We left Vermont on Thursday, September 7, 2023 and drove about 2 hours to Moose Brook Campground, just outside of Gorham (pronounced “Gorm”), New Hampshire. This will be another week of dry dock camping, so we filled our fresh water tank when we arrived and we’ll be running the generator each day from 8 to 11 am and 5 to 8 pm. The site was a tight fit for Nomad, but with room for Cindy’s screen room off to the side. It was shaded (which blocked our solar panel from getting sunlight) and some of the branches were so low I had to cut them back to keep them from damaging the roof. We might have asked for another spot, but this was the only one long enough for our Nomad. The staff was friendly and helpful.
On Friday we drove around Gorham to see what this town was like. A very small-town feel. We saw a train on display and open for tours, though we did not avail ourselves of the opportunity. We also scoped out where we would be meeting on Monday for the Moose Expedition we scheduled, as well as picking up a few groceries.
We were up and out the door early Saturday morning to drive down to the North Conway area, which was about 25 miles away from the campground. We had plans to hike to some falls, see a covered bridge, and go to Home Depot. It had rained the night before and I forgot our Ryobi multi-battery charger was outside, so it got wet. I dried it as well as I could before we left and sat it upside down to make sure no water was inside of it, but we needed to pick up at least a single charger in case my neglect had ruined our multi-charger. We also came across a Michael’s store and Cindy finally found all the different threads she had been searching for to complete a project she was working on.
You can see in the photos that we hiked to Thompson Falls, which was farther than we had expected but beautiful to see when we arrived. We also hiked to Crystal Cascades, which was mostly uphill (pant, pant) but absolutely worth the effort. We found a gorgeous covered bridge and went on a wild goose chase attempting to find another that was on a map. It must have been hidden or invisible.
All in all it was a fun, productive day. We were totally whipped after hiking 4.5 miles. This getting old sucks! When we returned I took two of our propane tanks to get them re-filled at a Tractor Supply store in Gorham. Tractor Supply and Harbor Freight have become two stores I love to walk around in. They’re like toy stores for men.
We planned our trip this year so that we would be in the Northeast part of the U.S. during the anticipated leaf changing of Fall. So far, the changing has been slow in coming, but that is a schedule that is totally dependent on the whims (and science) of Mother Nature. On Sunday, September 10, 2023 we finally began to see some small signs of Fall. The temperatures have been cooler and, as I mentioned earlier, there has also been some rain. Both are contributors to seeing those leaves start to change colors.
I’m also troubleshooting some issues with our batteries on Nomad. With no sun hitting the solar panel and our only charging being limited to when the generator runs a few hours each day (which does not deep charge these batteries), they’ve been running a lower voltage than normal. I always make sure the water levels are full and I’ve just cleaned the posts to make sure nothing is inhibiting the connection. But what they really need is to be hooked up to shore power for a day or two in order to fully charge back up.
Monday dawned as a very sunny day and was not as cool. Rain did not start until about 1:30 in the afternoon. I grilled hamburgers on the Blackstone underneath our front awning. I also grilled up some bacon, and we dipped those pieces of pork goodness in some of the Vermont Maple Syrup we picked up in Vermont. Thanks to Lucy, one of our fellow customers on the Goodrich Maple Farms tour, who suggested the above to make “Sticky Burgers” using the syrup and bacon. Mmmmm mmmmm! They were delicious!
Monday night we took a Moose Expedition from 7 to 10 pm that was conducted by the Gorham Tourism folks. When we arrived at the Visitors Center the woman behind the counter looked at Cindy’s “I Want To Believe” Roswell T-shirt and said, “You DO know it’s moose you’re looking for tonight, not aliens, right?” We all laughed and then after we got on the bus the driver came out and asked Cindy to step off the bus. She and I (and all the other people on the bus) looked around as she stepped off the bus. It turns out there was a beautiful lighting effect in the sky from the sunset and they wanted to get a photo of Cindy (in her T-shirt) and the sky.
Our driver is a “moose hunter” and knows where to go to find them in nearby “wallows” around the area. But, since these are animals, there is no guarantee we’ll see any of them. We (and about 20 other people on the tour) ended up seeing a bull moose and two cows (female moose) during our, what turned out to be, four-hour stalking of the buggers. Not much luck in getting photos or videos but we tried. Cindy was happy she got to see them and that was all that mattered.
Tuesday was another day of rain and dreariness. We bought groceries and fueled up Voyager for our departure the next day.
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