Scenic Drive on Route 113

Monday June 26th was the final day of my mini four day vacation, which had been a lot of fun so far. Kate took the day off so we took the opportunity to have a day trip adventure.

We hit the road a little after eight in the morning after I dropped the kids off at the Boy's and Girl's Club where they would be spending their days this summer.  Along the way to our first top in Fryeburg we hit construction on route 302 and were stopped on next to Moose Pond over looking Shawnee Peak.

We arrived at Weston's Farm & Market, located on route 113, which has been in operation as a farm on this land since 1799.

The market has a selection of local books and area specific souvenirs. The market has a few locally grown vegetables, meats, soda's, cheese, cookies, pies, pastries, and more.  Off course during the harvest season they have even more.  I bought a two molasses cookies that are made at the Mountain Side Bakery in Brownfield, we all loved them.

I also bought some cheddar aged 4 - 5 years made by the Yankee Cheeseman, it is fantastic!  Their website is extremely basic only listing fairs he will be at where you can buy the cheese.  It also says they will ship it, but the types of cheese and prices are not listed.  The clerk said her brother or brother-in-law makes the cheese nearby in New Hampshire.

When trying to figure out where to go on a day trip I was looking at the map, we love the White Mountains, and route 113 winds back and forth between Maine and New Hampshire right through the White Mountain National Forest and as we hadn't driven it before it seemed like something we would like, and we did!

During my research I learned that a large section of the road is closed in the winter I couldn't find as to why but thought it can't be that bad.  We've taken Vanna on some questionable roads in the past but this was a State Route so how bad could it be?  When Kate saw the signs about road being closed in the winter she immediately questioned it.  I summarized it couldn't be any worse than the Hemlock Bridge road that is dirt and closed in the winter.

We determined the reason the road is closed is because of the steep elevation climb when you are going North on it, and of course steep decline South.  That as no one lives on that stretch it's not worth plowing it.  Incidentally the road it paved enough for two car widths with little to no shoulder at times and its a beautiful drive.

There are several hiking trails along the road and it features the best Welcome to Maine sign I have ever seen!

We reached the top of Evan's Notch which has an elevation of 1,458 feet.  Apparently water from there flows south to the Saco River and north to the Androscoggin River.  There is also a grave marker or a memorial for Errold O Donohue who was a World War 1 veteran who died in 1963.

I can't find anything online as to why this marker is here, I do find it odd though being a National Forest that it is there.

Leaving the notch we continued north towards Gilead.  Along the way Kate spied a footbridge that we turn around and visited.  Spanning the Wild River from what I can find there was a previous suspension bridge located at this site.

Wesley took great joy running back and forth on it while Kate and I kept bringing him rocks that he could throw into the water below, something he takes great joy in.

Once we hit Route 2 in Gilead he headed into New Hampshire for lunch at Mountain Fire Pizza in Gorham.  Kate had found this place on a list naming it the best pizza in New Hampshire and while it was delicious I couldn't rank it the best, that would be La Festa Pizza in Dover.

As I said though, lunch was quite good.  We each got a small pizza, my standard pepperoni and she a Margherita. We also split an appetizer with french fries and scratch made mozzarella bites, they were excellent and the marinara sauce that came with them was also fantastic.

After lunch we headed back to Maine taking route 35 south once we hit Bethel.  We stopped briefly in Lynchville to take a picture of the famous Maine sign naming towns with names of foreign countries and their distance from there.  This sign has been on postcards for years.  There is another on like it in China and another about twelve miles down the road in Norway.

Whoever owns the land next to the sign has decorated their yard with all kinds lawn ornaments and carvings, including a six foot tall Sasquatch!

Driving on route 118 to Norway we came upon Lake Pennesseewassee Park where we stopped as they sign showed swimming was available.  I'm glad we stopped because they had a really nice little sand beach and the water beautiful.  Wesley spent a good 35 minutes in the water, Kate and I waded in up to our calves.

Had the beach not been kid friendly they did have a two large areas withe playground equipment he could have used.  He certainly appreciated being able to get out of the van and run around.

As I wrote earlier there was a sign similar to the one in Lynchville in Norway in the parking lot of The Lake Store.  I went inside to grab a soda and I'm sure glad I did!  The store is decorated all over with old signs, thermometers, tin cans, serving trays, and more.  It's amazing!  I snagged a lot of pictures. So glad I stopped in!

I attempted to find a bakery, Kate and I like to get a sweet treat on these trips and Wesley always likes a cookie!  The two in the Norway area that I found were both closed, as a matter of fact a lot of stores were closed on Monday once we started looking.

I did find her a bakery but not until we got to Lewiston and Grants Bakery.  I didn't know until after we left that she had never been there before.  She got a chocolate and peanut butter roll slice, Wesley an M&M cookie, and I got myself the Whoopie Pie of the month, Lemon cake with lemon filling!

This was one of our shorter drives at just over 225 miles, but it was a wicked fun day!  Not sure what's next for a day trip for us, however we are going camping in a couple weeks up in Calais for three nights with the kids!  We can't wait!

