Our first camping trip of the year was someplace new for us; Lazy River Campground by Franconia Notch State Park. We went with Robbie's sister, Jess, and her boyfriend, Ryan. The White Mountains are so vast, it was fun exploring a new area. To get there we drove though the Kancambangus Highway which is beautiful (and slightly stressful when its your first time and its pouring rain).
The first day and night featured lots and lots of rain. We were glad we had our vestibule to sit in and eat and be dry from time to time. The boys are troopers though and don't mind getting wet.
The dogs were a little tricky to figure out. Usually we bring a pen for Pippin to hang out in at the campground and a kennel for him to sleep inside the tent. We doubled up on everything now that we have Merry. I was told she is an excellent jumper, so I bought a taller pen for her. We started off by making one large pen for both dogs to roam around in, but Merry jumped out twice. So then we separated the pens and put Merry in the tall one. Again she jumped out. Then we stuck the pen inside the vestibule so she couldn't tip it, and she was fine as long as I sat in there with them. But as soon as I left, the dog jumped a vertical three feet up and over the damn pen. So then Robbie went to buy a tarp to tie over the pen and that solved that problem.
There was a river that runs through the campground, and it was nice for the boys to wade in. It was also nice for the dogs to cool off in and Pippin to swim and play fetch.
Meo and I made a super hero hideout and threw spears at the enemies floating down the river.
Meo and Link love playing with Auntie Jess and Ryan!
That first night was rather wet, but we still managed a sizzling fire so the kids could have their much anticipated s'mores.
The next morning, we were all so very happy for it being dry.
After breakfast we headed out into Franconia Notch State Park to hike Bald Mountain and Artists Bluff (https://www.nhstateparks.org/uploads/pdf/FranconiaHikingMapAllWeb_2010.pdf). The loop was a total of just over 1.5 miles.
There was quite a steep scramble going up bald mountain! Our little mountain goats managed it though.
Going down was a team effort.
Little Link is quite fearless, and we were thankful for the extra sets of eyes, hands, and hearts to keep him safe and out of trouble. Sometimes its good for him to hear that running near cliffs is dangerous from people besides just his parents so he understands how serious it is!
On the lovely Artists Bluff.
Back at the campsite, I stayed with the little guys while all the grownups went to get some coffee. Meo and I enjoyed some quiet time drawing by the river, while Link played in the dirt (and rinsed off in the stream with my supervision).
Then we relaxed in the hammock and checked out the cool playground at the campground.
There were lots of salamanders in the pond by the playground and Meo and I tried to catch them. They were too quick for us though.
By the bathrooms on the way back to our site Meo spotted a beautiful moth with a torn wing. The boys enjoyed getting a closer look at it.
Then we enjoyed a relaxing evening of dinner, a campfire, early bedtime for two sleepy boys, and games and drinks by the fire fro the grownups.
Then next day we packed up our campsite and headed out for another hike before heading back to Maine. This time we hiked Mount Pemigewasset. Meo requested that I took a picture of this spiderweb full of morning dew.
This hike was 3 miles total, which was double our hike from yesterday. It had 3 tunnels to go through at the beginning and a few little bridges to cross which was fun.
We got a rather late start to our hike, and about 1/4 the way up Link needed a little break so I carried him for a half hour or so.
It was cloudy and damp in the forest which made the colors vibrant. But as we got higher up the sun started to come out more and more.
When we finally reached the summit after walking through some actual low clouds, we were stunned by the breathtaking view. We were also stunned by the immense, steep cliff that made up the summit. It was a little stressful with the little kids and the dogs but it was gorgeous and everyone loved it.
Also, it was father's day!! I took these pictures of Robbie with all his babies (minus the two kitties) in honor of the occasion.
Going down was slow at first because a sleepy Link was carefully climbing down with Mama and we grew farther and farther behind. Then Link fell on a rock and reopened the cut on his lip so Robbie had to run back with the first aid kit. I then carried him down the rest of the mountain while he relaxed, and almost slept (but not quite). Meo hiked the entire was up and down like a champ! He was really tired but he kept going!
We were starving after our hike...it was much longer than any of us anticipated! But we were really happy that we did it because it really is a wonderful hike. We all went out for pizza, and a friendly biker gave the boys $5 for ice cream for another day, Our high energy duck tollers were completely worn out which was awesome. Poor Jess and Ryan missed the bus back to Boston but luckily were able to borrow their Dad's truck. We are grateful to Robbie's parents for not only that but also for feeding our kitties while we were away camping! It's so comforting knowing they are being well cared for and loved while we are gone.
And as always, it feels so good to get back home and get into a nice warm shower, clean clothes, and a nice soft bed. This time we were also welcomed with newly bloomed peonies!
Thanks for camping with us Jess and Ryan, it was such a fun trip and so special for the boys!
