Leaf Peeping in New Hampshire

It was an easy and short (less than two hours) drive from Freeport, Maine to our next destination, North Conway, New Hampshire.  The drive was made even better by the fact that it was all on two lane country roads.  This gave us time to relax and enjoy the scenery.

North Conway is a village in Carroll County, New Hampshire.  It is a year-round resort area.  The White Mountain Forrest is to the west and north.  There are lakes, rivers, trails, golf courses, ski areas and plenty more to keep you busy for a long time.  We had two nights booked for North Conway and thanks to Beth's expert planning and a very helpful front desk employee at our hotel, I think we made very good use of our time.

North Conway, New Hampshire

Within minutes of checking into the hotel, we were back in the car, heading out to explore the area.  There are numerous covered bridges in the North Conway area.  Our friend from the hotel suggested heading for the small village of Jackson, which was about 15 miles away.  There was a really nice, covered bridge spanning the Ellis River.  As an added bonus, just a couple of miles upriver from the bridge was Jackson Falls, which is definitely worth checking out.  We finished the day with a really nice meal at the Red Fox Bar and Grille.

The Jackson covered bridge was built in 1876.  It is also known as "Honeymoon Bridge".

Perpetual Honeymooner on the Honeymoon Bridge

The Ellis River

Ellis Falls

Red Fox Bar and Grille

Our second day in North Conway started with a very adventurous drive into the clouds.  The 36-mile drive from North Conway to the entrance of the Mount Washington Auto Road was peaceful and incredibly beautiful.  The 7.6 mile journey from the entrance of the auto road to the summit of the mountain was a little more harrowing.  The narrow, winding road climbs over 4,000 feet.  The average grade of the road is 12%, with some extended sections around 18% and finishes with the last 50 yards at a 22% grade.  Oh yeah, and there are no guardrails!  

Into the clouds!  Beth did the drive up and I did the drive down.

We made it! So did the fog and clouds.

It wasn't quite this breezy during our visit.  There are weather monitors in the visitor's center.  The winds were blowing around 30 mph during our visit.  This made the "feels like" temperature around 30 degrees.  The road does close often due to weather.  You can check the website for current conditions.

Mount Washington-Drive Yourself

If you don't feel like driving up the mountain there is another option.  There is a cog railroad that operates from the base to the summit.  Beth, her mom and two sisters did the cog railroad some years back and enjoyed it.

After safely making it back down from the summit we enjoyed a very colorful afternoon.

This was a trailhead between Mount Washington and North Conway that was actually part of the Appalachian Trail

We finished our day with a round of miniature golf at the course adjacent to our hotel...........a little more laid back than the morning adventure up Mount Washington! 

After our second night in North Conway, we loaded up the rental car and pointed it towards Smugglers Notch which is near Stowe, Vermont.  However, we had one more New Hampshire adventure planned before we sang our way across the state line (we always sing when crossing from one state to another) into Vermont.

Our routing first took us on the 34.5 mile Kancamagus Scenic Byway (commonly known as "The Kanc".  It was a Saturday morning, but it seemed as if most of the leaf peepers were getting a late start, so it wasn't too crowded, and we enjoyed several stops along the way.

A few shots from along "The Kanc"

We stopped at Franconia Notch State Park for a gondola ride on the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway.  The tramway to the 4,080 summit of Cannon Mountain has been in operation since 1938.  Unlike the clouds and fog we had at the top of Mount Washington we had a beautiful clear day, which made for great views on the way up, at the summit and on the way down.

It was about a ten-minute ride up and down

Going up.....

at the top or on the way down, the views were great!

Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway

Leaf Peeping in Maine!

 

We kicked off our leaf peeping in Maine.  The day was warm, wet and colorful!

It is believed that the term "Leaf Peeping" originated in a Vermont newspaper back in 1965 to describe the emergence of fall foliage tourism.  One thing I know is that you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who enjoys the fall leaf colors more than Beth.  While I may not be quite as passionate, I'll have to admit that I enjoy them as well.  Some of our favorite fall trips in the past have included the upper peninsula of Michigan and in various parts of Colorado.  Our fall leaf peeping this year was in the northeast, which also gave us an added bonus of being able to spend some time with Ben.

One of the challenges when it comes to catching the peak colors is timing.  While the leaves are nice for several weeks, catching them at their peak takes a little planning and a whole lot of luck.  We had the luxury of being able to spend a little over three weeks and the ability to move around a bit in our quest for color.  We were a little early in some places, a little late in some, but for the most part we were grateful to be able to catch the peak color in many locations.

We flew out the evening of September 24 after Beth's mom's birthday celebration, with visions of color dancing in our heads.  Our flight took us to Portland, Maine by way of Baltimore.  It was getting close to midnight when we arrived, so we spent the night at an airport motel.

While we only spent one night in Maine, we enjoyed starting the adventure there.   We spent a good bit of our first day there and got our first glimpse of what was to come as we made our way around the Portland/Freeport section of Maine.

The drive gave us our first glimpse at what was to come.

Our first stop was in Freeport, which is the home of a company founded by Leon Leonwood Bean back in 1912.  You may not recognize the full name of the company's founder, but you're probably familiar with the company, LL Bean.  There is a huge complex known as the Flagship Store.  It is actually composed of several buildings (over 200,000 square feet) featuring various merchandise which extends well beyond outdoor wear and gear.  The main store is currently being remodeled but it was still fun looking around.  Cool stuff and they sure think highly of their products! 

LL Bean Flagship Store 

Before leaving Maine, we made a couple of stops for some essentials.  Chocolates and Pizza!

Dark Chocolate Peanuts and Chocolate Covered Blueberries!  Afterall, aren't Dark Chocolate and Blueberries "good for you"?

