A Fun Week

Sometimes you just get a hunch. I operate this way quite a bit in my line of work. Whenever I meet with people at me morning meetings I really go off the feedback from the guests. This past Saturday I had somewhere around a dozen guests in the library at South Mountain. I forgot to count the number of people because they started to pepper me with questions right off the bat. We had guests from Missouri, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. They wanted to do a lot of things while they were here so I gave them a bunch of ideas and the feedback so far has been good, they have done as I suggested and have seen a lot. I always feel good when someone who has been visiting us for many years says that they learned or saw something new.

On Monday we had about 40 people in the lobby of Pollard Brook for our update meeting. This again was a fiery group who wanted to do things. At the meeting I point out some of our trips and how they operate because some of our trips have limited seating or I have to change my reservations. This is especially true with the Cog Railway trip and the Moose Tour. At the meeting we had guests from Louisiana, Indiana, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. I know we had more but those are the ones I can recall at this time.

After the meeting I helped guests for about 90 minutes afterwards giving them itineraries on places to go, (Maine Lighthouses were a hot item this week). When I left on Monday we had about 40 guests signed up for the Cog Railway Trip. I quickly upped my reservation to 50 and by the time Tuesday Morning came we had 46 people signed up. It was great to have our van plus 13 cars driving up thru Franconia Notch. I think our caravan was at least 1/2 mile long, but since I always try to place a red car at the end, I got everyone there in one line. How many people can drive 35 miles and keep everyone in the same order.

Though the weather was clear at the base, it was cloudy most of the time at the summit of Mount Washington, but I think everyone was having fun trying to stand on the ride up. The winds were blowing between 45 and 50 MPH which is always good for the hair.

The rest of the week we seem to have just as much participation. My trip on Wednesday currently has about 17 guests signed up and the Moose Tour has 19 guests signed up. I can't wait to get to work tomorrow and show them around.

If your coming up to visit us contact me about some of the trips we have planned. I am open to try new things and love suggestions on places to go and see.

By the way I have seen approximately 30 Moose so far this month. 2 of them were in the middle of the road which is the one place I never want to see one.

Bear Notch Road and Passaconaway Roads OPEN

I just went out for a hike at Sabbaday Falls. After we went there I decided to go see if Bear Notch Road was open. The good news is that it is open, but beware there are still a few nasty bumps along the way.

Passaconaway/Dugway Road from Albany Covered Bridge is also open. These offer a nice alternative when travelling to or from the North Conway area. I usually recommend taking Bear Notch Road when going to Storyland or the Jackson area up to the Mount Washington Auto Road.

We also saw 2 Moose. I will post the pictures later tonight when I get home. One of them was right in the middle of the road about 1/2 mile East of Lincoln Woods. The other one was in an area where I thought we might see one, but we didn't have the camera ready. Some motorcycles came along and scared the Moose away before we could get a clean shot. Better luck next time on that one.

Time to Visit an Old Friend

One of my favorite places in the White Mountains is the Mount Washington Cog Railway. I have probably been on the Cog at least 40 times and every one has been different. It is just as fun to go to the top on a cloudy day as it is on a sunny day with 120 mile visibility. Most people forget that the summit of Mount Washington is in the clouds 6 out of 10 days on average.

We will be doing a weekly trip to the Cog Railway this year as we have for the last couple of years. This trip will save you significant money per person off of the regular price. If you are planning on going to the Cog while visiting us, please contact me to sign up in advance. This trip is done in a caravan format so that you can continue to explore the area after we come back down from the summit. Occasionally we will do this trip as a planned activity, but history has shown that most people like to be able to go out and explore on their own once we return to the base. This trip will have a minimum number of people needed to recieve our special pricing, but we generally have no problem accomplishing this goal.


You can call me on my cell phone at (508)364-5130 , my office at (603)745-9900 ext 470 or email me at epyra@innseason.com for more information. Visit the Cog website at http://www.thecog.com/.

Plural of Moose is Moose

Last Wednesday on my Nowhere and Everywhere Trip we ran across this mother and her baby in a wallow alongside Route 302 in Bretton Woods, NH. We were able to watch these 2 for about 15 minutes before they decided they had enough and wandered back into the woods.

Things are starting to Open Up

This weekend will mark the start of a new Summer Season for some of the many local attractions.
Please find a list of some thins that will be opening:

Friday May 2, 2008

At the Hop Ice Cream located adjacent to the Brick Store in Bath, NH. I have been waiting for this to open since they closed for the season in October. There is nothing like a step back in time and enter a 50's/60's ice cream store. I will be going to get a Frappe. Check at the Front Desk for directions on how to get there. There is also the Bath Covered Bridge located here which is the longest covered bridge that is entirely in the state of NH.

Saturday May 3, 2008

The Mount Washington Road in Pinkham Notch will open to the treeline on Saturday. Their hours will be 9 AM - 4 PM and the cost is $20 per vehicle. This is weather permitting as we are still getting snow showers in the mountains. Please call them at (603)466-3988 to check on conditions.

The Mount Washington Cog Railway in Bretton Woods, NH will have runs at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays only. Each trip will be roughly 3 hours round trip.

The Conway Scenic Railroad will have trains running on Saturday and Sunday at
11:30 AM and 1:30 PM. My favorite is the Bartlett Train as I think it has better scenery.

The Polar Caves in Rumney, NH will also reopen this weekend. They will only be operation on the weekends for now.