We awoke at the Mountain View Grand and sipped our coffee on the porch. We watched the fog drift off the White Mountains. What a great start to a summer day!
Hmm. Perhaps next summer the challenge will be to visit the historic hotels in America.
It was a rainy, foggy start to the day. But that quickly changed.
Breakfast with a view.
From Whitefield, we headed north. We stopped at the Welcome Center, just south of Pittsburg. We met George who worked in the center. He was very excited to welcome us to the North Country and to tell us about the attractions in the area. Once he heard he we like covered bridges, he shared with us that there were 3 in the Pittsburg. He also gave us a brochure on bridges and waterfalls. He also told us about the 45th Parallel and wanted to give us another pamphlet, but I declined. George also thought that we should check out the burial ground of the last Indian and the last Eskimo. He didn't have a pamphlet on those sites, so we don't know more about it.
Here I am with the 45th Parallel, halfway between the North Pole and the Equator. We are waaay closer to Santa now :)
Happy Corner
Next we drove through Pittsburg. It was breathtakingly beautiful! The we ended up at the Happy Corner Bridge.
It was built in the mid-1800s.
It has an impressive Paddleford truss system with arches that were added.
It spans the Perry Stream.
This is bridge, even had colorful Christmas lights. What's not happy about that?!?!
Legend has it that a man who lived nearby loved singing and dancing. People from town flocked to his house to listen to music, sing, and dance.
So of course, we followed in tradition.
Pittsburg marks their beams, to prevent other towns or moose from stealing them.
Connecticut Lake
This bridge was built in 1876.
It is no longer in use, so it is easy to sneak up on the bridge for a closer peek.
It doesn't get much sadder than a closed covered bridge.
The bridge overlooks the Connecticut River.
Fun Bridge Fact: This bridge is the northernmost bridge over the Connecticut River.
It has been closed to traffic since 1981.
Connecticut Lake
River Road
This bridge is located on the rapids of the Perry Stream.
This bridge was built in 1858.
If you look at the far end of the bridge. You can see a white sign. It is actually a trash bag where a neighbor wrote a warning to the people who had broken their gate. It was not a happy note and filled with words that should not be repeated. Just know, it is not a good idea to mess with this woman's gate, trash bag signs mean business.
The Rapids.
The other side...no rapids.
Good fences, make good neighbors.
The town doesn't know much about this bridge. It is picturesque and well worth the drive.
Columbia
The Columbia was built in 1912. It replaces a bridge that burned down.
The Columbia spans the Connecticut River with NH on one side and VT on the other.
This sign is important. A man drove through in his pick up truck and joked that he wouldn't run us over. He must have read the sign. Phew. If only he knew how dangerous it was to lurk in a covered bridge, he wouldn't have joked about it.
Look at these Howe trusses!
Grovton Bridge
Yay for picnic tables on bridges!
Check out the view of downtown Groveton!
A perfect paddleford truss!
The view of the Ammonoosuc River.
This bridge was built in 1852. This is also the bridge, where I hit ...the wall. This also explains why I didn't have too many pictures of this bridge.
There was a cute caboose with this bridge. Who doesn't love a good train. There were signs that said we couldn't ride or climb on it :(
Stark
Next we headed down Route 110 to Stark. In the backyard of the school, was this bridge! Imagine being an elementary student and seeing this bridge every day!
A great view of the Ammonoosuc River and the White Mountains.
Another example of Paddleford trusses (no arches).
This bridge was built in 1862. Judging, by the outside it hasn't been repainted since then.
Some people have their mailboxes here, including the town offices. How small town!
This states that the bridge is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. It moves quickly, so that is why it is so blurry.
Mechanic Street
Next it was onto Lancaster to view the Mechanic Street Bridge. It was built in 1862.
Lancaster takes their bridges very seriously! While on the bridge a caravan of passengers honked at us and stopped to say hi. This was the first time a family we have known ran into us on the bridge. Very exciting, Quays!
Sometimes this bridge is called the Israels River Bridge.
After this bridge, things got serious. I like to think of this as my marathon moment. We drove back through the bridge and I threw up. I guess I couldn't handle the excitement of one more bridge. Don't worry our story doesn't end there. We prevailed.
Mount Orne
Next we travelled on Route 135. It is a rolling countryside.
Here it is....our last official NH bridge. The Mount Orne Bridge.
It spans the Connecticut River with Lancaster to the East and Lunenberg, VT to the West.
This was dark inside. It is over 266 feet long!
More impressive supports!
Nice work, Lancaster!
Mission accomplished!
We did it! We visited all of the official covered bridges in NH! We also visited many of the unofficial covered bridges. Who knew there were so many covered bridges on golf courses. Natalie and I enjoyed the experience and had a lot of fun adventures! We learned a lot and saw the beauty that the state of New Hampshire had to offer. We also found out that many of the people of the state are proud of what makes their town special. When they found out that we were visitors, they were quick to invite us to other special sites in the town. It is easy to see why the people of New Hampshire take pride in their state, the beauty, the history, and the people.
Some of you may be worried (or relieved) but there are 106 covered bridges in Vermont with our name on them that need to be uncovered! Happy Travels!
