Wednesday, March 23, 2016

SNOW FALLS & THE WHITE MOUNTAINS

With the weather in the high 30s, the sun shining bright, and a wandering spirit, Tom and I welcomed spring in with a road trip north to S. Paris, Maine, west to Bethel, ME and south to North Conway, New Hampshire. (The directions may or may not be correct. Tom is traveling with a "directionally challenged" co-navigator, which should make for some interesting adventures...)


Our first stop was in S. Paris, Maine at Snow Falls. (You can read about the history of Snow Falls HERE.) After Tom removed part of a rattling appendage on the dash with no apparent usefulness, he lit the propane stove for the first time and made sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. I provided the bananas to go with them. Always there to help! Then we walked over a footbridge and along the wooded paths around the gorge.


Snow Falls is a roadside rest stop with 4 distinct cascades, the longest waterfall dropping 25 feet, and all fed by the Little Angroscoggin River. There is no admission fee and picnic table and grills are provided, but overnight parking is prohibited. Watch children carefully. 


We then continued north to Bethel, Maine, driving through mountain valleys and along rivers and streams, until we reached New Hampshire and headed south to North Conway. We found a spot to park the camper and spent a few hours meandering by foot downtown,


We first visited the Handcrafter's Barn, a 3 level barn filled with uniquely made wares. Have you ever been to a craft fair? Being a crocheter, I enjoyed looking at others' creative endeavors. There were beautiful wood cabinetry, knitted hats and scarves, hand-painted signs, stalls and stalls of Christmas ornaments, walls filled with photographs and paintings, jewelry, and even some metalworking.


With our bellies grumbling, we had a late-late lunch at Beef & Ski. The cheeseburgers and fries hit the spot! (Beef & Ski is known for their roast beef sandwiches though.) The service was quick and friendly, then we were back to exploring.


No visit to North Conway would be complete without stopping at Zeb's General Store for sweet treats! Chocolates, old penny candy, fudge, caramel popcorn, lollipops...We walked out with 2 chocolate-covered Oreos, 2 caramels, a handful of Mint Juleps, and a Rice Krispy treat with chocolate jimmies. (They have other stuff too - wonderfully fragrant homemade soaps, knick knacks, glassware, books, and clothing - but we didn't make it much past the candy counters...)


We walked along the bustling streets, looking into shops and snickering over the names of others. Eventually we ended up back at our campervan, hopped in and headed back home. Our first road trip in our new-to-us Roadtrek a wonderful success and thoughts of the next trip already popping up. Where to next?


Until next time...

4 comments:

  1. Enjoyed your post. We are from Methuen, Ma and go to No Conway all the time. We will be looking for a class b van soon and think it would be perfect for us. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! We've only had our Class B for about 6 weeks now, and weather has been too cold to winterize (as you know). So far? We're loving it! Sure, it's a bit cramped, but we don't take a lot of stuff with us. Rides great! But we'll know more as the season goes on and we camp overnight.

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  2. What a great trip! You saw so many great places. Thanks for sharing the photos, almost felt like I was there with you. That would have made the van pretty crowded lol.

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    1. Plenty of room! The camper van actually seats and sleeps 4! LOL

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