Another pretty ride. Similar type of scenery as previous days. We started the day backtracking a bit to get back on route. Just gotta say that the first hill was a lot more fun going down at the end of yesterday's ride. Mostly rural residential today with some small towns, some marshland and forest mixed in. Lots of stone walls & fences. I noticed a few more pine trees today and could smell some as well; nice.
We had a much appreciated reprieve from traffic noise for 3.5 miles on the Nashua River Rail Trail. Saw these geese and beaver house from there.
Spotted this nice (and typical for these small towns) house in Dunstable.
At 26 miles we crossed another state line into New Hampshire; just one more to go! Below is a picture of what it looks like when we come upon a state sign. The bikes get positioned and cameras get passed around so that everyone gets their Kodak moment.
My Kodak moment.
A pretty uneventful ride. Lots of ups and downs. Mostly good surfaces but our share of cracked and lumpy pavement as well. At one point my mirror flew off on a bumpy downhill. I got back to it just in time to watch (and hear) a car run right over it - yikes! I picked up the 2 pieces, put them back together, and I think it will last the rest of the trip.
One particularly lovely section of road.
A busy corner seafood diner shortly after crossing into NH.
An old buggy as lawn art.
We had lovely SAG stops at 20 and 40 miles, but were ahead of the 60 mile stop. So - when a rural ice cream shop appeared at about 62 miles, we had to go in. Delicious, and huge servings. Only my second ice cream of the trip..........
The original plan called for us to stay in the lovely historic city of Exeter. Seems there was no lodging available there, though. It might have had something to do with the Phillips Exeter Academy graduation this weekend.
Some fun facts & figures about this private day & boarding school. Established in 1781. Over 1,000 students in grades 9 through 12. Average class size 12. Campus - 619 acres, 127 buildings. Tuition $48,000 (boarding), $37,000 (day).
Exeter really did seem to be a nice old city. Here are some other photos from my quick ride through town.
Once through Exeter we finally headed for the coast. The headwind and cool breezes picked up as we made the final turn eastward toward Hampton Beach. Lovely beach but way too many tacky tourist places on the main drag. A bit chilly for dinner tonight. People were coveting my puffy MEC jacket and my hand-knit toque.
Stats for the day:
124 km from Boxborough MA to Hampton NH. 4200 feet of climbing. Temps 12C to 24C and back down again.
Ah, Hampton Beach! Believe it or not, that is one of my earliest memories -- playing in a small pool my parents made me by digging out the sand and letting the tide fill it. I was 22 months old. We also have some pictures of me walking along behind a large woman and trying to mimic her waddle...
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't so tacky back then -- after all that was a few years ago...