Great Pizza and Cider!  We enjoyed the Sausage and Calabrian Chile pizza.  It certainly had some kick to it! 

Maine Beer Company

Alaska-Back to Back to Back cruises on the Norwegian Jade

 

The Alaska Eight!

It would be an understatement to say we're fond of Alaska.  We've enjoyed seeing it on cruises and by land more times than we can recall.  We even enjoyed spending time there during the winter (actually it was March) a few years back. 

Earlier this summer we were talking and agreed that it didn't look like we would be going to Alaska this year.  Well.........things can change quickly, especially when the deals get just too good to turn down.  That's exactly what happened!  One day when Beth was scouring the Vacations to Go (her website of choice for cruise deals), she discovered that Norwegian was offering 7-day Alaska cruises at deals that were just too good to turn down.  What made them even more appealing was that we were already going to be on the west coast.  The next thing we knew we were booked on not one, not two but three back-to-back Alaskan cruises on the Norwegian Jade.  It was exciting to know we would actually be going to Alaska in 2025, and then it got even better!

We began spreading the word to some of Beth's family.  Debbie (Beth's sister) was the first to join us.  Shortly thereafter Cindy (Beth's other sister) decided to join us.  In January we had enjoyed cruising the Panama Canal with Beth's cousin Brian and his wife M'liss.  They were now on board.  Finally, Beth's cousin Shelly (Brian's sister) and her husband Kenny committed.  We now had a group of eight for an Alaskan adventure.  

Debbie was with us for all three cruises, Cindy, Shelly and Kenny were with us for the first two cruises.  Brian and M'liss spent some time on land, as well as checking off a few "bucket list" fishing adventures for Halibut and Salmon before joining us for the middle cruise.  Don't worry, there is no quiz at the end on who went, how they were related or for how many cruises they were with us.

Normally our travels are by ourselves.  It was a real treat to be joined by family, some of who were visiting Alaska for the first time.  We were excited for them to see and experience the Alaska that we have fallen in love with over the years. The cruise itineraries for the three cruises were somewhat similar, but each cruise had some unique things that made all three extra special.

I've blogged about most of the places we've visited previously, so for this blog I'm going to focus more on a few of the family adventures......and what great adventures they were!

Cruise Itineraries:

August 25-September 1      Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Hubbard                                                         Glacier

September 1-8                    Whittier, Hubbard Glacier, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan,                                                Inside Passage, Vancouver

September 8-16                   Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Victoria British Columbia, Seattle

Ketchikan-August 27. 

Me, Beth, Debbie, Cindy, Shelly and Kenny on bear patrol!

A mom and two cubs were looking for salmon in the stream.

Debbie and Shelly at the beach after the bear hunt.

Skagway-August 29

Debbie, Shelly and Kenny did some exploring on their own.  Beth, Cindy and I opted for an adventure that took us out of Skagway for a float (not white water) trip down the glacial river.

Designer boots were included in the price

One of the many days of our three-week adventure where it was "shorts weather"

Whittier-September 1

The first week cruise ended in Whittier.  Shelly was so excited about seeing her brother (Brian) and sister-in-law M'liss that she put on her best set of antlers!

The Whittier Marina

We did a great boat tour from Whittier that got us up close to 26 glaciers.

Phillips Cruises 26 Glacier Tour (Highly Recommend)

Raise your hand if you see a glacier!

Cindy with a chunk of Glacier Ice.  It (the ice, not Cindy) is estimated to be around 400 years old

A sneak peek at Shelly and Kenny's 2025 Christmas Card Photo???

Icy Strait Point-September 3

We arrived at sunrise....................

didn't depart until sunset..........

and had a whale of a good day!

Juneau-September 4

While visiting Juneau we booked a tour that took us to Mendenhall Glacier and then whale watching.  

The Alaska Eight at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center

Searching for Humpback Whales.....

We found sea lions that kept us entertained jockeying for a place to rest on the channel marker.

We were also fortunate enough to be close to a Humpback Whale who decided to put on a little show for us.

Skagway-September 5

We booked a full day private excursion that took us from Skagway to Canada's Yukon Territory.  

Our guide knew where there was a blueberry patch along the drive.  Most of the blueberries had been picked by a combination of other tourists and bears, but we did manage to find a few, while we also kept a watchful eye out for bears.

We traveled near the gold rush trail that brought thousands of prospectors to Alaska from 1894-1906.  They didn't have the good fortune of having the Yukon Swinging Bridge to help them across.  That's Debbie making her way across the bridge.

The early version of the Canadian Mounties tried to maintain law, order and safety during the gold rush.  Can you spot the real Mounties and the wanna be's?  I think Brian (back row, far right) wins the prize for looking most like a real Mountie.  

We traveled as far north as Carcross.  This is Emerald Lake which is located near Carcross.

We made a brief stop at a "beach" on the way back to Skagway.

The Alaska Eight in a formal picture as cruise #2 came to an end.

The second cruise ended in Vancouver.  We said good bye to Cindy, Brian, M'liss, Kenny and Shelly.  Beth and I did a little walking around with Kenny and Shelly before we rejoined Debbie on the Norwegian Jade for cruise #3.

Cruise 3

Our third cruise was a little more laid back, although we had another great week.  We all enjoyed the Great Alaska Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan........ 

and sharing a Klondike Doughboy in Skagway.  We're very grateful that we were able to make it to Alaska in 2025. It's a magical place, especially when you can share the adventure with family!

The third cruise ended in Seattle.  Beth, Debbie and I flew back to Florida for a very special occasion.  On September 24 Beth's mom (NaNa) turned 97!  About ten years ago I started telling her that when she turned 100 I was going to take her skydiving................I'm starting to get a little nervous about making that commitment!

The Birthday Girl with her children!

There was plenty of cake, ice cream and a whole lot of singing!