Those who know me, know that I love New Hampshire. This is an awesome parody. Having spent almost every summer vacation for many years in Franconia Notch, I knew quite a few of the jokes. New Hampshire tourism should pick this up and run with it.

This building has been eluding me for a few years. We stay at a hotel nearby and have always ended up on the backside which has a view of this building along with mountains and a river. It is a unique structure that I’m unsure of the history.

This past summer crows had taken up residence and each one had their own floor it seemed. I’m hoping to get back and get a little closer. I don’t think it would be safe to go inside. I’m also hoping to talk to some of the local residents and find out the history.

While on vacation we had planned to get some biking in. I’ve been pretty out of it this past year. Also it’s not advised for Craig while he has his neck issue.

We finally got a break in weather on Wednesday and we headed into the National Forest to the Lincoln Woods trail. We talked to these wonderful park rangers who gave us our options. They said the trail that leads up to the falls has “some” railroad ties left in place. Ok… not a problem, because it’s a rail trail, so guaranteed nothing more than a 3% grade and a few railroad ties is not a big deal.

Turns out it was lots of railroad ties. The trail turned out to be a lot of fun. The way out to the falls and trail terminus (for bicyclists) was 2.8 miles, it was also the 3% up. Imagine having to bike over roots and rocks, but throw in speed bumps every 3-4 feet, you’ve got the Lincoln Woods trail. About 3/4 way out I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to keep going. It was really kicking my butt and I was burning out. Craig stopped with me while I caught my breath and we decided to give it a little more.

One positive of the trail is on either side of the ties there is a small path to ride that is just dirt and roots. I was wondering how I was going to do on the way back but was glad to be able to rest when we got to the bridge.

The ride back turned out to be a lot of fun. It was 3% grade down. It pushed me to use my biking skills to pick a good line, avoid the nails that were still in some of the ties, ride out of the saddle to avoid destroying my butt and back. I also realized after a good mile that I would need to float my hands on my handlebars because my wrists were getting very sore. As usual my extra weight gave me quite a bit of momentum going down hill, I even hopped my bike up on to a bridge and kept going. I felt great after the ride, I loved the technicalities of the trail and was ready to go do it again the next day.

If your in that area, have a mountain bike, go do this trail. For those experienced and in shape riders this probably won’t be much of a challenge, but for the novice group it’s a good and safe technical challenge.

This year, I ended up getting very sick after only one day up there and spent most of the trip attached to tissues, DayQuil/NyQuil and chapstick.

Craig drove me around and I shot video. We first headed up the Kancamagus Highway out of Lincoln. Oh, I just remembered we also got to see the Venus, Jupiter and Moon alignment very clearly from up in the mountains.

The next day we drove through Franconia Notch, where my parents used to vacation for 20 years. The area feels like a second home to me.