Should Have Kept His Chin Up

Day 44 Mt. Washington Area

It drizzled all night. That sounds worse on the roof than steady rain. It falls on the leaves overhanging the RV and makes different size drops that are not in any pattern. Plop...plop, plop, plop...plop! And I was cold, even with my cuddle duds, socks, blanket, comforter, and a warm body beside me. We have a heater and I think the thermostat was set for 66 degrees. Geez, what a wimp!

We went for a walk around the campground which is large and is on both sides of the highway. The weather felt exactly like Portland OR/Vancouver WA, cool and damp. Thankfully, we bought insect repellent with the highest DEET percentage...there are a bazillion mosquitoes here. Well...wet and wooded, why wouldn't there be?

Later we got in the Jeep and took the old road, RT 3 up toward the Mt. Washington area. It snakes alongside Interstate 93. The older road is in rough shape, I think they let it go after the newer interstate was built. But it goes past all the little old New England villages, deep woods and the old motor courts, many still in operation. At any time we could have jumped right on the interstate but chose not to.

Not long into the drive we came upon a SUV with a couple about our age pulled over on the opposite side of the road. The woman, beside the car, was looking at the front of her vehicle, holding her hand over her mouth and looking very upset. As we rounded the curve we saw why...they'd just hit a doe and she was gravely injured. She was trying desperately to climb back into the woods, but her hindquarters were injured and struggle as she might, could not move. The woman had her back turned to the pathetic animal. This the second injured deer we've seen on the trip and it's heartbreaking. The man in front of us had a pickup truck, he stopped. Hopefully, someone had a weapon to put her out of her misery.

The clouds would part and occasionally we got a peek of 'almost' sunshine. Whatever it was, we could see shadows for a few miles, until the clouds grew thick again. Being in the mountains, we could actually see the clouds sinking lower until we were in their mist.

They did part long enough for us to see where 'The Old Man Of The Mountain' used to be. He was on that mountain for God knows how long, until May 3, 2003, when he came crashing down. Apparently, the five pieces of granite ledge that formed his face, all rested on his chin. When the chin gave way, the rest of the face crashed down the mountain. I remember seeing it when I was 8 years old. My mother always said the old man looked like my great-uncle Pete. He did.

Now, there is just s almost smooth ledge. Practically everything in the White Mountain area of NH used to have the his image on it. The route signs on the highway even have his image. I'll be when they discovered he was gone, they kept staring at the edge of the mountain thinking, "What else could it look like?"

It looks like nothing but a big rock...no matter how hard you squint.

Then we drove (the long way) to the road that goes up Mount Washington. Visibility was very low driving up to the road. The toll is hefty...and 8 mile drive costs $23 for car and driver and $8 for each additional passenger. The road is scary, even after driving up Pike's Peak, I was uneasy, I remember this drive from long ago...and not fondly. We pulled up to the ticket booth and asked about visibility. It was not good, they said, less than 100 feet. That was good enough for us, we decided NOT to go up. The traffic is two-way and we'd like to see what is coming at on on that road! Yay, $31 saved!

Let's see...lousy weather, no old man of the mountain and no visibility on Mt. Washington...this day was going to crap rather quickly. Next we headed toward North Conway/Conway and grabbed a late lunch at Applebee's. I got the crispy orange chicken bowl. I wasn't too hungry and knew this thing is so big that you can get a couple of extra meals out of it. I picked up a Steamfresh Asian veggie thingy that I'll mix with it and the two of us can get a meal out of it.

A couple of miles down the road from the restaurant, we passes a large highway construction project. A policeman was directing traffic around it. As we passed, Jim suddenly shouted, "Hey, I know him!" He pulled into a parking lot and got the officer's attention. The cop instantly recognized Jim, and ran to the curb to greet him. They had worked together for many years and hadn' t seen each other in over 20 years. They only had a minute or two to talk, but Jim felt good about it...another life.

The Weirs Beach, just down the road from our campground is gearing up for a HUGH motorcycle gathering. They were starting to set up tents yesterday and today there are dozens of vendors getting ready. The weather may not comply.

We stopped for groceries and came back for the night. Then I gave two, count 'em, two dog baths , I'm so done...one dog to go, but NOT tonight.

Tomorrow we head down to Rhode Island, which was home up until 1989.