Tuesday, August 23, 2016

BLOG - Ten Year Anniversary Trip to NH (Part 1)

    This week is our ten year wedding anniversary and Jaime ended up getting the same two days off as me for the first time all summer, so we’re celebrating both days. We got up this morning not quite sure what we’d be doing but knowing it would involve Arbys. Ours closed last summer so Augusta is the closest one to us which just so happens to be along our new route to NH. Of course by the time they open for lunch at 10:00 it would be too late to drive the rest of the way to the mountains. I voted to drive back up north and go to Acadia to finish up my book but Jaime wasn’t in the mood so we finished our delicious and long awaited meal at Arbys and continued on to our home away from home. I had my regular Beef N Cheddar along with one of their new gyros which was alright but not nearly as good as GH Pizza. They also had some new curly fries topped with melted cheese and bacon, amazing. Jaime got her regular Chicken Bacon Swiss but they’ve changed the recipe a little since we last had it, not nearly as good.

    We knew we wouldn’t be doing any big hikes in NH since it was well after 1:00 by the time we arrived but oh well. First stop of the day was Littleton to pick up some fudge from Chutters since we haven’t gotten any lately. Wow, this marks our fifth trip to NH this year. I stopped at the thrift and consignment stores next door but like always didn’t buy anything so after picking up a pound and a half of fudge we made our way over to Kilburn Crags.

    The day was perfect with bright blue sky and almost no clouds so I wanted to get some panoramic shots from the crag since I now have the ability to with my new camera. Unfortunately I haven’t quite figured it all out yet and wasn’t able to get any real good shots because the view isn’t exactly 360 degrees so the camera wouldn’t register it properly. I still got some good pictures though. It’s a tough little trail but it didn’t kick my ass like the first time, however I’m not quite in the shape I was in last year so it was no walk in the park either.

    We got some boneless wings at Pub 32 in Lincoln to tide Jaime over until supper but they weren’t very good so she didn’t end up eating them, but I sure did. Then we stopped at our regular hotel, Franconia Notch Motel, to make reservations for next month. We’re spending eight nights this year and with the discount he gives us since we’re regulars it’s costing exactly what we were looking to spend.

    Last year when we were coming back form Eagle Pass I noticed a rockslide beneath Eagle Cliff that I’d been wanting to visit. That was our last day there, I was dead tired and limping after an injury so I ventured out onto the slide, took some pictures and called it good until next time. Today was that next time. With only a couple hours left of sunlight we took the short cut to the trail, made our way up the steep ascent  and then Jaime sat on a rock to read while I went off trail to explore the rockslide.


With the sun about to go down I got some amazing pictures and even a couple panoramics, one of which might be my best photo ever. The new walkie talkies came in handy as we chatted back and forth, it’s a great way to let Jaime know I’m still safe, especially when doing dangerous stuff like exploring scree slopes and rockslides. I climbed my way up to the ledges above the slide, successfully conquering the area I’ve been wanting to after years of seeing it from the road. On my way down I fell once on the scree but didn’t get hurt. Since I’ve done a number of rockslides now it’s not as scary anymore, even with the ground moving beneath me.

    We did Black Mountain Burger for supper so by the time we left it was 9:15 with quite the drive ahead of us, making it a long night. This was my first time driving the Kancamagus Highway in the dark, no as bad as I thought it would be, especially with the new car. We did have to stop to use the bathroom though which was interesting since there are no lights in the Kancamagus restrooms, luckily I had my flashlight. Jaime started dozing about an hour before home but surprisingly I didn’t get too tired and we made it home around 1:30, so it turns out the drive is an hour less than we thought. Despite Jaime’s string of bad luck we had a great day and can’t wait to go back on Friday.

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