LOON MOUNTAINS & CONWAY, NEW HAMPSHIRE

The desire to see the famous Fall colours of New Hampshire took us up North from Nashua,where we live. Fall is setting in and officially the first day of Autumn is  22nd September, yet as we are leaving this lovely place on 23rd September we were in a rush to see whatever we could before the onset of the full colors.

En route to Loon Mountains

On our way up north, we stopped at Loon Mountain. This is a place famous for skiing. There were the Gondola type ropeway and also the open chair type ropeway. We went in the closed gondolas and went up to the top of the mountain. The view all around was beautiful. One could only see thick forests all around.

The Lake

There was a lake too quite high up. The food at the cafe on top of the mountain was really good. Jamaican fare in the heart of North America, spicy and different was quite amazing! The sky was as blue as it possibly could be and the fluffy clouds made beautiful shadows on the hills. It was quite windy and cold.
Down the mountain, we saw bungee jumping, rock climbing and a zip wire too. Aaria my four year old grand daughter, is becoming quite interested in sporty things so she said that she wanted to do bungee jumping. To our surprise she went quite high and showed her independence by managing to stay for much over the time allotted to her.
After that we resumed our  journey onwards to Conway

Conway Railway Station

Conway is a small town which caters mainly to tourists. There are numerous hotels, eating places and outlet stores in the town. The shops on the main road are unique. Each shop seems to have a history and maintains the look of olden time neighborhood stores. There was a shop called " 5 cents & 10 cents" store, which was opened in 1900.

5Cents & 10 cent store

There was "Zeb's "which was full of goodies of all types.  There was an old Ford parked outside the shop and an old time petrol pump too. It was interesting to walk through the store and see the stuff that had been maintained so well. Old Coca cola iceboxes and bottles too added to the charm of the place.

Old coke bottles in an ice box

The town has a lovely Conway Scenic Railroad.The destination is only the scenic view around the mountains. The trains are maintained beautifully. The magical part was the steam engine which was hauling the train.  I went several years back and re lived the memories of long forgotten train journeys of my childhood when as a school girl I would travel on trains hauled by steam engines! The billowing smoke, the coal dust, the wonderful whistle of the engine made me feel nostalgic. We took great pleasure in telling Aaria that this was a chhuk,chuk gadi.

The steam engine

A steam engine hauls the train at a slower speed, and the smoke reminds you of a bygone era when pollution was not the upper most thought on any one's mind.

The Dining Car

We took the 1330 hours Dining Car Chocorua train. Dining on the rails in America is a tradition dating back to the mid 19th century when railrods across the country started offering meals on the train as an alternative to the road houses that were located at their stops.The charm, the experience on the Dining car was memorable.
I love retro.  I love to remember days that just went away even before they started.

Interesting stuff!

Conway has an old world charm. There are quaint little shops with unique names, and unique features. There are no big chain stores on that main stretch. People walk as though automobiles do not exist. Parking is easy and without charge. Shops sell goods which one does not see any longer in huge chain stores.
This vacation  was a memorable, beautiful return to the past.

Fall setting in.

Fall colours for which we had set out were scant. We were therefore happy to spot any patch of red, orange or yellow. The road, the national forest, the river flowing by made this place even more enchanting.

On the way back we went past the huge Lake Winnipesaukee. This and the name of the river are original names given by the original inhabitants of this place, the American Indians. Early settlers called  this area  Pequawket and the river nearby was called Saco. The nearest Indian village in this area was the Abenaki Indian Village.