NH Covered Bridge Challenge............ Takes on New England!: Bridge #13, The Bridge that Almost Wasn't...

With the taste of summer we decided to hit up a few bridges on a muggy Friday night. This time, we headed north!

With the plan to spend the night in the Plymouth Area, we loaded the car and were prepared to check three bridges off the list while the daylight lingered on these long summer days.

We headed to Franklin, with all the possibilities that summer had to offer. Little did we know that there were too many possibilities for one night. With the daylight weaning, we reached Franklin and were very impressed by the beautiful statues and landscaping of downtown Franklin. As we narrowed in on our search, my co-pilot read that we needed to park behind the carwash at the end of the hill and we would see a dirt trail. We found the carwash and the trail. Although, there were no signs telling us that we had reached our destination. The ever vigilant navigator, also told me that we would have to walk .3 miles in the woods. Using our resources, Natalie found alternate directions that suggested River Road would help us reach our destination. We left the carwash and continued on.

As we rounded the bend, a group of Franklin residents left their porches to come and greet us in the road. Continuing down the road, we passed a pale woman dressed in black, standing on the side of the road. This is the moment when I was reminded that this was dun, dun duuuun...BRIDGE 13! Natalie and I continued to drive and about 2 minutes later, Natalie said, " Umm...Ellen." I told her I knew what she was thinking and agreed that it was time to go home and turn the car around. The woman in black had disappeared. As we continued our retreat, there was a young boy waiting for the bus at twilight. We continued on to our accommodations for the evening. As we were driving, Natalie texted (we strictly enforce a no texting while driving policy) our Anonymous Chaperone. She informed this individual that we needed back up to tackle Bridge #13. From this point on the Anonymous Chaperone will be referred as as the AC.

We hit the road at 6:15. We thought that if we started early, we would have plenty of daylight (and little interaction with our Franklin Friends). Natalie's family had my license plate, make, and model should anything happen to us. We pulled up to the the car wash and looked at the dirt trail from the night before. I quickly assured the car that I was 91% sure that we were in the right location.

This is the gate that welcomed us after the Jersey barriers to the renamed JS Memorial Trail.

We spotted a roof, so we knew that we were coming close and were sure we were in the right place. Instead we found this:

We persevered...

Although, we started to have second thoughts...

...but not enough to stop our trek.

The trail suddenly ended. So, nervous and confused we turned around.

This is the AC asking if this is the Covered Bridge we are looking for. Shortly after this picture, he heard someone cough so we high-tailed it out of there.