Mt Washington and leaves

Wednesday, 9 October

We were up and out at the crack of dawn this morning, heading for Mt Washington and the cog railway. We didn’t really know what to expect but it was a fantastic 45 minute ride, in something that looked like a toy train, up a really steep and narrow track with alarming drops on either side. The view from the top was stunning and we were lucky enough to have clear skies which allowed us to see 100 miles in all directions. The mountain is known for its fickle weather but once again we were lucky as it was a balmy 2 degrees Celsius, or minus 4 with the wind chill factor. Aren’t I glad I brought my Norway coat!

Once safely down we followed a circuit to the east of our “home”, through stunningly beautiful autumn countryside. I don’t want to keep on and on about the autumn leaves but there are LOTS and they are GORGEOUS.

Had lunch at Bart’s Deli and General Store in Bartlett. The cooks were a couple of colourful characters but made me a very tasty Reuben sandwich. We got chatting to a couple of ladies from Boston who wondered what out impression of Donald Trump was. We told them that we have been very carefully saying nothing about American politics but once they gave us their frank opinion we had a great discussion. Then they gave both of us a pine-scented candle as a memento of our trip.

We completed our road circuit late this afternoon and I had time to wander down our street and into the main street of Bethlehem. Not much happening, but a great wool shop which I might have to visit again.

White River Junction to Bethlehem

Tuesday, 8 October

A little bit of morning mist cleared into a beautiful, sunny day. What a contrast to yesterday!
We came across a covered bridge on our way to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park at Woodstock, so of course we detoured slightly and drove across. This meant a slightly different and very scenic route to the park.

The three people above all lived in the same house at different times and all were in some way interested and active in conservation and the setting up of national parks in various parts of the country. The part we visited was mainly a farm with historical buildings.

From here we returned to a spot we had passed on the way, Quechee Gorge which at 165 feet deep is the deepest gorge in Vermont. We had lunch sitting in the sun here and both of us needed to take off layers, it was so warm.

Soon after this we crossed into New Hampshire. There are no “welcome to” signs to indicate that you have crossed a border and, in fact, many of the villages we passed through had no signs either. We have seen a lot of pumpkins today, in autumn displays or for sale by the road.

It was really lovely to be driving through beautiful country on such a warm sunny day. We stopped in Littleton for a few supplies before the last few kilometres (miles) to our bnb in Bethlehem. It’s a nice little cottage and I think we’ll be comfortable here for the next couple of days.

Plattsburgh to White River Junction

Monday, 7 October

Today we took the ferry across Lake Champlain and into Vermont. The weather was miserable. It rained ALL day. Fortunately it eased while were at our first stop, Shelburne.

Anne had been told not to miss the Shelburne Museum, a museum covering 45 acres, with 39 buildings and which describes itself (accurately) as unconventional. We split up to explore the things that captured our interest and there was only one exhibition which we both visited. They have a covered bridge, a railway station complete with train, a paddle steamer and much more. I particularly enjoyed the little dioramas of 19th century life, the wildfowl decoy collection and the hand-carved circus figures.

We stopped for lunch at Harrington’s Deli, which was all decked out with autumn displays. I am very proud to say that I resisted buying the key lime curd which was tempting me.

Then it was onward through more rain to Montpelier, the capital of Vermont. We only stopped long enough to take a photo of the state house with its golden dome before continuing to today’s destination, White River Junction. It’s still raining but hopefully tomorrow will be a better day weather wise.

Rome to Plattsburgh

Sunday, 6 October

What was meant to be about a half hour visit to Fort Stanwix in Rome, turned out to be most of the morning, as we joined a very interesting tour. The tour guide had a name to remember - Val Morgan. She was delighted when we told her we’d think of her every time we go to the movies. Fort Stanwix’s claim to fame is that it’s the only fort that never surrendered. It was also a key point in the portage of goods between two waterways.

Once we were finally on our way the rain started, but fortunately it didn’t last too long although the whole day was overcast. As we climbed into the Adirondack Mountains the trees began to really colour up and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. The further into the mountains, the better the autumn colours. We stopped numerous times for photos but could only do so where it was safe to pull over so we missed a few good spots. They need a lot more viewing points for people with cameras. There are lakes large and small everywhere and we caught a couple of good reflections as evening was setting in.

We’ve noticed that a lot of towns and houses are very down-at-heel, with closed down businesses, unpainted houses and so on, but also some lovely ones in picturesque spots too. It must be tough around here in the middle of winter. We’ve seen people working on their wood piles. Today there were lots of cars going in the opposite direction from us. We think they were on their way home from their weekenders, where they’ve been getting things ready for winter or having last days on the water before the winter comes. Many businesses have signs saying they’re closed for the winter.

