Closing out the Camping Season...

This past weekend, we packed up and headed up to southern New Hampshire to close out our 2010 camping season. I have wanted to take this trip since we moved here and I must say I was not disappointed. It was a "leaf peepers" dream. Columbus Day weekend is generally when fall foliage is at its peak in southern New Hampshire and Vermont. We camped just outside of Keene, N.H. and enjoyed 3 days and 3 nights of reds, golds, oranges and yellows all around us. Keene itself is a great town with a beautiful downtown area and very walking friendly. People were friendly and the stores take pride in showing their support to the changing of the season. Keene itself will hold the Largest Pumpkin festival in the world next weekend.

The highlighted roads are the fall foliage route we took!

Chinese laterns in a vivid orange on the sidewalk in Keene

Church tower in the center of town

View from a park in the center of town.

On Saturday we drove to Monadnock State Park to climb Mt. Monadnock. It is the most frequently climbed mountain in North American and the second most frequently climbed mountain in the world after K2. So how could we not drag our poor children up this mountain on a gorgeous fall day. Taylor made it about 2/3 of the way up before taking to her dads shoulders and Travi and I trekked the rest of the way. It was definitely more then we anticipated but let me tell you the views from the top were amazing. We had a picnic up top but made a quick decent as is was extremely cold at the top and the winds were gusty at the higher elevations.

Mt. Monadnock looking up from the base. Its almost 3200 feet to the summit!


Views from the summit looking west...

Kids having a quick picnic. We used a giant trailmarker as a wind break.


Kids in a hollow tree on the trail up the mtn.


View of the trail before we hit the rocky portion


Views to the East towards Boston. From the summit you could see the skyline of Boston in the very far distance.


Trav and I along the trail stopping to take a quick break




Sunday we leaf peeped all day and also visited the Cathedral of the Pines. It is an outdoor amphitheatre dedicated in memory of all those who have died serving our country during war. It was a beautiful place that had such a calming, peacefulness to it. We walked the grounds quietly looking at grave markers, memorials and the gardens. Definitely worth the stop!
Cathedral of the Pines...Overlooking the Monadnock Region and mountain








Once again, we didn't look forward to returning to the Cape. To put it in perspective we have one more camping season out here next year and that will be our last one here in the North East. When we say it like that it doesn't seem so long. We love traveling around and seeing all these peaceful, quaint little towns. We love heading to the mountains and canoeing different rivers. We love so many places we have traveled to this past year. ~Bar Harbor/Acadia Nat. Park, ~Sebago Lake, Me., ~Battenkill River/Manchester, VT., ~Keene N.H/ Monadnock Region. If we can be thankful for one thing about being stationed on the Cape, it is the opportunity to see all the other beautiful places New England has to offer. So we will now winterize the camper, put it in the storage lot and spend the next 6 months enjoying the winter and planning our camping trips for next year. We have big plans to see a few places before we pack up and hopefully head west in 2012!



"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."
- Albert Camus