Day 15 - North Conway, White Mountains

We are in a townhouse which has a common wall with a neighbour.  Our bedroom is next to their main bedroom and they have a baby.  Steve was woken at 3:45am and then we both woke for the day (with the baby) at 5:47am.  Julian slept until 7:15am.  I am not going to make any further comment.

As we didn't have water (and therefore no showers), we were all up very quickly and had a good laze around before leaving the house at 9am.  There is another LL Bean outlet store here (even though this is really a small town) so we went there to find some waterproof overpants for Julian. There was so much stuff in this store but nothing we needed/wanted.

Our plan was to drive 30mins to a short walk at Crawford Notch which is in the White Moutain Forest Park.  Julian decided to take a napjust before we arrived so we changed our plans.

We drove further into the Park around to Franconia which was about when Julian woke.  They had an old iron smelter there so we looked at that and then had a short explore along the river.

We had lunch here in a small cafe which was excellent - no photo as we were too hungry.  We then took the scenic route back to another walk that I had found which was to Ripley Falls.  It was only a 2mile return trip (3.2km) so we thought Julian could handle a large part of it.  We hadn't figured the terrain into our calculations, but Julian was determined and walked a large chunk of the way there.  He didn't mind (too much) being carried most of the return journey.

 Nice part of the track.  Julian is sporting his new jacket.

Not so nice!

And this was what we were walking to.  It was pretty spectacular with LOTS of water!

We had to cross an operational railway line with minimal warning  (It reminded me of the movie Stand By Me.).  This shot is of the boys looking back up the river and it shows that it was sunny and not raining!!!

We then drove home (and it started to rain as forecast).  This waterfall was on the side of the road - and no I have not increased the green saturation.  It really was that green.  I can imagine how awesome this would look in Autumn when the leaves are changing.

Julian was trying hard not to fall asleep in the car and Steve managed to put him down when we got home.  As I type, we are enjoying a couple of the local brews, both Pale Ales, whilst Julian sleeps.  I really wish Australia would relax the tax laws to allow micro breweries to be viable!


Later:
Julian had a good rest and was ready for dinner when he woke.  After he ate we headed back to the Moat Mountain brewery for dinner.  It has a long walk up the side of a verandah and before we reached the door one of the waitresses had already come out to meet us.  Julian had charmed their socks off the night before and the woman was thrilled to see him again.  For dinner, Steve had the Hickory crusted pork (with mashed potato and pumpkin) and I had the Texas Brisket (on white toast bread with mashed potato and coleslaw).  No idea what happened to the photo of it!  Once again the meals were massive and very tasty.

We went home and bathed Julian (he was happy about this too) and then put him to bed.  I now braved driving on the right side of the road for the first time.  There was another outlet mall here, called Settlers Village, so I went there for some quality shopping BY MYSELF.  It is way too hurried with Steve and Julian in Tow.

The plan was to go for me only, but the first shop I saw was Osh Kosh.
Osh Kosh - Kids gear, bought a reversible jacket and shoes for Julian - 70% off the jacket!
Banana Republic - nearly the same stock as I saw at Clinton Crossing, so didn't buy anything;
Coach - handbags, wallets - excellent prices but didn't have a wallet that I liked and I definitely don't need another handbag;
Carters (recommended by Ali) - Childrens clothes, 40% store wide minimum, bought longsleeve tops for Julian for $4each!
Gap - bought a hoodie for Julian, Long and lean jeans for me - in AU$130, in US stores $70, at US Gap outlets $45 but on sale so got them for $31!
Old Navy - 3 long sleeve shirts for $17.50 each - can't make them for that!

I am so sick of shopping!  This was definitely the last shop especially since the bags are full!  The outlet prices are so much better than anything in Australia and the fit (for me) is perfect.  Also it will be many years before I am back (not like Steve) so I have definitely made the most of it.

Day 14 - North Conway, New Hampshire

A 6:30am start with a happy little boy- yay!  We tidied up and made the most of the washer and dryer before we handed the keys back at 9:30am.  We really enjoyed staying here, shame it is so far away.

As we were leaving Woods Hole the weather packed in big time and it rained and rained.  We managed to find the LL Bean outlet at Wareham and thankfully they had a jacket in Julians size.  He has grown out of all of his old ones and we needed one desperately.

Then we drove to Plymouth.  The plan was to walk around the Mayflower replica, the Pilgrim museum and have a look at the Mayflower Society house.  Unfortunately it was blowing a gale, freezing cold and the rain was coming in sideways.  Also Julian dropped off to sleep just as we arrived - our singing couldn't keep him awake any longer.