Lunch was in Old Forge, a very touristy town right in the middle of the Adirondacks, and this evening we are staying in Plattsburgh, which so far doesn’t seem to have any claim to fame apart from being a point on the map where we reckoned it would be time to stop for the night.

Niagara Falls to Rome.

Saturday, 5 October

Another delicious sesame bagel for breakfast at the bakery down the road and then we were on our way back to the Avis people at the airport. They couldn’t have been nicer and now we have a very blue Hyundai Elantra which is much more suitable for two people and actually has a bigger boot than the Dodge.

Waiting for the bakery to open

We put Rochester into Tom Tom and arrived there around lunchtime. Stopped at a very nice cafe which is over the road from a memorial to Susan B Anthony, who was an early campaigner for women’s suffrage.

We like this one!

Then it was on to Rome, through forest, farmland and a lot of tiny towns. We were travelling along beside a large lake, Lake Oneida, and at one stage caught a distant glimpse of Lake Ontario. I think we might have crossed the Erie Canal too.There is a lot of swampy country around here and we are told that it is humid and mosquito infested in summer. Glad we chose autumn. At one stage, Anne drove us down a little track to the edge of the lake so we could have a look. There was a less than friendly warning on a sign so we hot-tailed it out of there before the war party could come after us.

Lake Oneida

Welcome to the lake

Our motel here seems really spacious compared to the previous ones. They all have something odd about them - weird taps, water pressure that blasts you across the room, sheets and blankets that barely reach above your waist ... So far the only weird thing here is the music coming out of the exhaust fan in the bathroom, but I dare say there’ll be something else to discover.

Niagara Falls

Friday, 4 October

Having pretty much recovered from a long and stressful day yesterday we set off down the street to a cosy bakery for breakfast - a little later than usual this morning. Then it was my first visit to a Walmart store where a young man helped me to get my phone going with a prepaid sim.

Halloween is coming

From here we set out for Goat Island and those famous falls. The cafe there had no inside seating so we bought our takeaway cuppas and had them outside in the cold. I was fascinated by the number of condiments available for your hot dog.

What would you like on your hot dog?

First we saw the Bridal Falls, then the Horseshoe Falls and finally the American Falls. Of course they were all very awe-inspiring. It is hard to comprehend the amount of water thundering over - 285,000 litres a second according to a sign we saw. We kept thinking about all that hydroelectric power.

Anne is easy to find in her new hat

The restaurant by the Falls was closed (of course) but a girl in the gift shop suggested a Tudor style place nearby so we went there and had a lovely lunch. The only downside was the parking area nearby, where the machine charged $30 on Anne’s credit card. No wonder there were so few people parked there! And we could have found a place in the street after all. The meal was quite cheap which sort of made up for being slugged for parking.

After lunch it was a walk to the second part of our falls viewing. Nice to see happy families enjoying the day. Less impressed by the woman who jumped the fence and sat on the grass flicking her hair about and posing for photos. By now we’d had about enough so we headed back to the motel, Anne to put her feet up and me to whizz down to the 7/11 before putting my feet up too.

It will be an early night tonight and tomorrow we head off on our road trip. We’re hoping to stop at Avis on the way and change to a smaller vehicle as Anne is finding this one uncomfortable for her leg and it’s a monster to park. Will probably be a gas guzzler too. So fingers crossed for a better one tomorrow.

Halifax to Niagara Falls

Thursday, 3 October

The day got off to a smooth start. We checked out of our hotel, drove to the airport and returned the car no problems.
Went to the US section of the airport to check in three and a half hours before the flight because we’d got there quicker than expected. No sign of life at any of the check-in counters but after about an hour the United staff arrived and started checking people in for their flight. Our flight wasn’t even showing on the departure board. “This is a bit odd,” we thought. I went down to the information desk and they said not to worry the Delta staff should show up soon.

So we sat and waited and still nothing and no one. Finally I wandered over to the United counter and asked about our Delta flight. The guy looked horrified and said they hadn’t been flying out of Halifax since July and there were no staff to talk to as it’s the end of the season. Also something about them not having enough bookings to keep operating. He gave us a phone number for Delta and we rang that but it was a half hour queue so we hung on. Anne went back over to United to ask about booking us on one of their flights. While they were trying to organise that Delta finally answered. With a bit of help from the lovely United people Delta got us booked through to Newark and then Buffalo, but much later than our original plan. Had we talked to them earlier we could have been on our way very quickly.

Of course you could predict that our flight to Newark would be delayed but that didn’t matter as we were not to fly out of there until 9.30. We arrived in Newark only to discover that our onward flight was delayed until 11.35! It’s just one of those days!

A one hour flight brought us to Buffalo/Niagara around 1.00am. We queued for the hire car and were given a huge Dodge people mover. Finally got to our motel at Niagara Falls just on 3.30.... and now to bed!