We were given a table by the window for breakfast thus morning & sat mesmerised by the view. The golf course in front of the hotel was bright green and that gave way to a mass of trees - green at the bottom but a vibrant mix of red, orange & yellows at the top. Beyond those were the huge granite mountains which form the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
We decided to spend the day driving around finding the covered bridges that are dotted across New Hampshire and Vermont. We started by heading back to the Franconia State Forest to the Flume Gorge which was a bit further along from the cable car we had been on the day before. We found we could only walk to the bridge here. It was the same walk to the Flume Gorge. We decided to do it. A mini bus took us the first half mile and crossed the covered bridge. The walk to the gorge was uphill all the way - a mixture of trail and steps. It was beautifully cool and very pretty. The gorge itself is located at the base of Mt Liberty. It is narrow but tall - the walls are 70 - 90ft high and are made of granite. Water from the Avalanche Falls runs through the gorge. We walked back down to the covered bridge which was only short but is one of the oldest in New Hampshire. It was built in 1886 and is the most photographed - often appearing on magazines & brochures. I would have put a photo up but we are in the laundromat using wifi from the Dunkin Donuts store next door.
Next, we headed back to Littleton where the map said there was another bridge. But, it turned out to be a pedestrian only bridge that was built in 2004. The author of Pollyanna was born in Littleton and a Pollyanna statue stands outside the library. There was also a bit of street art around - red & blue umbrellas suspended behind the
Pollyanna Gate and brightly painted pianos on the footpath that anyone could stop and play.
We headed out the other side of Littleton to a town called Bath. There was an old covered bridge here - built in 1833. This is actually the 5th bridge to stand on this site. The first was built in 1794 and all previous bridges apart from one, were destroyed by floods. The 4th bridge burnt down. Close to the bridge was the historic Brick Store. This is the oldest continually operated general store in the US. It opened in 1790. Inside was a variety of goods, including some showcases filled with merchandise the store sold back in the 1800s - beautiful old kids shoes & boots and tools. The Brick Store has a smoking house right next door. It was billowing smoke when we arrived. They smoke their own meats and cheeses. We bought a small block of cheese & some salami which we munched back in the car. Delicious!!
By now it was getting on to 4pm so we headed to Gorham where our Moose Tour was departing from. Gorham was a big town with lots of industry - paper mill & lumberyard were a few. We picked up our tickets then walked along the Main Street stopping at the antique store. A bit further along we found a pub called Saalt Pub. We went in to have something to eat before the tour. It was a really nice place. We both had a burger - first one of the trip & one of the most delicious ever!
We got on the Moose Tour bus just after 6pm. It was almost a full bus - 13 of us. Our driver, Laurie, was funny & very knowledgeable. She has seen a lot of moose. We headed up to the various moose wallows where they come to drink & swim at night. The ones lower down were a bit dry so we headed up a mountain and ended up in Maine. Laurie had a moose caller which she put out the window hoping to bring moose out. We didn't see anything. Not long after we turned around to come back, the bus got a flat tyre. Laurie took the bus very slowly back down a bit to try and get mobile reception as there isn't much in this state. She went into a caravan park & got hold of her boss who was going to bring a new bus up. We then went down a little further to a lake car park that we had stopped at on the way up. We waited there for at least an hour. Finally the new bus came. On the way back down, we saw 2 foxes and about 4 or 5 deer. We may have seen the rear end of a moose running into the woods. We arrived back at the tour office at 11.55pm. We were supposed to get back at 9.30pm. We had a 40min drive back to Whitefield which we did at 50kms an hour to ensure we didn't hit a moose. There have been a lot of human fatalities. Of course we didn't see one. American wildlife continues to elude us.