the place was so beautiful and the water so tempting. We saw a large group of Orthodox Jewish people of all ages having a grand time in the water, that was awesome.

Then we drove to Cannon Mountain to ride the funicular which takes you from 2000 feet up to 4180 feet. When you get to the top you hike to the observation deck where you can see not only NH but also all the way to Canada, Vermont and Maine. That was beautiful … it was also VERY cold up there!

After that, a little farther down the mountain, we went to the observation point for where The Old Man in the Mountain used to be. The place is Profile Lake and it is absolutely gorgeous and so peaceful. The water is very shallow and crystal clear. We sat down on the huge rocks next to the water, to watch the scenery and some guys who were there fly fishing. The sun was on its way down so it was too cold to put our feet in the water by then.

When we left there we headed out to find a place to get propane. On the way we also got to see the Indian Head, another face on another mountain, this one really does look like the profile of a Native American face with a Mohawk.

Then we found a place to get propane and afterwards landed on a dirt road in the woods to park for the night. This “road” is the parking lot for the trail that goes up the Indian Head mountain. We are hoping this will be a quiet place in the morning so we can get some sleep, and Bernie is hoping to at least see a bear.

A river runs through it

Today was a gorgeous day and a day of rest for us. Andy's place is beautiful and peaceful, much better than any campground. In the afternoon we got out the lounge chairs and just relaxed in the shade of a huge apple tree in the yard, admiring the view, the open fields, and the mountain ranges. It was so peaceful that Bernie decided to take a nap.

Andy’s best friend and his wife came over for a bbq. They invited us to join them. Everything was delicious, veggie salad, fruit salad, chicken and burgers and corn on the cob.

After dinner we went out to their huge yard and walked and talked. We saw their beautiful and plentiful garden, from which we’ve had veggies two days in a row now.

Then we decided to go explore and take a walk to the river through the woods. We saw birds, flowers, and bear tracks. We picked blueberries and blackberries along the way. We eventually made it to this gorgeous river with huge rocks. The mosquitoes were sooo bad here, no amount of bug spray would keep them away, so we high tailed it back to the house.

We visited for a little while with Andy and his wife and friends, and then headed in to take showers and rest for the night.

We're relocating

With our aching bodies we went back to work again. We were so sore everywhere that we toyed with the idea of taking the day off. But instead decided to “just do it” and get it finished. So we let Andy know today would be our last day. He invited us to come to his house after work today and park in his driveway. We did take him up on that because tomorrow Bernie will start on the wall in his basement.

In the bookstore we moved a ton of books today and rearranged a lot of stuff, more than we have done in previous days. We pushed ourselves hard so that we could finish today. It was worth it. It took three large iced coffees for each of us and several long hours of nonstop work, but we persevered and we did it. It felt good and the “regulars” keep telling us how great the store looks now.

Because it's Friday, the store stays open later, so today we worked till 8 pm.

After work, we went to Andy's house. He was waiting to help us hook up the water and electric. Then he gave us this huge head of cauliflower from his garden and this delicious veggie salad. All the vegetables are from his own garden and they were amazing. The veggies complemented our leftover spaguetti from last night really well, so we had a good meal.

And if that wasn’t enough, Andy likes to share his hard ice tea with us, which is something we had never tried before, and it is very good. We like it, it is very refreshing.

One of Andy’s friend came over on his bike tonight and Bernie went out to hang out with them, and everyone played kickball in the field next to Andy’s house. This place is very cool, lots of trees, and open spaces, with the mountains in the distance, and almost no lights anywhere near so you can clearly see the sky full of stars. Very cool.

Sixpence none the richer

… another lovely day in NH … we awoke to a brisk breeze and the smell of fall … well, maybe not fall but it sure has been feeling like it lately. Last night the temperature was in the upper forties. Cold! But it was great, especially when we think of our relatives back in Florida. We are feeling truly blessed at the moment.

Last night we had the honor of being visited by a bear. Yes, a real bear. We didn't even know it. We heard rummaging in the dumpster but figured it was either a person or perhaps a cat or dog. When we went into work today we heard all about the bear rummaging in the parking lot last night. We wished we would have thought to look out the window but we didn’t. Not this time. We’ll remember that for next time.

