8. Forest Route to New Hampshire

After six nights in the US I still wake up at about 5 am every day, which seems a bit silly and I hope will end soon. Sadly it was time to leave Mount Desert Island, the coast and Maine behind us and head west inland to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In typical fall weather - a cold crisp blue morning - the leaves entertained us with their colour along quiet forested roads; Steve had planned a brilliant route. Incidentally it is the sugar content in the leaves which adds to the depth of colour and the sugar maples were blazing red everywhere.
Steve has now passed his sore throat over to me and spending half a day in a car and attempting not to speak much (it hurt) was very frustrating.
We basically drove through beautiful forests the whole journey, passing through an occasional settlement and seeing huge logging lorries. As we left Maine and entered New Hampshire and the White Mountains National Forest the landscape altered and mountains were popping up on all sides. This is a ski region in winter and an outdoor haven in the summer and autumn. All lovely, lovely, lovely.

9. Jackson and Mount Washington, NH

Jackson is a picturesque little place with several golf courses and mountains and valleys all around. It also has a covered bridge which tourists all stop and photograph. Our Eagle Mountain House is listed as an historic hotel and is a large wooden building with 125 rooms and a large wooden lobby with fires and leather chesterfield sofas. It was nice taking afternoon tea on the veranda rocking chairs with mountain vistas although we weren't alone for long once a coach party arrived.
Mount Washington is the highest peak on the US east coast and on the Appalachian Trail, the latter running all the way from Maine down to Georgia. It has also recorded the highest wind speed in the world at 233 mph. Unfortunately we weren't climbing up it today but as a treat for Steve we were taking the train as Mt Washington has the oldest cog railway in the world and also the oldest tourist attraction in the USA. Originally powered by a steam engine today we had a cleaner bio-diesel engine and a comfortable carriage. It took 45 minutes to get to the summit, travelling at 5mph with some of the gradients as steep as 37%, hence the need for the cog safety system. It was chilly and windy at the top but the 360° views were fabulous and on such a clear day we could see 5 states and across to Quebec province.
We took a lake stroll and a river trail in the afternoon, and with black bear warning signs it added to the enjoyment; alas no bears or beavers but a solid dam. As the sun dipped behind the mountains we journeyed upstream from our hotel for a half hour dusk moose watch. Again, we saw nothing but the light soon went and it was fun frightening each other!
Having been unimpressed with the service in our hotel dining room last night we ate out in a Jackson restaurant tonight where we had an interesting, intelligent and enlightening conversation with a New Jersey couple on the adjoining table learning about American politics and the forthcoming, and dreaded, election amongst other things.

10. New Hampshire to Vermont

We had a wonderful drive through the White Mountains and forests crossing New Hampshire heading west following the popular Kamcamagus Highway. The whole route was golden and there were numerous stop-offs for viewpoints, short walks, waterfalls and gorges so that the 34 mile route (pronounced rout!) took us several hours.
The state of Vermont - 'green mountains' - comprises mostly forests, mountains and farmland and has a total population of only 600,000. There are pristine villages, covered bridges galore and many trademark Holstein black and white cattle. It is a real favourite on the New England leaf peeping trail and due to the maple being the local native tree there are also maple syrup producers in abundance. We are staying in an old inn in the smart ski resort town of Stowe and the whole building, constructed in 1857, is wooden inside and out and full of character.
We ate at the bar in a brew house/restaurant tonight and the 8% local brew was fabulous and sitting with Drew from Louisiana and a slightly whacky local couple (whose daughter now lives in Manchester, UK) made for a really fun evening.

11. Stowe, VT

With only one full day here in Stowe we had to maximise our time and so set off relatively early on our first hike up at Smugglers Notch (notch is a lovely New England term for mountain pass), a one hour straight-up-hill-from-the-car-park trail to the peaceful Sterling Pond. The ascent was fine but neither of us are as keen on coming down. This afternoon we took the Stowe Pinnacle Trail, longer and with a much greater elevation (we must be mad) but the views on top more than made up for all of our efforts, a jaw-droppingly fabulous panorama with reddened forests all around. We even found a haunted bridge on our way home.
In between we popped over to see the Von Trapp Lodge which is still run by the grandson of Maria and Georg who fled to Vermont with their family and settled here to farm before expanding to tourism. The views from the lodge were great and made me want to just sing my heart out!

12. Travelling day

I am not one for spending time in a car but sometimes it has to be done and today was one of those days. We had our first frost but that was short lived as the day rapidly warmed as the sun shone down. Leaving Stowe - we could have done with a few more days here easily - we followed the crazily named Mad River south through the Vermont forests and valleys, keeping to minor roads. There were numerous danger signs warning of bear and moose crossings but still no sightings for us.
Sitting driving did give us time to reflect on our travels and experiences thus far and get our thoughts down.  The people we have met in the US to date have all been absolutely lovely and so friendly, especially when out hiking, and drivers are very courteous and stop and give way to pedestrians. We are enjoying the craft brewery trade and sampling local products and of course the weather so far has most been brilliant. Our only issue is the price of everything following the struggling pound after our Brexit and the poor exchange rate, the tax added on to all purchases and the obligatory 20% tips expected.
We wound down through Ludlow and Chester (it's almost like being back home) where Steve spotted a special tourist train (shucks, no time for that today) although I am not so sure about rail/road crossing safety with just a few flashing lights and no gates or barriers. Our route was scenic, the roads quiet and with Steve's American rock compilation playing we had a good singalong too. When we re-entered Massachusetts on the Interstate 95 the foliage was still all very red and glowing, southern New England being somewhat behind in the 'fall' progress.
Sturbridge is a one night stop for us but we had time for a walk round the historic centre, with some lovely houses, which was hosting a Halloween festival; they really do go to town with it all over here. It seemed only right for us to buy some pumpkin beer!

13. Newport, Rhode Island

Our route this morning took us from Massachusetts, through a tiny section of Connecticut and into the smallest US state, Rhode Island, which isn't actually an island but some parts of it are. Our island was reached by an enormous bridge and we were reliably informed by a local that it cost an absolute fortune to construct. We stayed in a Newport inn for two nights in a converted 1830's naval officer's house, so full of character and with a wonderful little roof terrace and right in the heart of the historic quarter and only a few minutes walk to the harbour and centre. The whole town feels like a film set yet many buildings date from the 1700's and 1800's and Newport has the oldest US synagogue, the oldest US lending library and we took a delicious glass of red wine in The White Horse, the oldest US tavern dating back to 1673.
The town has an amazing amount of summer cottages (absolutely enormous residences) and mansions which were built during the 'gilded age' when the Vanderbilts and their fellow millionaire compatriots used to come here for the summer to escape the city heat. We took a tour of 'The Breakers', the Vanderbilt mansion which was luxurious.
We enjoyed the ocean drive and bay footpath, had a good workout around the scenic cliff walk and were lucky to time our visit with the annual Newport Seafood Festival whereby the whole harbour area was buzzing with tourists, music and food stalls and the freshly prepared seafood tacos so tasty. We were recommended a terrific restaurant that did early-bird specials so we had whole lobster one night (with a bottle of specially blended 'lobster' white wine) and gigantic, juicy 14oz prime rib steaks the next; oh to be on holiday.
As a real treat on our last day here we took a 90 minute sail on a schooner around the Newport Bay, the weather was so good we were even hot out at sea in tee-shirts. We both agreed, all things considered, that this is one of our favourite places so far on the tour.