American Thumb - Day 10 - North Conway, New Hampshire

On the way through the Maine, the mist making everything look like Sleepy Hollow, I told E that this was where Stephen King was from and you could see where he got some of his inspiration.  As we rocked up to the hotel, its breadth, its hundreds of windows, its mountain setting and the long corridors reminded us both of The Overlook Hotel from The Shining, but we decided not to talk about that any further because, well, it's creepy.  Anyway, The Shining is on TV right now.  And for some reason, we're watching it.  I've bolted the door.  It's probably not a strong enough door to withstand an axe but fingers crossed it won't come to that.

The state motto of New Hampshire is 'Live free or die' which is by far the best of all state mottos.  It Sounds like a threat but it can't possibly be one because the weather is preventing most New Hampshire folk from living free today.  We're all living a little bit restrained, a little bit confined.  There is wind and a bit of rain and the peaks of the mountains that surround us are hidden by cloud.  I have a feeling this is exactly how New Hampshire is meant to look, because it's absolutely beautiful.  But it doesn't mean I want to go out in it.

That said, we visit a local village and end up driving through the wilderness along slick roads that wind through the mountains.  We stop in a roadside car park in the middle of nowhere.  Quite why there's a car park there, I don't know.  But it's beside a river and we figure it's a good place to take some photos.  E and S stay in the car while I scramble down some rocks to the river bank.  As I hit the bank, I have a very clear vision of disturbing a bear and having it go all Revenant on me.  Instead I disturb a bird and I do a little yelp but survive.  I take a few photos up and down the river and then discover a proper, old, steel railway bridge, the tracks either side of it stretching far into the woods before bending away to invisibility.  I get so arty with E's camera that I end up lying down on the tracks.  I figure I'd hear a train coming.  And nothing comes so I stand by that.  The best photos are on E's camera but here's one from my phone.

After lunch, we head back to North Conway to catch the Conway Historic Railway.  They run short trips on old fashioned trains, a bit like the Haworth Railway we have near us in Yorkshire.  The sweet thing is, 'moms' ride free today as it's Mother's Day.  Total score and I try to shoehorn it into being a Mother's Day gift to E.  Even though the rain has got heavier and the mountains still misty, it's a glorious trip.  The train whistle blows and the bell rings exactly like an old American train should.  It trundles along surrounded by this spectacular scenery but every now and again trundles through an ugly stretch, a part of the woods where some kids have clearly been drinking round a fire and left all their empties or where some derelict shack has collapsed.  It's a relief to know that it's not all beauty.

One fun thing E and I learned today is that blue Jolly Ranchers turn your tongue blue.  It's fun until you have to deny to your two year old that you've been eating sweets and to her credit, she doesn't believe you.

A couple of people have asked if S realised she left her lion at the diner yesterday.  Yes, she did realise.  She mentioned it yesterday and today.  She knew exactly where she left it.  She was a little disappointed but we told her Jeremy, our waiter, will be playing with it and she seemed happy enough with that.  She's a stoic kid and has moved on.

There are models and statues of bears everywhere in New Hampshire and S has plucked up the courage to cuddle or pose with all of them.  Except one.  He's seven foot tall, cuddly and he stands in front of the lift in the hotel, so every time we step out of it, he's there looming over us.  S has made peace with the seven foot moose and the five foot beaver that flank him, but he is still her nemesis.  Today she tiptoed over to him and was about to shake his paw but came running back at the last second, going, 'Nonononono!' and demanding a hug.  Maybe tomorrow.

E and S go for a swim and rather than go through the indignity of wading through the water and doing nothing, I go to check out some of the shops in the retail park next to the hotel.  True to my strict dress sense, I buy a couple of pairs of jeans and a few tshirts.  I quite like shopping, but I don't think I'm very good at it.  I have doubts about everything I buy.  Just now, I was thinking about one of the tshirts I bought so I went and tried it on.  It's a little baggier than I'd like.  I'm hoping it will shrink in the wash as, again, true to my dress sense, the clothes I be tend to be of the quality that shrink in the wash.  Or maybe I'll have to eat more and fill it.

We dine on a Walmart bought picnic in our room.  We're tired from over a week of holidaying and travelling and today has been the kind of slow, quiet day we needed.  It's only just gone 9 here.  E and S are already asleep.  And hopefully I will be soon, provided I can erase the image of Jack Nicholson's psychotic face from my mind.