My Summer Vacation

This summer my family and I went to New Hampshire for vacation...

Sorry, I lapsed back into my elementary years, writing the ubiquitous "What I did this summer" essay. Now that I'm an adult, and since this is my blog, I don't have to worry about following all the rules of grammar and I can use bullet points (yeah!).

I'm going to do a single post on our vacation. My wife on the other hand, is dedicating a whole post for each day. So go over to her blog for fuller details. I'll list the links to each post as they become available (enter the above mentioned bullet points).

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
  

One problem with my wife getting a jump start on the vacation post is that she's been free to pick any of the pictures that she wants. Now I have to sort through the left overs so as not to duplicate the pictures for those of you who read both blogs (but they are good left overs). Well, on to the essay...

Monday was spent preparing and packing. Anticipating all the luggage that our family of five would need to cart to New Hampshire, I installed our roof-top luggage carrier on the van. By bed time, everything was ready to be packed into the van. I also printed off directions, prices and times for the various activities we were interested in, and I used a three-hole punch and put them all in a nice neat binder. For those who know me well, I'm sure this is quite a surprise. Stephanie was pleased to have an organized binder rather than to be handed a bunch of loose sheets of paper. Who said old dawgs can't occasionally do new things?

We awoke Tuesday morning to the fact that it had been raining during the night but was now trickling off. After a quick breakfast, I proceeded to pack that van. Due to my superb van packing skills and my wife's superb suitcase packing skills, I was able to fit all of our stuff in the van, without having to use the roof-top carrier. So while the family sat in the van waiting to leave, I took it off. I could have seen out of the back a little easier, and we would have been a little less crowded in the van, if I had put some items in the carrier. However, since physics was my favorite subject in high school, I knew the following equation to be true:

((roof-top carrier + van) x wind resistance x ($3.93/gallon)) > (van x wind resistance x ($3.93/gallon))

In other words, it was going to cost me more mullah to use the roof-top carrier if I didn't need to.

After a stop at the post office, the bank and Wal-Mart, we were off. The trip up to New Hampshire was fairly uneventful, except for the multiple bathroom breaks including the panic stop at the side of the road for a boy who declared that he needed to go potty, which, in his parlance, means "I've reached critical mass and it's going to come out soon, no matter where I am, so you better get me to where you would want it to come out ASAP." After arriving in Twin Mountain, checking in and unloading, we proceeded to settle in and have a light supper. We enjoyed smores thanks to the fireplace in the living room.

On Wednesday, we went to the Lost River Gorge. We ate lunch before enjoying a beautiful hike up and down, in and out of rocks and over the river. There were waterfalls to look at and caves to be explored. I had brought along a flashlight, which was not needed in most of the caves. However, in the Cave Of Shadows, I pulled it out and shone it around. I was glad I did. Water ran through the cave and made a lot of noise, however, due to the darkness, you could not see, without the aid of the flashlight, that waterfall at the back of the cave that was the source of the water.

At the bottom of the Lost River Gorge


This is actually looking down from the top of a approx. 40-foot waterfall

Will and Ben on the boardwalk

After we finished with the Lost River, we went on another hike through the woods on a trail that left the parking lot where we were. We then proceeded back to the cottage for a brief rest before venturing out to hunt down dinner. Dinner was obtained at Fabyan's Station Restaurant and Lounge, which is located in an old railroad station that sits by some still existent tracks.

On Thursday, we ate an early lunch and then drove to North Conway and rode on the Conway Scenic Railroad for an hour. That was fun and the scenery was beautiful, however, according to Will, the train did not go fast enough. After that was done, we headed back to Twin Mountain via the Kangamangus highway, enjoying beautiful scenery and stop beside the river to throw rocks, sticks, leaves and anything else loose that was not too heavy for the kids to pick up. We stopped at a pizza place in Lincoln at the end of the Kanc.

A couple of the engines

Will and Ben on the platform

On Friday, we packed lunch and headed out to find some waterfalls and do some hiking. The first falls were only about a quarter mile walk from the parking area. Because of that, we decided to leave the diaper bag in the van, a decision that I would later come to regret. The falls were more of a steep series of rapids but they were still fun to throw things in.

The falls


Ben, at the end of a throw


Stephanie, keeping Ellie safe

Will, looking for ammunition to launch into the river

The fun was interrupted by the announcement by Will that he needed to go poopy. I briefly panicked - we're out in the woods away from civilized facilities and we had climbed down the bank of the river to get closer to the water, so the actual trees were probably too far to make it (see comments on the emergency pee pee stop above). Then the answer came to mind - we were standing beside running water, take him a few steps down stream and let him give back to nature. So that's what I did. I grab him up, stepped across the top of some rocks that were down stream of where we were playing, stood him up, pulled down his pants, and had him squat. He did really well for not having a seat to support him. The only problem was that the poopy was very runny, not the nice firm kind I was hoping for that would allow us to dress him and take him back to the van to be cleaned up. Nope. Not to be. You cannot pull his underwear up over that without necessitating a change of clothes.

Oh for the diaper bag. Stephanie offered to go back and get it, but that would be at least a five to ten minute ordeal. So I took the hit, as only a dad of three kids could. Yes, I used the water and my hand to wipe my son's bottom. Ewww. But you gotta do what you gotta do. For some reason, even though I thoroughly rinsed my hand in the river, Stephanie did not want to hold my hand after that until I had cleaned with wipes and Germ-X once we were back at the van.

On the road leading away from those falls, Stephanie, with her sharp eyes, spied a beaver lodge in a little pond beside the road. That was cool.

Beaver lodge

Gnawed through tree

The next falls were located beside the road. It was a short walk up to the pool at the bottom of them. The pictures don't do them justice. The water volume was not much but they started off way up the ridge. Once again, the boys enjoyed pitching things into the water. We had lunch in the parking lot opposite the falls.

The Silver Cascades


The kids and I in front of the pool


Stephanie in front of the pool

Splash!

The last falls were a little over a half a mile hike away but the hike was definitely that. We had borrowed an backpack child carrier from a co-worker of mine, so we put Ellie in that for this one. She enjoys riding in it - I do the work and she enjoys the view. It was a great help, we could not have done this hike without it. There was a lot of up on the way in, several muddy stretches of path to negotiate and one small stream to cross. The falls were quite pretty and worth the exertion. On the way out, Ellie fell asleep in the carrier - what a sweetie.

Ellie and I at the beginning of the hike


The Ripley Falls


The family resting at the falls


We're on our way out


Fording the stream


Ellie and I near the end of the hike. She's exhausted from the hike...

That night we ate at a local establishment in Twin Mountain. More smores were had back at the cottage. And of course there was packing to do.

Saturday morning it was once again rainy but that's OK since we were just traveling home. The weather had been beautiful the three full days we were there, which was a blessing from God and an answer to prayer. The trip home was even less uneventful than the trip up. We all had a great time. The scenery was beautiful and the company was the best. The only thing that we had hoped for but did not happen was to have a good moose sighting. (Stephanie and I had a brief glimpse on Tuesday but the kids were not tall enough).