Sliding Down and Driving Up

After spending a couple of days at our house, we took my parents up north to spend some time enjoying things around our other home in the White Mountains. The first and only other time they had been there was their visit in October\November of 2008. Incidentally, it was the day they left for home on that trip that Mike and I found out we were expecting Dylan.

Mike and my Dad had spent the day, Thursday, working on the play set and my Mom and I had spent the day running some errands. It took some time to pack up the 5 of us and all our gear, so we arrived to the condo at night. That meant that we would start fresh the next morning and have a full day of fun.

Friday morning, we drove through the beautiful Franconia and Crawford Notches on our way to Mt. Washington. En route, we passed by several mountain ski resorts, one being Attitash mountain. Attitash offers some great activities in the summer, including the alpine slides. You ride the ski lift up and then get down the mountain by riding down "carts" on cement slides that ride down the mountain. It's a ton of fun! Mike and I had done this once several summers ago and have tried to again on several occasions but were unable to for one reason or another. So, when passing by, we made a last minute decision to stop at the mountain to slide down! Unfortunately, they won't let kids go down the slide with you unless they can walk on their own. Dylan's just shy of mastering that skill, so he waited at the bottom with Mimaw and Pipaw.

But Doesn't He Look Cute As a Wanna Be Rider?!?

Pipaw and Dylan (left) Watching Me (Right Slide) at the Finish

Me and Dylan on the "Water"

It was a really fun detour. Then, we continued our drive to Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the northeast. We paid our entrance fee to drive up the road, popped in the cd audio tour provided and headed up. After about a quarter of a mile, the light to our gas tank came on, so we headed back down and filled up the tank at the station conveniently located at the base. With a full tank, we headed up again, this time going ALL the way up!

It's a really exhilarating drive - narrow winding road, a steep drop down to the right and a low gear to handle the climb. I think it was nerve racking for my parents at times but they were troopers and kept gasps to a minimum. At the top, we parked and headed to the summit point. Man, it was COLD (41 degrees) and WINDY (47 mile an hour winds)! (I might have gotten thos numbers switched but it was cold and windy either way!) But, it was also a clear and gorgeous view. We took our pictures as quickly as possible so that we could get indoors and warm up.

Dad at the Summit (Rocks and Wind Kept Mom From Getting There)

Mike, Dylan and I at the Summit

Windy Family Self Portrait (LOVE Dylan's Straight Up Hair!)

After a few photos, we went in and checked out the small museum they have up there. Mom and Dad enjoyed the exhibits while Dylan, Mike and I just played, warmed up, and let Dylan "walk" off some energy. One more photo of the group and we were off again.

Group Photo - A Little Less Windy

It had been a fun full day already but it was not over yet. We had one more awesome stop to make. This story is to be continued.....