So we went to work again today. The original agreement was for us to work a total of 40 hours. As of today, we only had an hour left to go but when we asked Andy if he wanted us to stop he said he wanted us to keep going until we finish organizing the whole store. He likes our work.

So we plowed on and decided that to make things work, we really needed to rearrange several of the categories and add new categories. So we spent the day taking books off of shelves (instead of out of boxes like the past few days) and moving things around to make everything flow and work better.

And Bernie hopes to fit in the carpentry job at Andy’s house some time this weekend too. So here we are, working in Lincoln NH. Who knew?

This afternoon Andy asked Bernie if she would do some work at the home of one of his customers. Andy introduced them and Bernie lined up this side job for after we finished at the bookstore.

We worked past closing time again and we forgot to eat today! At quitting time we both realized we had worked all day without even a snack. Can you say hungry? We WERE hungry so we went to grab a quick bite to eat and then headed over to the nice lady’s place, who needed help with a wireless phone and a bookshelf.

By the end of the day our feet hurt and our backs hurt and everything hurt. But we now have a new small collection of books, we were able to trade Andy our reserve of books we have already read that we keep to trade at campgrounds and such. We got some really good books today.

When Bernie finished her side job we drove back to our spot behind the bookstore, plugged in the electric, and settled in for the night.

Another day another dollar

We worked in the bookstore all day today, there is so much to do but working with books is so much fun. Every box, every shelf, is like a treasure hunt.

This is not the right job for Mar, who wants every other book she looks at ... but we live in an RV after all, so library space is limited ... sigh ...

Back to the fiction section where today we worked the letters: "J" through "U".

The store usually closes at 6 pm but it was so busy, so many people coming in and out, we actually worked until 8 pm. Can you say exhausted? We were exhausted!

We had seen the ad for the Gypsy Cafe, which happens to be within walking distance. The ad included their menu. When we saw they have hummus and falalel, we decided to give them a try. Their hummus was very good and their falalel is pretty unique with chickpea croquettes. The food was excellent. With full tummies, we walked back to Bella and settled in for the night. Tonight we watched the movie Wild Hogs.

All work and no play

Bernie worked all day in the bookstore, from open to close. She worked on the fiction section, which is alphabetized by authors’ last names, starting with the letter “A”, she got through the letter “J” today.

With the fall semester about to start, Mar decided to get some school work done today. She was on her laptop all day today preparing her online classes and getting everything ready for the fall semester.

Andy said that if we can stay long enough, he may actually have other work that needs to be done, like a couple of carpentry jobs for Bernie, at the store and at his house too. We’ll need to figure that out.

Andy was kind enough to lend us a couple of the movies he has for sale in his store, so tonight we got to watch Oceans Thirteen.

We had asked the restaurant next door if we could use their sink to wash our dishes, but instead they washed them for us, they said it would just be easier, so we had our dishes washed in a professional dishwasher. So, so clean.

Off to work we go

First day of our first job on the road. Bernie got up early and went in to work. There were boxes and boxes of books to unpack and place on shelves. Andy told Bernie that Mar could work too. So Bernie texted Mar to let know and Mar got ready and went in to work too.

We spent all day unpacking, sorting, and shelving books. There is so much to do that we'll be back tomorrow again.

This is not your typical bookstore. There are books everywhere, boxes of books everywhere, books left to right, top to bottom, wall to wall. This bookstore is also a coffee bar and in internet cafe. It is a very interesting and cool place.

At the end of the day, Andy let Bernie ride one of the Segways he has for rent. Bernie rode it for about half an hour all over the place, to help Andy advertise it. Then on her way back as she was getting ready to put it away she hit a curb and fell right in front of a car. That was scary, she hurt her knee and it was ugly but other than that she was ok.

A Segway is a personal transporter, it is two wheeled, self-balancing, and you stand on it to ride it. You lean forward to go forward, lean back to go backward, and turn by turning the handlebar left or right. It goes about 20 mph and it is really fun to ride. If you’re ever in Lincoln NH make sure to stop by and rent one from Andy (just don’t hit any curbs :-)

We then got water from the gas station next door to fill up our fresh water tank. They also happen to have a dump station and a place to wash Bella.

