Terrifying Rides

The Mt. Washington Auto Road. This sign should have been a clue!

Walden Pond

Scituate, Mass

The famous road!! In your imaginiation, add fog and rain, and two-way traffic and you ge the idea

Plymouth Rock. This is the original rock, and although the rock was never huge, it had been chipped away by tourists and then dropped when it was taken out of the water.

MayflowerII. Seemed so small!

Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables

The "rude" bridge at Concord

Our itinerary included: Portland; Plymouth, Mass; Concord, Mass--Walden Pond, Lexington and Concord Battlefield; Salem, Mass; Scituate, Mass (where the Bailey ancestors originated); Brattlesboro, Vermont; Mt. Washington Auto Road, New Hampshire; Gorham, New Hampshire.

We spent three days exploring New England as the proverbial leaf peepers. We experienced such kindness from the New Englanders! We laughed, loved, listened to gripping books on tape, hiked, and felt a renewal of our love for our country and our roots. We sat beside an author in a little deli in Concord, Mass, and I eavesdropped while she described the "birthing" of each new book she's written. I have no idea who she was other than her name was Joan, and she's been writing since the early 70's. The only moose we saw in Maine was a poor creature who'd lost his life to a hunter.

There were several "unexpected finds" on our trip. One was Walden Pond. As we skirted Boston on our way to Plymouth, I had no more mentioned to Dad that on our next trip, we should plan to go to the "haunts" of writers like Emerson, Thoreau, etc, than I spotted a sign that said "Walden Pond State Recreational Park." We spent several hours roaming through Walden Pond, the battlefields of Lexington and Concord, the Wayside Inn and gazing at the numerous beautifully restored Colonial homes.

Another unexpected find was Scituate, Mass. I've wanted to go to Scituate for a long time because Grandma Kennedy's blueblooded line--the Vaughns moved from the original Plymouth Colony to Scituate. I expected a sleepy, tiny village, and, although Scituate is small, it's not tiny. It's a truly beautiful village--very picturesque. It was easy to feel the presence of our ancestors as we drove around.

Another ancestor of the family is William Brewster, who came on the Mayflower. We searched for an hour in the original burying ground at Plymouth for his grave until it was too dark, but we did find a lovely little garden that had been the site of his original homestead. Very affirming. We enjoyed Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower. Dad loved the many rock walls in Plymouth.

At one point, Dad spent several hours searching for a site he'd seen in the atlas when he was planning the trip. Down one road and up another. He was searching for a Christmasland village, which he knew I would enjoy, but after a fruitless search, he had to admit defeat. I was so touched and reminded of his great love for me, for my happiness, and my loves--no matter how silly they are.

However, the highlight of the trip had to be the Mt. Washington Auto Road in New Hampshire. I had seen some bumper stickers that read: "This car climbed Mt. Washington." We'd had wonderful, wonderful weather the entire trip, so we weren't apprehensive when we started up the road. I figured that I'd gone up Dock Grade so many times that I could manage an eight mile road that climbed 8000 feet up a mountain. We'd been on the road for about a mile when Dad asked if I would stick in the cd of the book on tape we'd been listening to and advance it. I replied with tightly clenched teeth, "I can't. I've got both hands holding on!" The view was gorgeous--scary but gorgeous. We drove high above the tree level and into the clouds, from paved road to gravel road to mud road. We couldn't see the view from the top because dusk was falling; it was "froggy," and it was pouring buckets of rain. The trip was scary as we worked our way down in the rain and mud. I had clenched my teeth throughout the hour we spent that the next day, when I bit into a piece of gum, it was gritty from flecks of my tooth. Dad was calm and composed throughout!!

A wonderful affirming experience.