Later Readers!

Northern New Hampshire Getaway

Sunday May 20th found us with a day free to do what we wanted, and what we wanted was to go on a day trip adventure.  I don't have another weekend off for six weeks, so we have to take advantage of them when we can.

A few months back doing some random research I put together a nice little trip exploring Northern New Hampshire and was anxious to do it.  With a forecast of beautiful weather it seemed the perfect time to hit the road.

We were not in a rush Sunday morning but hit the road just after eight am taking our favorite drive to Gorham, New Hampshire.  In the past we had always taken Route 16 south or Route 2 out of Gorham so to us Gorham is the small idyllic mountain town.  However, when you take Route 16 north you find it's not quite that way with a huge 5 lane road, Wal-Mart and other box stores.

I don't recall ever traveling through Berlin before but it's quite a large city with active paper mills, hydro power plant, and more.  Everything north of Berlin are very small towns and communities with basically no cell service.

First stop was in the small town of Stark and the Stank Covered Bridge.  Spanning 151 feet over the Upper Ammonoosuc River this one lane bridge was built in 1862.

This bridge is unique to us as it is the first one we have seen with a pedestrian walkway on both sides of the bridge. Behind the bridge is a 750 foot cliff face called The Devil's Slide.

Next up was the Groveton Covered Bridge in Northumberland.  Built in 1852 and spanning 126 feet over the Ammonoosuc River the bridge is closed to vehicle traffic.

This is Wesley's favorite type of covered bridge to visit because he can run across it uninhibited which he truly enjoys.

Also located on the grounds is a old train engine and caboose.

Our next stop was the Columbia Covered Bridge, built in 1910 - 1911 it spans 146 feet over the Connecticut River which connects Columbia, New Hampshire and Lemington, Vermont.  I was the only one to get out of the vehicle at this one, there was really no place to park for Wesley to run around so it didn't make sense.

We stayed on the Vermont side of the river for a few miles before returning to New Hampshire in the town of Colebrook.  We were going to go to this french bakery I found, but it's closed on Sundays.  After driving around a bit we found a place to eat our lunch on the lawn of Colebrook Academy.  Even though there were picnic tables to sit at, we spread the blanket on the ground and dug in to our feast of bologna sandwiches, watermelons, and cherry's.

After lunch we continued out journey north on Route 3 to Stewartstown and a 45th parallel marker.  We had seen one previously on our Honeymoon in Perry.

The Pittsburg-Clarksville Covered Bridge, also known as the Bacon Bridge, was built in 1876 spanning 88 1/2 feet over the Connecticut River connecting the towns of Pittsburg and Clarksville.  This bridge is closed to vehicles and in-fact one side of the bridge is gated off and grass has covered whatever road there may have been.

The Connecticut river flowing under the bridge is beautiful with elevation drops and rapids.

Following the directions the directions Google gave me we next traveled to the River Road Covered Bridge in Pittsburg.  It told us to take Cardinal Dr to the Philbrook Rd, not the sketchiest roads we've ever taken Vanna on but I was not a fan of Philbrook Rd, or the idea of climbing back up the steep rutted road.  I asked a man mowing his lawn just down from the bridge and he instructed me just to drive 1 mile down the River Rd and we'll come out on Route 3.

Built in 1858 and spanning 50 1 /2 feet over Perry Stream it is the smallest covered bridge I have ever visited.  It is closed to traffic, a replacement bridge deck was built next to it.  The bridge decking was soft with loose boards, it needs some care.

The final covered of the day that we visited was also in Pittsburg.  Built in 1869 the Happy Corner Covered Bridge spans 60 1/2 feet over Perry Stream and is open to vehicle traffic.  Only I exited the vehicle to take some photos, again this bridge was not in an ideal spot to let the boy roam.

The last planned stop on the day was Beaver Brook Falls Wayside on route 145 in Colebrook.  You pull into the parking area and it is right there in front of you, I mean technically you don't even need to leave your vehicle to enjoy it.

But if you want to there is nice trail going across a wooden foot bridge that leads you to the base of the falls.  There is also a trail leading up the side of the falls to the top, had we not had Wesley we would have made the hike up.

Wesley enjoyed the falls, especially throwing rocks into the water.

Our journey home we took Route 26 through Dixville Notch State Park, New Hampshire and Grafton Notch State Park, Maine before landing in Bethel where he had dinner at the Crossroads Diner.  We had eaten here twice before coming home from Santa's Village and we had burgers, which were delicious.

Along the way in Dixville Notch we passed this beautiful giant building that is The Balsams Resort which I have since learned closed in 2011.  It had opened originally in just after the Civil War and became the structure we see today in 1918 with over 400 guest rooms and over 16 ski trails occupying over 11,000 acres.

Wesley was such a good boy all day, napping in the morning and enjoying his tablet on the ride home, of course falling asleep 10 minutes from the house.

I total we spent just over 11 hours on the road driving 340 miles.  It was a great day!

Later Readers!