Day Fourteen ... gorgeous Gorges and autumn driving

Today we were up early, despite Ian finishing his Zoom meeting a little after midnight, and headed off to Flume Gorge Visitor Centre where we had booked tickets to complete the Flume Gorge Walk.

This 2 mile (3.2 km) self guided walk takes you in a loop to the Gorge via a covered bridge, and then to Avalanche Falls, Liberty Gorge, Sentinel Pine Bridge and Pools, the Wolf Den and the glacial boulders. The gorge is estimated to have formed in the Jurassic period and was discovered in 1808. The granite walls of the gorge rise up on either side and at times there is only 12 feet between the two walls. The New Hampshire State Park have done a fabulous job creating the walking trail, stairs and bridges that allow you to get close to and through the gorge and there are many viewing platforms to allow you to take in this incredible natural feature.

The walk was meant to take 75 minutes, but with extra detours on the trail to viewing platforms, time to stop and soak it all in, a scramble down into the Wolf Den and to marvel at the size of the granite rocks and the trees and ferns desperately trying to hang on and grow from them we took just on two hours … but it was fabulous.

Leaving the Gorge behind we headed on our way … southwest-ish. Like yesterday we had an idea of where we were heading but no real route marked out. So we made it up as we went along, pulling wildly off the road when we saw interesting detours. We travelled through many small towns and wherever possible we tried to take the back roads and avoid the highways. We crossed three states today … beginning in New Hampshire, then into Vermont and finally to New York.

Our journey took us through the towns of … Lincoln, Woodstock, Warren, Wentworth, Dorchester, Canaan, Enfield and Lebanon - all in New Hampshire. In Warren we came across a military missile (decommissioned) standing upright in the middle of town, a moose advertising ice cream, Calamity Jane’s restaurant and Appleknockers (general store, gas station and coffee house at $1.26 a cup - about $2AUD). The town of Enfield had scarecrows/mannequins attached to the power poles to signify the business they were located at … cute and odd at the same time. In Lebanon (our third Lebanon for this trip having already down one in Connecticut and one in Maine) we stopped to complete a short Ad Lab and to visit the local public library.

Heading on to Vermont we drove along beautiful curving and undulating roads lined with autumn leaves. Exquisite. The road network across New England is fabulous. The roads are wide, well surfaced and speed limits appear to be somewhat optional! In Vermont we stopped for lunch (more of our yummy mega sub from yesterday) outside the Vermont Vintage Market. The market is very much like the Mill Markets in Daylesford and Geelong - stalls filled with vintage wares, bric a brac and the odd bit of rubbish! There were also individual shops selling a whole range of things like leather products, alpaca scarves, glassware and even a lolly shop.

As we drove out of the market we happened across the Queechee Gorge by driving over the bridge that spans it and wondering why everyone was standing on the bridge. Grabbing a quick park we wandered back to the bridge and we’re instantly wowed by the splendour of this gorge. You can walk on both sides of the bridge, cars stop to let you cross and the safety barrier had holes cut into the mesh to allow you to take photos.

Our next stop was Woodstock (our second for the day - see New Hampshire above) and I am so glad we stopped there. This has to be one of the most beautiful towns I have ever come across. The autumn leaves were stunning, the houses were beautiful, the gardens well kept and flourishing. We completed an Ad Lab here that took us to five bells forged by Paul Revere (of the Boston Freedom March). Revere was a well known forger (not as in faking things but as in metallurgical) and his bells were created for churches, ships and notable buildings across America. They are quite stunning and date back to the 1800’s. We also found a LOVE sculpture … so of course we had to stop (the V is in the shape of Vermont).

We continued our drive through Vermont travelling through Bridgewater, Killington and Rutland where we stopped to grab an ice cream. Our final town in Vermont was Fairhaven before we crossed the state border and entered back into New York again (have been in NY state when we were in NY city). In NY state we travelled through Fort Ann before hitting the highway to take us on a more direct route to our final destination for the day Saratoga Springs.

The light was fading by the time we arrived but we headed straight to the racecourse to complete a super quick Ad Lab (Ian wanted to do that Ad Lab because of the Carly Simon song “You’re So Vain” which mentions Saratoga and the races). We then headed to our hotel, checked in, dumped our stuff and then headed out for some dinner.

Now back at the hotel … I’m writing the blog, Ian is dealing with emails and work, we have washing on (actually it is now in the dryer).

Another wonderful day!

Today’s tally …

Photos - 615

Steps - 13,444

Kms walked - 10.29 km

Kms driven - 220 miles / 350 kms

Ad labs completed 3 (in 3 different states)

Another interesting fact … today marks 6 months since Ian had his ankle fusion (we think the surgeon did a fabulous job)