Fort #4 was the Northwestern most holding in the British empire in the early 1700’s. It was a ‘civilian fort’, which meant that 10 families paid for a charter to Massachusetts to build their homes 30 miles from the nearest settlement. They chose to build them with touching walls, in a square. They also dug a 4 foot trench around the buildings and buried posts to protect them from being attacked. They were attacked repeatedly, by Native Americans, as well as the French, their crops (outside the fort) were burned repeatedly, their men were taken hostage and/or killed, and flaming arrows were shot in, setting the homes on fire. Some of the families had 12 children, which I can’t even imagine. When state lines were re-drawn, the families had to re-pay their charter to the new state, New Hampshire. There were very few people there when we were, and the volunteers who re-enacted life at the time were amazing, spending a lot of time with us and giving detailed descriptions of how they made cloth from flax and talking about how politics played a role in these people’s lives. Also, an announcement from Ash and some face time pics.

• 

• 

Our 26th anniversary was celebrated at Hampton Beach with fireworks and a Rodney Atkins concert. We got a bike trailer for Nickel so that we could go riding without leaving her behind. She got used to the idea after she figured out that we would still let her out to run. So, she runs for a while, then rides when she gets tired, it’s been great. We were able to go on a couple different trails so far. And, we went tent camping for the first time in a LONG time! Tent sites are easier to find and we don’t always want to pull the house into a park that we haven’t been to before, so we don’t always know if we’ll fit or not. We wanted to do this last summer, but never got the gear, so we’re going to start going more now, starting off at Silver Lake. Of course, adding some pics of the kids. I’ve heard that this format (no collage) makes the pics easier to see, so I’ll start doing that more.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We met the Ramsays for a trip up Mt. Washington, the highest peak east of the Mississippi. We were able to take the cog train for the ride and watch the Ramsays as they put together video and pictures for one of their upcoming videos. The top was very cold, windy and cloudy, so we didn’t get much of a view, but it was really cool to see the museum and all the history that’s happened up there. The Appalachian Trail crosses the tracks in a couple places and there are cairns all over the place as there is often heavy fog. Upon advice of a fellow work camper, we at at the Red Arrown in Manchester, NH and Jim happened to be given a seat previously occupied by Hillary Clinton. After several more days of rain, we got a break on the 4th, so we hiked in Winslow State Park in NH, to the top of Mt. Kearsarge. And… a pic of the kid eating M&Ms with both hands. 🙂

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

In the spirit of finding new things, I found Diet Birch soda water – I believe the flavoring is from Birch tree sap, but I haven’t tried it yet. Then, our friends Gordon and Alice of Roaming with the Ramseys and Nickel’s nemesis, Skye showed up for a couple days as they are passing through for a North Eastern summer of their own. We were able to see The Flume and where the Old Man of the Mountain once stood with them. At the Man of the Mountain – there are metal outlines of what he used to look like and where, based on your height, which was marked in the cement. Was an awesome day catching up and seeing some gorgeous scenery. Jim and I also visited Portland, ME, walked around a lighthouse and got some lobster from a food truck. Then, while checking out a state park beach nearby, found a guy who catches and sells lobster commercially and also sells it to the public. Super nice guy and he even steamed it for us. We also got to spend some quality time under the camper, we had to fix the valve on the black tank (more than once….there’s a learning curve), so we also replaced the insulation and met some of our arachnid neighbors up close. I’ve heard that you can’t make the pics larger, so I’m trying a different format for part of this, please let me know if you like it better.

We headed to Vermont to hike the Quechee Gorge (pronounced Kee-chee). It was a very easy couple of miles on a well maintained, flat path. We also went into Woodstock, VT, a beautiful town with some historical sites surrounding Calvin Coolidge and an 1800s dairy farm that is still active. We’re going to go back to see the farm so that we can go on the tours without leaving Nickel in the truck. We stopped at a little graveyard and were able to see graves of 10 Revolutionary War soldiers. Then we headed to Sugarbush Farm, a small family farm that taps ~10k trees a year and makes their own pure maple syrup. They have cows that contribute milk to a co-op that makes cheese that they bring back and smoke and sell onsite. They offer samples of everything they sell (very smart move) and you can walk the grounds and see their syrup making room. They’ve definitely ruined us for fake syrup going forward, they offer 4 grades all of which, in addition to the cheeses and jam was delicious.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We did about 3 miles of a trail near Lake Sunapee and drove around the lake a bit. Got some pics of the chickens on the farm – there are two roosters who each have 6 hens. Cracker, the all white rooster, crows all day and LOVES strawberries. The g-kid and parents went to San Diego, where they celebrated birthday #2 with her cousin, Diego, who is about a week older than her. Time flies. B’s BF made it back from his vacay, and I had a good food week. Jim’s not a seafood fan, but he suffered through it so I could enjoy lobster, grilled fresh fish tacos and stuff clams.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

During our first week of settling in, we found a nearby trail and our first covered bridge. After receiving many recommendations, we visited Sanctuary Ice Cream for some local creations. Naturally, our first weekend in the new place saw a temperature drop and 3 days of clouds and rain. We headed north to escape the rain and were able to see Montpelier and Lake Champlain. The pictures don’t do Lake Champlain justice. It’s beautiful, a huge lake ringed with tree covered mountains, I hope we get to go back and spend more time there. We then headed to the scenic ocean route to see New Hampshire’s 22 miles of coastline and stopped for a much anticipated lobstah lunch. Part of the fun of a new place is finding new foods, so far nothing crazy except for “fiddleheads”, which we haven’t tried yet.

Jim accepted a Workamping position in New Hampshire for the summer, so we headed East. We stopped in Tennessee to see my sister and also got to see Jim’s sister and bro-in-law in Nashville, as they were passing through on their own trip. Then on to Erie, PA for some history and hiking. Erie played a huge role in the War of 1812, which was really amazing to learn about. Also, there are fish and frog statues scattered through out the city, some artists’ idea to pull in tourism….though the barbed wire around the community pool was surprising. Then on to some excellent pizza and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Ticketed times to enter gave us enjoyable, uncrowded, chill time to be able to see the history there, the Cards were well represented 🙂 We made it to NH and are preparing to see the sites and states in the area.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Jim finished the walls and ceiling, had the A/C installed, and burned the windowsills and bathroom door. We stayed in the shed for a couple nights while the camper was being worked on, I got a pic of how a “certified signed for delivery” package is delivered when you’re rural, and a turkey found the bird seed. Jim also installed the cabinets, built the half wall for coat hangers, and had the countertops installed before we left.

Jim went to visit his family while I stayed to receive some shipments needed to complete the shed build. Britt went down and Jim was able to help Brittany buy her first car on her own! At the property, we had a week of sub zero temps with about 10 inches of snow, the well stopped working and I relied on bottled water and the neighbors’ kindness to let me shower 🙂 Nickel and I stayed warm (though Nickel was VERY bored) and enjoyed the peace of the snow covered property. Jim came back and we drove out to Utah to settle his dad in an assisted living facility until he could get his strength back. A couple days before he was to move in, Boyd passed away. Ashleigh, Mathilda, and Britt were able to come out for the funeral. Mathilda was able to meet some cousins, and we were all able to spend some time together, though we missed having Chayse with us.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•