White Mountains, NH Roundup!
A sweet hello to you dear friend, from our new-ish temporary home near Stowe, Vermont! It’s been about a week since we left yon wondrous White Mountains in New Hampshire, which means it’s already time for another roundup post.
Time sure does pass, doesn’t it?
As I stated in the Cape Breton Roundup post, my hope is that if you ever decide to embark upon your very own White Mountains adventure (which I’d argue you DEFINITELY should) then this can be your one-stop, non-AI shop to begin your planning.
Let’s get into it!
Where We Stayed
As the photos above show, we stayed in a picturesque old chapel built in 1830, surrounded by sweeping mountain views.
Just kidding!
That sure would’ve been great, but in actual truth we stayed in the basement of a giant home directly across the street from said church. In fact, that big expansive lawn you see? That’s where Maya walked most mornings and afternoons, sometimes to the clang of bells from that beautiful clock tower.
The other photos above were all taken on my walks around the town of Sugar Hill, where our rental was located and which was delightfully quaint.
I found the rental on Furnished Finder, and though it was nicely furnished and comfortable (not to mention in a glorious location!) I must admit I’m relieved we were only there for two and a half weeks. The family living upstairs has two young boys AND a german shepherd- all very adorable and very, very (very) loud.
So, lesson learned there. No more basement stays. (That probably should’ve been obvious.)
What made the rental so appealing was the location- and honestly, I didn’t know how true that would end up being when I first booked it.
Not only was Sugar Hill too cute for its own good, but it was also soooooo close to other amazing things, like Franconia Notch (more on that below) and the larger, also very beautiful towns of Franconia, Littleton and Bethlehem.
What We Ate/Drank
Sadly, I have no photos of the two most important establishments in our sweet little town of Sugar Hill- though we frequented them both.
Harman’s Cheese Store was an easy three-minute walk from our rental, so I stopped in one day to pick up an afternoon snack. Not only was the cheese delicious, but they also offered homemade pickles which is my kryptonite.
The most famous pancakery in the land is also located in Sugar Hill- at Polly’s Pancake Parlor you can order three pancakes of three different flavors AND three different mix-ins! Gingerbread with walnuts?! Amazing.
Not to be all name-droppy, but I also got specific recs from Jess of The Fioneers!
No big deal, we are best friends now. Just be cool about it.
She let us know that her favorite place in the area is Rek-Lis Brewery. We had a lovely evening there after some live orchestra music in a park. We also tried out Schilling Brewery in Littleton, which we actually preferred to Rek-Lis (sorry bestie!) not only because the beer was better but the location is gorgeous- right on the river you see above.
What We Did
Of course our main activity in New Hampshire is what our main activity always is- hiking. Ryan ended up hiking a couple of days on his own, because he wanted to run up Mt. Washington, and I wanted to sit at home and work on my cable stitch.
Different strokes!
Here’s the thing I learned about hiking in the White Mountains- it is HARD. When AllTrails calls a hike “moderate” in North Carolina, they mean moderate. When they label it that way in the White Mountains, they mean “you’d better be in amazing shape, or you could crap out way earlier than expected.”
It’s pretty hilarious to read the reviews of these hikes on AllTrails. I read through one of them that Ryan was wanting to do, and one guy even said “When they say ‘hard’ they mean ‘impossible.’”
Thanks AllTrails reviewer guy!
My fave hikes were the Flume in Franconia Notch (reservations required) and Lonesome Lake, but honestly all of the hiking was incredible. You can see all of our hikes here.
Other things we did:
Rode the Cog Railway up Mt. Washington. This was a real treat- we got to hear the history of the cog railway and learn the science behind it, which was pretty fascinating. It was also great to be on the summit of Mt. Washington without having to hike it!
Enjoyed free concerts. The North Country Chamber Players regaled us in a park in nearby Franconia one afternoon, and there was live music at the brewery I mentioned above.
Met up with Ryan’s friend, Bill. You guys- this was the first time we’ve seen someone we know in person since July 17. It was so lovely to see Bill for lunch. Ryan and Bill hiked the Appalachian Trail together in 1999- very cool to hear more of their stories.
What We Learned… and What We Are Still Learning
Something wild happened in New Hampshire, and I will likely write more about it in a future, standalone post.
Long story short, Ryan and I woke up one day (on the same day actually, at the tail end of the eclipses) and decided separately that perhaps this long term travel thing was not for us.
He was brave enough to bring this up to me first. And it was brave- I’ve been dreaming about this life for 7+ years.
Longer, really.
But there are two main things that this type of lifestyle is missing that turn out to be imperative for health and happiness: people and purpose.
Like I said- more on this later.
For now, we are continuing with our plans through the end of this year, but then have decided to pivot. We are embracing what we heard Fritz Gilbert talk about in a recent ChooseFI episode- curiosity + experimentation.
We experimented with this lifestyle, we learned it wasn’t for us long term.
Now it’s time to get curious about what’s next.