Father's Day 2018

This year Father's Day was split in two for me.  On Saturday I had a great morning with Canaan and Addison and Kate made Bacon Cheeseburgers for lunch for us all, a tradition she started back in 2013.  Cheeseburgers are amazing, but when you pile bacon on top, man-o-man it's just splendid!

Sunday after I got out of work we headed north to check out some wind mills up close.  A few weeks back Cousin William had posted some pictures on Facebook of them and he told me you could drive right up to them in Mayfield, so we did just that.

Wesley ready to get this adventure underway

The drive was decent and didn't take very long taking the interstate to exit 133, then 201 cutting over to 151 right to route 16, twelve miles east of Bingham, to the logging road that leads up the hill.  The road is nice and wide and on this day in great condition.

When you drive up you have to keep going past the first turbine to the right and up another hill where you will be be greeted with an amazing view!  It's hard to describe.  This wind farm is part of the largest in Maine with either 58 or 62 turbines depending on the information I found on the internet.

Next we headed towards Bingham on route 16 and they have a lot of signs along the way talking about the steep downhill grade warning trucks to go around and they are not kidding.  For at least 3 miles you are just continuously going downhill, it's really weird.

We found the trail head for Houston Brook Falls right next to the Point Pleasant Transfer station.  It wasn't a difficult hike in about 1/4 mile.  It was downhill the whole way and there was a marked path it was just full of tree roots.

When you get to the falls it is very scenic but not very three year old friendly.  So we just admired the falls for a bit and head back for the uphill walk.  A little more than halfway Wesley was tired of the walking and asked me to carry him, I'm a sucker so I did.

We started towards Phillips to go on a train ride and decided to stop at Pinkham's Elm St Market for lunch.  Back when Kate went camping with her family at Flagstaff Lake they would always stop here for supplies as they pack their own meat here.

Kate had the chicken salad, I had a turkey sandwich, and Wesley was ordered nuggets and fries but basically didn't eat them.  Kate really like her sandwich and mine was very good.  I would order it again, my only complaint is they toasted the bread even though I said I didn't want it toasted.

It was a busy day at the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad, father's road for half price after all.  Wesley loved the train ride, but he didn't care about the time spent at the train station in the woods along the river, he just wanted to ride the train back out.

We were going to check out Dagget rock today as well, but after the train ride I was simply too tired to do so.  Wesley boy was pretty tired as well, Kate drove us home and we both fell asleep on the way.

Later that evening after I took a nap Paul came over and we watched WWE Money In The Bank Event.

It was a great Father's day adventure.

Later Readers!

Father's Day in the White Mountains

Unlike Mother's Day for Father's Day 2016 the weather was gorgeous and were able to go to Glen Ellis Falls and a whole lot more driving about 330 miles from home, through the White Mountains, and back home again.

Our trip started with one of our favorite drive which is from home, through Winthrop to Bethel and into Gorham, New Hampshire.  There is just something about that drive that we truly love.  Once in Gorham we hit Route 16 south towards Jackson stopping at Glen Ellis Falls.

There is a well marked parking area and you have to take a tunnel under the road on the third mile hike towards the 64 foot waterfall.  The trail is well maintained and features of stair the descend to the base of the falls that is well worth the walk for the spectacular view.  Granted I did not have a 30 pound Wesley boy strapped to me, but I think Kate felt it was well worth it as well.

Leaving the falls we continued south on 16 turning onto route 302 towards Bartlett.  Route 302 cuts right through the heart of the White Mountain National forest and Crawford Notch State Park.  This is one of, if not the most, scenic and beautiful road I have ever driven on.

We had destinations in mind and even though I made a couple impromptu stops to snag a couple pictures we passed some places that we are definitely going back to in the future.  Which is exciting knowing we have a reason to return and explore more.

From 302 we turned onto Route 3 south which turns into I-93 south through Franconia Notch State Park into Lincoln.  We stopped in Lincoln to check out Fadden's General Store.  It's hyped as having the best Maple Syrup in New Hampshire.  It was a bit of a let down, but we did buy some of their syrup and Kate got a maple cream soda. It was terrible, but very creamy.

Next we stopped at Chutter's second location which features a 60 foot candy counter.  I have wanted Frooties so bad but have not been able to find them anywhere in Maine and I don't want to buy them off the internet.  The Chutter's Littleton, NH store featured a 100 plus foot candy counter, the World's Largest, and they have Frooties.  Well Lincoln does not.  The store is nice, but it was a massive disappointment.

Staying in Lincoln we stopped for lunch at Black Mtn. Burger CO., a placed voted as New Hampshire's best burger.  The inside is really nice with a great set up, you can eat outside if you choose. The table we have was very high, which I was okay with because when you're eating a messy burger you want to be close to the table top keep the mess off your clothes.

Kate got the Swiss Mushroom Burger, I got the basic Cheddar Cheeseburger adding Bacon to it, we both got fries.  The burgers were fantastic!  Really one of the best I've ever had.  I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to go back there again.

Continuing our journey on the Kancamagus highway we exited the White Mountain National Forest in Conway New Hampshire and headed south to the Madison Boulder.

The Madison Boulder is the largest known erratic in North America at 83 feet long and 23 feet high and 37 feet wide.  Take a look at the photo with Wesley in front of it.  It's very impressive!

Continuing south east we cut back into Maine on route 25 into Porter stopping at the Porter-Parsonsfield Covered Bridge which spans the Ossipee River.  Originally built in 1876 it was rebuilt in 1999 and is closed to traffic.  Wesley loves him some closed covered bridges, walking across them, yelling, and apparently dropping rocks through the gaps floorboards.  He found a rock and picked it up and dropped it through, when he heard the plop of it hitting the water he let out a pleasantly surprised noise.  So we gathered up a lot more rocks and he went to town.

Driving home we passed a place that had multiple signs advertising penny candy. Even though I would most likely be disappointed I turned back to Sunrise Corner and ventured in, I was not to be denied on this day for they had frooties!!  Sadly they were 5 cents each but I didn't care and bought giant bag that had a handful of each flavor.  I spoke to the owner Jason who stated that they just added the candy 4 years ago and it was a success, it certainly was today.

We got home just about 7pm when Paul was getting there with the Pizza so we could watch the Money in the Bank PPV on WWE Network.  It was a great ending to a truly wonderful day!

Thanks for reading!

Later Readers!

Map of our Adventure