We've Arrived!

New Hampshire

One of our primary goals on this trip was to see the fall foliage in the New England states.  The peak time for colors, we were told, is the first two weeks of October.  We arrived in Lancaster, New Hampshire on Thursday, September 30th in the middle of a torrential downpour that was the remnants of Hurricane Nicole.  Apparently the entire eastern seaboard was flooded.  We found a very nice RV park in Lancaster called Mountain Lake Campground.  It looks like a wonderful place for families during the summer, with kayaking, swimming, board games etc.  Right now it is quiet and they will close for the season on October 15th.

Mountain Lake Campground, Lancaster, New Hampshire

Our campsite

Pete and I took a drive on Friday.  It had rained all day Thursday and Thursday night and was just intermittent showers on Friday.  We had talked to a moose hunter in a laundromat who told us of an area just north of Lancaster where we were sure to see moose.  So armed with our camera, we went moose hunting.  Sadly, we didn't find one, but we did find some beautiful fall foliage, covered bridges and quaint little villages.  

Covered bridge in Groveton, NH

Church and cemetery

We also found Canada . . . We had no idea we would be that close to the Canadian border so we didn't have our passports with us.  We did stop at the border and an armed U.S. Border officer escorted us to the Canadian border office where we asked if we could take a picture of the Canadian sign.  A very nice Canadian Border officer said in a heavy french accent, 'yes', as long as we didn't take a picture of her or her office.  We assured her we would not.  And to think, we could have had dinner in Quebec!

The Canadian border

The U.S. border

Our last day in New Hampshire was spent with our friends, Bob and Pink.  We took a drive through the White Mountains on the Kancamagus Highway.  "The Kanc", as the locals call it is often referred to as the best fall foliage trip in the United States.  And it really was beautiful!  There were stunning vistas of trees in every color from yellow to bright red.  It really looked like the post card pictures.  We saw rushing creeks and waterfalls . . . and people.  This being the first weekend of October, the local 'leaf peepers' were out in force.  But we didn't let it dampen our spirits.  After the rains of the previous two days, a cold front had moved in and it was quite cold up in the mountains.

The White Mountains of New Hampshire

The waterfalls were really rushing after the storms

Omni Mt. Washington Resort,  one of five Grand Hotels in New Hampshire

We left New Hampshire this morning and are in Vermont.  Our campground is on South Hero Island in Lake Champlain.  Lake Champlain is 120 miles long and extends from Canada through Vermont.  The Vermont/New York State line is in the middle of the lake.  The lake briefly became the 6th Great Lake in 1998 when President Bill Clinton signed a bill declaring it.  The bill was rescinded less than three weeks later.  More on Lake Champlain in the next post.  Tomorrow we will head in to the little town of Stowe, where the Von Trapp family of 'The Sound of Music' fame built a lodge and to the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory.  What could be better?  Cheers!