Then we drove around to the back of the store, where Andy lent us an extension cord to plug in our electric, for us to spend the night here again so we can go back to work tomorrow.

Castle in the Clouds

We went to the Castle in the Clouds, a historic mansion at the top of a mountain in NH. A millionaire in the shoe industry, had it built for his second wife. When he met her and fell in love with her, he returned home to offer his first wife one million dollars to sweeten the deal. Then Thomas Plant, who was 5 feet tall, married Olive, who was 6 feet tall.

The estate was built in 1913, with breathtaking views of Lake Winnipesaukee and the mountains. The house is an example of Arts and Crafts architecture in New England, with octagonal rooms, and many technological innovations of the era. The estate includes cascading waterfalls and miles and miles of hiking trails.

From the gate, it is a one way, two-mile scenic drive up this mountain, on a very narrow and very curvy road. Very very narrow and very very curvy. It is a pretty challenging drive so they don't let big motorhomes in. They let us in because Bella is only 22 feet.

On our way up the moutain we stopped to explore the waterfall and Bernie decided to get in the water (see pics). Then we continued to the carriage house, where you park, and then ride a trolley up to the Castle itself. It is quite a place to visit, there is so much to see and explore, you could spend the whole day there, and the admission is only $10 per person. We really enjoyed every minute of our visit to the Castle today.

From there we headed north to Lincoln NH, in the White Mountains. There are tons of things to do here and we hope to find somewhere to ride a funicular to see some more of these spectacular views, and get a chance to explore the White Mountains.

As we drove along Main Street we found a strip mall and we walked around visiting the many little stores there. We bought some groceries at the grocery store and lucky for us, this place has a laundromat so we got to do our laundry today.

We also went into a bookstore/internet cafe that was about to close. We met Andy, the owner. Bernie asked him if he needed any help with anything in the store. He said he needed someone for a few hours to help unpack books and organize the shelves. He said she could start tomorrow so we decided to spend the night in the parking lot here, so Bernie could be there as soon as he opens.

This way to the Shaker Village

We spent most of today in the Camping World in NH. They had to make several phone calls to the Camping World in VA, where we had the batteries and inverter installed, to figure things out. It was a challenge but at least they were able to solve one of our problems (the new batteries now do charge while we drive) and we’ll have to come back later to solve the other problem (the air conditioner doesn’t work because the whole coach is hooked to the inverter – that will take longer to fix).

When we left Chichester we drove to Meredith NH. It was a lovely drive with gorgeous sights. Honestly, the pictures do no justice to the beauty around us, so I guess you’ll have to take our word for it, or come visit the Northeast.

Along the way we saw a sign that said Shaker Village with an arrow pointing to where to turn. So we turned and went to check it out. When we got there everything was closed, but we were able to park and walk around this charming village, with its beautiful buildings and pristine countryside.

When we got to Meredith we drove around for a bit and found it charming and oh so cute. Then we parked and walked around, while window shopping and people watching.

Then we decided to drive to Moultonborough NH, about 20 minutes away, a drive with more mountains and beautiful surroundings. We went there so we could be near our destination in the morning, the Castle in the Clouds. When we got there, the gate was closed and there was no place to park, so we went back to the only business we had seen on our way up the mountain, and the closest to the Castle. It was a gas station and ice cream shop, and the owner was very kind in giving us permission to park and spend the night there.

Quechee Quechee

We are amazed at the pure beauty of the Northeast. These Vermont mountains are absolutely beautiful. We marvel at the vast scope of greenery dotted with yellow and white and purple, and the gorgeous covered bridges going to places you only dream of.

As we drove today from Walmart to the Quechee Gorge we followed winding roads going up the mountain. The gorge is absolutely breath taking. The gorge is hundreds of feet deep. Standing there looking down you can’t help but feel awed.

Next we headed for Ludlow VT. We drove for miles alongside a wide river, the road followed the same direction as the river. The water, the rocks, the trees, it all combines to give you one amazing view.

