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I enjoy doing fun things outdoors. Family adventures, hunting, fishing, hiking, photography, 4 wheeling, etc. Get out there and enjoy ... NOTE: PLEASE CLICK ON MY PHOTOS IN THE BLOG POST SO THEY WILL BECOME LARGER.

Monday, February 26, 2024

A weekend at the Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa

Pam and I spent a weekend at the Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa in Whitefield, NH.

We had a leisurely drive through Franconia Notch and arrived in the area a few hours before check-in.  Both of us love to explore driving the back roads.  Love the dirt roads in the Jeep. 
 
It was cold and windy.  The first night it dropped to 3 degrees with 20+ mph wind gusts. 

 
I was up early to try to catch a sunrise.  Early enough that when I went downstairs no one was there.  I found a nice room on the main floor with a big window so I could keep an eye out for the sun to come up.  It was very cold outside, and my fingers froze when I ventured out to take pictures.  Crisp air from the wind and not a cloud in the sky made YELLOW the color of the morning sky.  I zoomed in on the Mount Washington Observatory.



Mid-morning, we were up and out the door and checked out the activities at the resort.  We had fun hiking on a couple of the trails through the woods.  The resort had snowshoeing and cross-country skiing for us.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough snow on the ground.  I put chains on our boots to better navigate the snow and ice on the trails.  If Pam slipped and fell, I could carry her out.  If I slipped and fell, I told her to leave me in the woods till spring … hehe … Here are a couple pictures of the trails in the woods.


We drove around the area and found some long dirt roads that paralleled the north side of Mount Washington.  That was a new experience and quite different than the views from Rt 302 and the Mount Washington Inn on the south side of the mountain. 



As we were driving, we had lunch at The Copper Pig Brewery/Pub in Lancaster, NH.  The food was very good, their BBQ sauce is homemade, and the beer, Oh My … Outstanding.  

That evening we stopped at the Littleton Diner.  We had some great diner food and of all places, I also ran into an old college friend.  You never know how small the world can be.

I am always looking for a good barn picture. Not including the Barn at the resort, I only saw 4 barns that were possibilities.  I am rather picky about the barn pictures I take.  Two didn’t make the cut, one I recognized and had taken a picture of years ago, and then there is this one.  This barn color put a smile on my face.


I was up early the next morning waiting for the sunrise.  I did see the front desk person but that was it.  It snowed an inch or so in the night.  The wind died down and it wasn’t as cold as the morning before.  Not much of a sunrise again.  The sun did break through a crack in the clouds.  I did jump in my Jeep to possibly get some pictures before Pam got up.



When I returned from my little picture adventure, I took some drone pictures of the resort. 



We had lunch at the Mount Washington Inn.  Always a fun place to explore, hike, etc.  The food was great.  I took a couple pictures with Mount Washington in the background.


That evening we went to see a movie in St Johnsbury, VT called “Ordinary Angels” It was excellent, and would highly recommend it.   

The following morning after checkout we headed toward Franconia Notch.  We ate at the Hungry Bear CafĂ© in Franconia.  From there we hiked the loop trail to Artists Bluff.  The trail was a bit icy so it was good we had the chains for our boots.  It gets steep in places.  Steep + some ice = slippery.  

The views are beautiful.  If I had to complain it would be that we were looking into the sun so not the best time of day for pictures.  Getting there earlier or later in the day would solve that problem.  Seems I am always looking for critter tracks when walking in the woods.  As we approached the top I stopped and pointed to some nice tracks in the snow.  I asked Pam how many toes she saw in the snow.  She said 5.  I told her dogs have 4 toes, and bears have 5 toes.  The bears must be starting to move because of the mild temperatures.  Pam seemed to stay closer to me after that!!  The hike and the view were worth it and we’ll do it again.







We took the back roads home instead of the highway.  We found some great foliage spots.  May be another adventure when the leaves start to change.

(click on the pictures to enlarge)

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Ice Castles of North Woodstock, NH

Pam and I headed up north to see the Ice Castles in North Woodstock, NH.  We made reservations several weeks prior.  As we arrived, we saw people without tickets being turned away as it was sold out.

There were lots of people walking through the maze of ice formations.  There was a slide we didn’t go down as we didn’t bring snow pants or a change of clothes.

We had fun walking through the castle.  I took several pictures.

There were ice cycles everywhere.  It reminded me of stalactites I would see in the caves growing up out west.  I went through a tunnel and took this picture looking straight up at the ice cycles.
 
It is a pretty area with mountains nearby.

There was also a short trail going through the woods.  At night the whole place is lit up.  We decided not to stay until dark.

Once we left, we decided to eat at the Woodstock Inn Brewery.  It was quite busy but had several dining areas so we didn’t have to wait long.  Big menu.

I ordered the Pastrami Ruebenski with onion rings.  Pam got the Shroom Express and sweet potato fries.  Both were excellent.  I would get the same thing again.  Turns out they are known for their onion rings and their fries.  Pam said the sweet potato fries were the best she has ever had … no idea what their secret is.

We walked through town through some of the shops. 

Instead of taking the highway home, we decided to take Old Rt 3 home.  It was fun driving the winding roads through small towns.

It was a fun day trip ...

Sunday, November 5, 2023

“Miracle of Christmas” at Sight & Sound along with some Barns

We bought tickets to see “Miracle of Christmas” at Sight & Sound in Lancaster, PA.



We headed to CT on Thursday night.  Friday morning, we were on our way to Lancaster (Amish Country).  Not a lot of traffic so it was an easy drive.



We spent Friday afternoon sightseeing, and I took some pictures.  We enjoyed the hotel which was only 20 minutes from the Sight & Sound Theater.





The Miracle of Christmas play was excellent.  Live animals, great acting, beautiful sets.  We will definitely check out other plays in the future.



 


I was up early Saturday morning to take barn pictures and I saw the sun come up.  I had a hard time finding a red barn.  I noticed that 99% of the structures on the farms in the area were white.  White barns, white sheds, white houses, white corn cribs, white outbuildings … Most were in great shape and were all working farms.   It was very different from the farms I had taken pictures of in New England.



We had tickets for the 11:00AM show.  After the show, we had lunch and explored, shopped, and visited a couple covered bridges.  I found 3 covered bridges but only took pics of 2 as the 3rd wasn’t very photogenic with cars all around.


Sunday morning, we were up and on our way home by 8:00AM.  We had a great time and will visit the area again.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

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