9/4/08 Maine – We Are Here!

9/4/08 Maine – We Are Here!
Thursday was a peaceful day. The drive through eastern New Hampshire was beautiful along the Crawford Notch State Park and in the Mt. Washington National Forest. We rode the Cog Train up Mt. Washington, elevation 6288 feet (depending on who tells you the height). This cog train has run continuously since it started in 1869. The chug of the cogwheel gives you a little jolt with each turn of the cog and the steepness of the rails is almost unbelievable at an average of 37% grade. The top of Mt. Washington boasts the severest weather in the U.S. with the record for the highest recorded wind speed in 1930 of 214 miles per hour. We happened to be there on one of the 287 foggy days during the year. The temperature was about 50 degrees with the temperature at the base station in the valley of 80 degrees. Truly a gorgeous view coming down the rails with some of the color starting to show in yellows and reds along the way. The ride down is smoother and faster with the steam engine acting as a big compressor and the brakeman in the passenger car with us keeping the passenger car from pushing the engine too fast down the tracks. The engine was on the downhill side of the passenger car both directions so it pushed it up the tracks and controlled the rate of descent on the way down. Only when we started down did we find out that the passenger car isn’t physically attached to the engine at all. It just stays uphill from the engine both directions. The brakeman was very busy on the trip down the hill. The angle of the smokestack on the engine is because of the angle the engine is to the passenger car on that 37% grade. Since the smokestack is right at the car, the smokestack had to be bent that way to prevent the damage to engine or car. Very marvelous design for 1869 in my opinion! It is definitely worth the high price of the ride. The scientific observatory at the top would have been interesting to take time to view. We only had 20 minutes at the top and we decided that taking the RV up the car road was foolish. Another trip maybe!

We stayed on Hwy 302 through Crawford Notch and the sights were like Banff with the high rock walls and terrain. It only took 15 minutes to drive that scenic highway, but in the winter that can be a treacherous place to be. While it is the main road to the ski hills of the Mount Washington region, it could us more money to ease out the ride. The resort towns on the eastern end of the notch nearing Maine were very pretty and quaint. Lots of shopping and tourist attractions, but we were bent on arriving in Maine today so we kept going.

At the Maine state line a visitor’s center provided us with more than enough things to read about where to go in Portland and north and south along the coast. It’s time to turn south along the coast and begin our way to the point of turning west towards home by the 15th. We stayed on Hwy 302 southeast until Naples where we got gas for $3.66 and a great campground at Long Lake for off season price of $29 dollars. The spot on the lake was amazingly tranquil and relaxing. I told myself that I am going to go swimming tomorrow morning just to say I did. This lake is just north of Sebago Lake where the kids and I visited in 1983 on the trip with Linda, Jason and Chrissy. Our 9,000 miles in a four door Chevette with a car top carrier gave me a taste of the length and duration of this trip. Of course Matty is much easier to deal with than two 7 year old girls and two 10 year old boys. So many memories of that trip have come to mind as I sit again in the passenger seat navigating the road.