We went to Ludlow to pick up Mar's mail, which was forwarded to the local post office there. Ludlow is where Bernie lived several years ago. She was happy to visit again and see how things had changed. We ate dinner at a small pizza place where Bernie used to frequent for their baklava. The pizza was good and the baklava was even better.

Then we headed to the Camping World in Chinchster NH. This was also a lovely drive, we drove while taking in all the beauty on the way and the quaintness of the towns we drove through. We spent the night in the Camping World parking lot.

The capital of Vermont

There were quite a few RVs in the Walmart parking lot today. Someone in the RV next to us was cooking dinner outside on their bbq.

The Home Depot next door lent us their hose to fill up our fresh water tank. Then we went to get gas and then we drove to Montpelier. We drove around this charming town, the capital of VT.

We decided on leftovers for dinner so we parked along Main Street and ate our dinner in Bella.

Then we got back on I-89 going south and found a Walmart to spend the night. This Walmart is in NH but it is the closest to the Quechee Gorge in VT, which we plan to visit tomorrow, and it's only about a 10 minute drive from here.

Underground

What an interesting morning. We were awakened at 7: 30 am by a loud banging on our door. It was the security guard. He said this was private property and we had to leave. He didn't speak much English so we just said ok, and left. We headed for the grocery store where we had stayed the night before. On the way there we saw a big shopping complex with a big, empty parking lot. On one side was a closed warehouse and on the other a bunch of stores. We thought this would be a good place to park for a little while. We went to the back of the parking lot near the closed warehouse and went back to sleep. A couple of hours later we heard a loud bang on the door. It was another security guard. He didn't speak English either and said we had to leave because this was private property. At this point we gave up. We decided to just get up and head back to the city to find The Underground.

With coffee in hand we headed back, zipping in and out of traffic and looking for French road signs as we drove. We found ourselves in the Latin Quarter. After driving around we wondered why it is known as the Latin Quarter, there was really nothing Latin about it, no Latin food, no Latin stores, we didn't get it.

We continued on and circled around the block over and over and over again, until we found a parking spot so we could go down to The Underground. Lucky for us, a spot opened up right next to a Starbucks. Things were looking up. Bernie's patience was rewarded. We paid the meter, we had to pay for two parking spaces because Bella would not fit in one, and headed to the Metro.

And low and behold in front of our very eyes was a whole mall, all underground. It went for miles and miles. More than we could see in one day. After walking around for a while, we had to get back before the meter ran out. Then we decided it was time, we decided to hit the road and head back to the states. Which state? Vermont is where we’re going next.

We went through customs, uneventfully. We had to answer even less questions this time and nothing was checked. Then we made it to Vermont and Bernie got out and kissed the ground. It is great to be back and know what to expect. We had dinner at Chilli's so we could use our gift card. Then we headed to Walmart, we were home for the night.

Musings about Canada

We found Montreal to be a very active and congested city, very cosmopolitan, and ethnically diverse. Some of the things we learned:

Parking is hard to find. You have to pay for parking everywhere. Parking is expensive.

The parking meters are in French. The traffic signs are in French.

Distance is in kilometers. Time is posted on traffic signs using the 24 hour clock.

Gas is sold in liters. The price is about $1.25 per liter or $5 per gallon.

Most of the streets are one way.

You cannot turn right on a red light.

Starbucks coffee doesn’t taste the same.

None of the cars have bumper stickers. They don't sell bumper stickers anywhere.

People will speak to you in French first and then English.

Everyone speaks English.

They accept US dollars, no need to exchange any money. You can use cash, credit cards, or a debit card as a credit card.

A lot of people ride bikes, there are bikers everywhere. There are special lanes for bikes. Bike riders don't always stop or slow down at corners to cross the streets.

At the border, we spent no more than 5 minutes at each crossing. The line went quick both times. Customs only glanced at our passports and asked a few questions. No one looked or inspected our vehicle or any of our belongings.

The whole drive took half a tank of gas. We filled up right before entering Canada, we were there for 3 days, and by the time we got back to the US border, we had used exactly half a tank of gas. We went approximately 180 miles. We entered in NY via I-87 and exited in VT via I-89.