Day 48 thru Day 58 Thursday August 4, 2011 to Saturday August 13, 2011--Lake Francis State Park, Pittsburg, NH

Lake Francis

Well, this has been a pretty dreary stretch of weather. Both at Umbagog CG and here at Lake Francis State Park, it has rained a lot--which is why I have not posted a lot on the Blog!

I can't say every day, but it's been grey and raw and wet and cold enough to feel like it rained every day. I think that's what we mind the most. The color grey. The dreary sky. There were times, when the sky was blue and we saw sun, but soon enough, the big clouds would roll in and you felt the cold again. This is August isn't it? And all the time we kept listening to the weather reports: "beautiful sunny skies, high in the 80's". They certainly were not talking about the North County.

Now I'm not looking for heat and humidity. Just sun!

During our time at Umbagog, however, it was easy to ignore. I had Internet and electricity. I was on from early morning till Ed kicked me off. We had no cell service. But at least there was Internet. I even played Bridge for a few hours on line each day. I was on so much I almost got sick of it:). I finally had to go out and buy some books!

Here at Lake Frances it's different. We reserved site #1 because all the sites by the water were taken. What do you have to do to get those good water views anyway? We've had this site before. It's a little tight for the camper. We had to maneuver it into the site bringing our bed basically over the fire pit. Good thing we don't usually have a fire! The site peeks thru the trees to the lake and a grassy area...and "ye old out house". Convenient and quaint, Ed says, and not as smelly as you'd expect!

Now Lake Francis does have hot showers, flush toilets (if you want to walk that far) and a washer and dryer.

Did I tell you about the sign in the shower and toilet house?

       Please do not step on the frogs in the showers or bathrooms

I have to admit to being a little anxious while reading that sign as I was using the facilities!  But I can tell you I never did see a frog--except in Buddy's water bowl one morning at our campsite.

But here again.  Despite having some amenities, there was no cell service and no Internet. Internet and Cell service is 23-25 miles away. I head there every day, but at $3.69 a gallon of gas (20 mpg) it's over $7.00 a day.

The civilization I found is back in Colebrook, NH. A quaint, somewhat distressed town (but healthier then other local towns around). To get there you can go straight down Rt 3 (boring), or take the roller coaster road of Rt 145. That's a kick! Very windy, 2 lane road with steep hills and beautiful green valleys.

The local towns you go thru are Stewartstown and Pittsburg, NH. You can even make a one mile detour (for different scenery) and go through Canaan and Beecher Falls, VT. Canada is another 2 miles away. Like I said, God's country.

It was sad going thru some back roads, though, since many of the missing posters for the 11 year old named Cassie were still up on the telephone poles. Lots of the local newspapers still had articles about the investigation of her disappearance and murder . Very sad. There are so few houses up here, with no real appearance of wealth, you wonder what was someone thinking by kidnapping and killing a little girl?

We're in the North County...the true land of 'Live Free or Die' folks. Apparently, there is an on going battle of some Canadian/American company who wants to put in Electric Towers. Lots of anti signs.

They call it : NO to the Northern Pass! You almost think there are people just inside those curtains who would shot you if you were 'pro' in this electric battle!

Today, Saturday, is a beautiful sunny day. Lots of billowing clouds and the temps in the 70's. Now I'm happy!

Ed decides to leave to go fly fishing "up the river". Buddy has been really good all summer with us leaving him behind since he just physically is having more trouble taking anything but a short walk to the Lake.

But he looks so hopeful, Ed decides to take him. Tails wagging, Ed and Buddy leave.

They were gone for 5 hours. Buddy was not as energetic when he arrived home. He was pooped. Once he had water he was thrilled to snuggle up on his blanket/bed and not move for the next 2 hours. Ed said he had a lot of trouble getting over the logs and downed trees thru the woods, but always found a spot to sleep when Ed started fly fishing.

He's such a good dog. Just wants to be with you.

We leave here on Monday morning. We are heading to our last site in Maine, at Rangeley State Park a few hours away. It's our first time there. The map, however, shows like the trip, while short may be interesting. The road is marked with 1 line --not 2--which probably means a dirt road. Now we've done those before. Heck, it's a mile in on a dirt road to get to Lake Francis! But other times, it's been a little hairy with the camper. We shall see!