With today being our ten year anniversary, we knew we’d be going to NH, for the second time this week. Today we weren’t setting out to do any hikes though, mostly shopping, and of course we didn’t buy anything, and naturally I did a hike. We won’t actually celebrate our anniversary until next month when we go to NH for a week but since we both had the day off we figured we’d take advantage of it.
Originally we planned on leaving super early and going to Grafton Notch along the way but a few hours into the trip we realized we left a little late and wouldn’t have time to stop there before lunch. Lunch, where? Well Mountain Fire Pizza of course. We got there at lunchtime and enjoyed our half maple bacon and half Hawaiian Luau pizza, I mean come on, it’s a pizza with cherries on it.
We hit up North Conway for a little shopping and went to Jaime’s regulars, TJ Maxx and Christmas Tree Shop but didn’t get anything. We also decided to go to a few of the famous Conway outlets which truthfully we’ve never been too impressed with. Today was no different, they’re just so damn expensive and man was that place busy, it looked like Christmas time. We went to Eastern Mountain Sports and Under Armor, found a couple of cool things but nothing we wanted to spend that much on. It did feel good to be able to buy those things though, but I’d rather get three performance shirts from Walmart for the same price as one at Under Armor. And I was hoping for a handheld GPS unit at Eastern Mountain but they didn’t have any. We were going to go to Nike and some of the other outlets but decided against it after seeing the crowds and prices. Jaime really wanted to go to the new Home Goods store but they hadn’t opened yet, that’s the kind of luck she’s been having lately.
After Conway we stopped along the Saco River so I could climb to the cave on Cave Mountain. I went there once with my family back in 1992 and have been wanting to go back ever since because I didn’t have any pictures from it. It’s a short trail but man is it steep, just as steep as I remember it being with tons of loose gravel from the cave. I crawled around in there for a little while, taking pictures.
After exploring the cave I decided to continue on to the top of the mountain which isn’t far from the cave, in fact it’s right above it, but it’s extremely steep with no real trail. It is a popular bushwhack though so the unofficial route was easy to follow with a decent view from the top. I was hoping to see down into Crawford Notch but no such luck, just the peaks in the Bartlet area. It was nice having the walkie talkies so I could stay in constant contact with Jaime and let her know I was going up further or heading back down. They are so convenient and yeah we play with them like we’re little kids, making jokes and having fun. She hopes to one day not have to use them because she’ll be able to do all the hikes with me.
From there we went into Crawford Notch with Jaime driving for a change. She drives around home all the time but hasn’t driven the NH roads since we used to meet up there before we lived together. She did good, getting used to the windy mountain roads before we move out there, even if only part time. We stopped at the Willey House so I could get some ice cream and fudge, we made it just before they closed but there was nothing good left at the end of the season. So we stopped at our old scenic cuddle spot and hung out there for a little while.
With me driving this time, we headed for Lincoln trying to decide where we’d eat supper. We decided on Brittany’s and CJs Penalty box which we ate at with my parents last year and although a little pricey, the food is delicious. I got the Ringer Burger which was good, basically a rodeo burger, and Jaime got the special pulled pork burger which was really good, she let me have her leftovers. We also got the corn chowder because we remember loving it last year and it did not disappoint as well as the cheese fries which were amazing and very cheesy. We’ll definitely be going back there again. Oh and then for desert I stopped at the ice cream place and got a hot fudge brownie sundae. I was kind of full but really wanted it so I ate most of it and saved the rest for later, it'll be melted but ah well, it was so amazing it won't matter.
On our way across the Kancamagus we got to see a gorgeous sunset from the top. I tried out my camera on sunset pics, I’m still getting the hang of it but I got some good ones, none that truly captured it though. We left about an hour earlier than Tuesday but I was a bit more tired for some reason so it was kind of a long ride home, I didn’t get too tired though. I did fall asleep the second we got home though, head hit the pillow and I was out. We had a great two days in NH to celebrate our actual anniversary but can’t wait for our end of September trip when it’s a little bit colder and a little less busy.
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