Day 4 - A True Adventure Through the White Mountains

Day 4 started off early. At 7 am we were up and getting ready to leave...I was determined to be out the door by 8 or 8:30. After packing up drinks, sandwiches, and enough snacks to get us through the day, we checked the weather and rain was forecast for the afternoon. Good thing we were heading out early and planning on being back before then!

Our first stop was North Woodstock, NH to have pancakes at Peg's where they serve breakfast all day. It just so happens that Peg's is located next to Fadden's general store where you can buy international award winning NH maple syrup. Try it at Peg's, buy it next door!

Outside of Peg's. Notice the ground is wet where this is no overhang? So much for showers holding off! The yellow building in the back is Fadden's general store.

Standing outside of the store with my maple syrup...but I jump ahead in my story with this one!

Before I bought my maple syrup, Paul, my dad, and I took a walk around the store. Although it's a typical general store with groceries and other supplies, an entire wing of the store is dedicated to showing off the many syrup awards the Faddens have won as well as the maple syrup making process. For many generations the Faddens have been producing great tasting maple syrup. When it was time to pick out the syrup we'd be taking home, we came face to face with Mr. Fadden himself! We asked questions about the differences in the different types of maple syrup, how maple syrup candy is made, and even found out that the local brewery uses Fadden syrup in their brewing process!

Mr. Fadden allowed us to take a picture of him and all of his maple syrup products...there's the syrup in the back, the candy in the front, the beer in the tall bottles, and maple syrup seasoning at the bottom right.

We were advised on settling for the light maple syrup as it's often the grade that wins Mr. Fadden the most awards.

Our next stop was the Flume Gorge in the Franconia Notch state park.

Paul hanging out with my dad at his first NH covered bridge before beginning a hike through the woods.

The flume is absolutely amazing. The wooden walkway follows the river the entire length. It becomes even more amazing when you consider how much work it would take to haul all the wood into this narrow water way and then construct it so that its safe enough for thousands of people to walk on every year.

We stopped to pose by the beautiful waterfall just in time for it to start raining.

Paul was my hero for the day when he held up a large boulder so we could safely continue on our journey!

After exploring the beauty of the Flume, we headed up the 93 (or I-93 if you're from anywhere but California) to see New Hampshire from above on the Cannon Aerial Tramway.

The tram serves as a ski lift during the winter months. Despite its small size, it typically carries up 70 people and all their gear at one time!

A view from about half way up. From here you're supposed to be able to see 4-5 different states. Oh, and Canada's off in the distance there somewhere.

We wait for the pouring rain to stop so we can hike out near the rim. Can you tell it's just a bit cold all the way at the top of Cannon Mountain on a rainy day?

Paul ventures out closer to the edge than I'd care for him to be. I guess boys will be boys.

We reached the top of the path and came to the observatory which we just had to climb up. We could hear the wind howling through the bars. Paul took the following video to show just how windy it was up there! Notice how I can lean into the wind without falling over :D



After a long day of hiking in the cold, wind, and rain, we still had family to visit. We took a trip to my Auntie Diane's to visit with her family. After catching up on what they've been up to in the past two years, Paul and I headed back to my dad's house with empty stomachs.

Well, what better to fill them with than ice cream for dinner!! We headed out to Jordan's ice cream to generously scooped hot fudge sundaes. Although I'm a big fan of anything peanut butter and chocolate, I found my homemade raspberry truffle ice cream to be better than the other scoop of peanut butter cup I had.

Bellies full and ready to fall asleep from sugar overload, we all headed home only to socialize with even more people over a game of cribbage. I had been wanting to learn how to play for the longest time, and after playing now, I can't say that I'm dying to play it again any time soon. However, having Paul, my dad, his roommate Cheryl, her daughter Christine, and son-in-law Kevin all around one table was good, fun company to end a long day with.

Day 5 is a lot more relaxing!