We decided on Whoppers from Burger King and ate them in the car on the foreshore.  This was the view out the windscreen:

Then we set Jane (GPS) up to take us to our rental in New Hampshire.  For some reason she decided on taking us via Maine, adding 2hours to our trip.  Thankfully we were on to her and caught the error before it was too late.  There was a lot of cursing to be had.  The correct route took us through Boston which wasn't too bad traffic wise.

 Still crap weather as you can see.

That is Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox) on the right.

We stopped for a pit stop in Portsmouth at the Dunkin Donuts.  Fair to say, we wont be eating their donuts again as they seem to always be dry.  The hot chocolate (we have given up on their coffee) tasted like marshmallows even though there weren't any in there!

Then it was the last 130km to North Conway where were are staying for the next two nights.  Still raining.  There were a couple of pretty lakes on the drive but I think the rain obscured the greater vista.

For some reason Jane (GPS) couldn't find the road we are staying on, which added another 30mins whilst we sat in the McDonalds carpark googling the address!  When we arrived, we turned the heating on (12degC outside), set up the cot, feed Julian and headed out much to his dismay.

I had found a local hotel which brewed it own beer in North Conway, so we went there for dinner (Moat Mountain Brewery: http://moatmountain.com/).  Steve had a Pulled Pork burger with fries and I had Carolina Pulled Pork (slow cooked pork with a spicy sauce all on a slice of cinnamon raisin toast served with garlic mashed potato and coleslaw). 

 No idea why Steve was pulling the face - perhaps he was worried about the beers.  I had a Pale Ale and Steve had a Brown Ale and a Belgian triple.  It was so good, we have decided to go back!

We once again needed milk, bread and beer so we went to Hannafords, the local supermarket.  Nothing too exciting there except it was raining and we got drenched getting Julian in/out of the car.

And then when we got home we found that we couldn't get any water in the bath/shower so Julian missed out on a bath.  He wasn't interested either and was fast asleep in minutes!

Finally, here is a little house at the end of our street.

Day 13 - Woods Hole, Falmouth

Julian slept for just over 3hours!  Steve had a good rest too - he has done a lot of driving the past few days.

After Julian woke up he was hungry and he refused an apple in preference for a banana!!

Anyway, we did head up to Falmouth to have a walk around.  First stop however was the drivethru Dunkin Donuts for afternoon tea - we didn't do the drivethru as we didn't know what to get.  In the end I went in and bought a jelly donut and glazed donut each.  I had to have a coffee with my donut, so I bought them also.

We then drove back to a park in the centre of Falmouth to eat them.

 Sorry to say the coffee wasn't too good.  The donuts were much better.  The jelly donut, would you believe, is much less sweet than the Aussie equivalent, jam donut.

This is the boys looking at the flags on the memorials to fallen soldiers from Cape Cod.

We then walked down the main drag to the fancy white houses which surround Falmouth Common.

As we have a long day tomorrow, we needed to stock up on supplies so we once again headed to the Stop and Shop, then it was back home to feed Julian.  Yesterday he refused most food and today he ate nearly 2 days worth!  Damn hard to plan when he is like this.  He has also started eating Blueberries again.

We didn't feel like eating in and the weather was cool but not raining, so we drove to Woods Hole for dinner.  Tonight we chose Captain Kidds which was an old style pub with pub food.  Steve chose the baked seafood and I chose the fried seafood.  They both were ok, nothing special.

 We chose a different road home and came past the Nobska Lighthouse (still in operation).

It is now 8:20pm and Julian went to bed without a fight, again.  We are just about to tuck into these icecreams:

Tomorrow we are heading up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire which is around 4hours driving.  We are going to break it up by stopping in Plymouth.

Day 13 - Woods Hole

We are starting to get used to the early starts - 6am today - but we are still tired from yesterday.  I am writing this whilst Steve and Julian have a midday nap :)

The weather was cloudy this morning but no rain thankfully, so we all walked down our street to try and find the beach.  These are some of the houses on our little street:

It was a little bit of a walk and we had to do a bit of bush bashing and asking the locals but we did get to a beach.  I just had a look at google maps and if we had turned left and not right, we would have saved ourselves a 2km walk!  Julian was very excited to see the water and wanted to drive straight in.  We managed to get his clothes off first!

 Steve said the water was cold to begin with but you got used to it.  Julian obviously doesn't feel the cold - it probably was around 18degC ambient and there was no wind.

This house was next to the beach where we were but they had a private beach - no Queen's chain here.

