October passes by

Its been a rainy fall so far and I'm getting a little sick of it. Just when you think that the rain is gone, the next day it begins all over again. I don't know about everyone else but Im ready for snow anything is better than the rain at this point.

This past weekend Heather and I traveled up to the White Mountains in NH. It was a pleasant drive through the New England fall foliage. We stayed at a nice Bed and Breakfast called the Spruce Moose Lodge, nestled in the backwoods of North Conway. Not to far from my favorite store called Zebs. This general store is a must if your up in those parts full of gourmet dips, jams, and sauces. I only left with a bit of Bloody Mary mix. I have always liked going up north in the fall, the setting up there offers me a great sense of nostalgia. There is something about the small towns that are spread fairly far apart with the remans of the old railroads passing through that really make me feel like i've stepped back into the past. Its a great getaway from the city.

On friday we stopped in a small town called Bartlett for lunch at a small general store which seemed to be the only store for miles. When they say general they mean it, things like live bait in the same cooler as bottled coke and just one or two boxes of every product on the shelf, yet plenty of post cards that seemed quite dated. Fortunately we were hungry because our sandwiches were mostly cold cuts, mine for example contained what seemed like two cans of tuna and Heather had a full turkey on hers but they were tasty and we chose just the right place to eat them. We took our lunch a mile down rt 302 and parked roadside. We childishly walked over an old train bridge that hung over a fairly large rocky river creak that was roaring from all the rain that we have been getting. It was the nicest lunch that I have had in a long long time.

The weather was perfect on friday and we ended it with a nice bottle of champagne by the fireplace in our room. Saturday we walked down to the dining room and were served eggs benedict by the owners and their golden retriever Whitman. It was chilly and we decided to make our way to Mt Washington to see if the summit was open. The day before we stopped at the cog railway to see if it was open but they told us that due to the weather on the summit that the train was only going 2/3rds the way. When we arrived at the base we drove up to the gate and the guard told us that personal vehicles were only allowed half way but the coaches were going up to the top for the last day of the season and that we'd be unwise not to go. We took his recommendation and it was well worth it. Our guide steve was a riot, he was in his early 60's and worked his life as a postal man retired mountain enthusiast. Approaching the summit the snow was unlike snow I had ever seen. Steve explained that the temperatures being still on the warmer side cause the snow to melt slightly during the day and freeze at night. Combined with the wind causes it to form in what I can best describe as leave like crystals that all point in the same direction and stick to anything thicker than a hair growing downwind like sideways icicles except these are frosted with snow. Over all I guess you could say that Heather and I had a great weekend, I just though I would share some of it with you.