And a final nudie shot for you :)

Katrina and Greg in the distance.

Julian was also determined to walk home and he made a good go of it but we forced him back into the stroller when we got the road.  After our walk, it was time for Katrina and Greg to leave - they had a 6/7 hour drive to Montreal ahead of them. 

We all then had lunch at home and everyone has been having chill time/nap time since then. 

The sun is out now and we have blue skies once again, so we will be driving the 5km to Falmouth to walk around there once everyone is up.

***NOTE - I have added in some of Steve's photos into our Martha's Vineyard day.***

Day 12 - Woods Hole, Provincetown

Our bedroom has a couple of high windows which don't have curtains and we think this is why Julian is waking early. Thankfully today he played in his cot until 6:10am, so it was semi-bareable :)  It was already raining outside, as forecast, so we didn't hurry to get out of bed.

At breakfast Julian noticed Steve had a banana and wanted it.  This is not unusual, however this time instead of screwing his nose up in disgust when he tried to bite it, he ate some.  He ended up eating 1/2 the banana.  He has never liked banana, so maybe this is a turning point!  Not too much as we don't want to block him up again.

We were very pleased to have been to Martha's Vineyard yesterday which meant today we could do the drive up to Provincetown in the rain. First we stopped in Falmouth (5km up the road) Vistors Centre and asked what wet weather activities could be had in the area.  The lady suggested taking the scenic route to Chatham before heading up the highway to Provincetown.  We did as advised and there was nothing scenic about the drive, unless you consider abandoned motels and restaurants scenic - maybe "scenic" means something different over here?

Chatham was a nice little town and it has a lighthouse which we went to look at. Julian and I stayed in the car as it was REALLY windy and spitting with rain.  These are Steve's photos:

The Chatham Lighthouse

Looking out to the Atlantic ocean - it looks blurry because of the bad weather.

We only stayed in Chatham for lunch - Clam Chowder and sandwiches - before heading north up the main road to Provincetown.  Provincetown is the place where the Pilgrims first landed in mainland USA. They only stayed a month before moving onto Plymouth (just south of Boston).  It was a small town which reminded me a lot of Akaroa but the houses were all the same and the roads narrower.  There was no parking in town, so we drove up the rise to the Pilgrims monument.

 It is something like 100m tall.

 

This is looking down the stairwell 

Julian looking up at the monument.  It was so windy up there that he was getting blown backwards!  He thought it was great fun, most of the time.

We walked up the many stairs and there was a spectacular view when we got to the top.

 

Unfortunately because we took the "scenic" route, we didn't have much time to spend in Provincetown.  It looked very pretty and had many art galleries to explore.  It would have been magnificent in better weather.

So we drove back to Woods Hole to give Julian a late-ish dinner, which he wasn't interested in.  Katrina and Greg kindly went out in the rain to get Indian take-out for our dinner.  Julian had a spoonful of rice and butter chicken and then gave up eating for the night.

Tomorrow is meant to be nicer weather, so we are going to walk down our street to the beach in the morning with Katrina and Greg.  Then once they have left for Montreal, we will go to Falmouth for a proper look around.  Julian deserves a day out of carseats and strollers!

Day 11 - Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard

We woke to a lovely day and we all had a wonderful sleep-in (to 7am, thank you Julian).  Because of the lovely day, I thought I should take some photos of the rental to give you an idea what a beautiful place this is.

 This is the view from the lounge of our rental.

This is from outside, looking at the lounge on the left and entry foyer on the right.

Katrina and Greg were coming later in the morning, so we did a bit of shopping at the local Stop and Shop to get ingredients to cook up some dinners for Julian, before they arrived.

When they arrived, we decided to head straight out to the ferry for Martha's Vineyard to make the most of the beautiful day.  Unfortunately whilst looking for somewhere to park, we missed the boat so we had lunch in Woods Hole.

Then we caught the 1:15pm ferry to Vineyard Haven which was a 45minute journey. 

Then we caught the bus to Edgartown

Lots of white weatherboard houses and trees dripping with green leaves.
 
Then it was another bus trip, this time to Oaks Bluffs. 

 

We had a walk around the town and then we caught the 6:15pm ferry home.  The wind had picked up and the temperture had plummeted - why did I wear shorts?

Katrina and Greg went out to get dinner whilst Steve and I put Julian to bed, so we had local pizza which was really good.

It is getting late and we are very tired, hence the short post.  Tomorrow the plan is to head up to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod.  The weather forecast is for rain and thunderstorms...