Historic Jamestowne

We visted Historic Williamsburg this weekend. We had our dog "Bailey" with us so we had to participate in activities that allowed dogs. We toured the US National Park Jamestowne.

Admission was $10 for adult and children 15 and under was free.

More details soon...

Soulfest 2008

I got the reminder email that Soulfest 2008 is returning to Gunstock Montain this week. Free parking!

We use to attend this event when it was held at Loon Mountain when it was called Inside Outside Soul Festival. At that time, Patty got to meet her favorite Christian artist Nicole C. Mullen. I would love to attend this year to see Toby Mac, Newsboys, Mercy Me, and more!

However I'm not sure if we are going to be in the area. If I do attend I'll be sure to post a trip report here.

Jefferson Memorial

After a quick but yummy dinner, we headed out to visit some of the attractions in Washington DC. Parking is VERY SCARE to say the least.

We did find some near the Jefferson's memorial. Enclosed is one picture. More is on my webshots. We hope to hit more DC attractions before our time is up here.

Huge Savings at Hersheypark this July!

Got this email today....

http://view.hersheysweetmail.com/?j=fe5a157375630d797212&m=fef017777d6d00&ls=fe0315747567047a7614717c&wss_cid=&attr=View+as+Web+Page^^CYGNUS

Day Out with Thomas

This past Sunday we took Cameron to the "Day Out with Thomas" event at the Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway, NH. Upon arriving we immediately went to get our picture with Thomas the Train. They had a photographer on hand where you could purchase professional photos but the ones on my camera that I took was good enough.

Thomas is a REAL life size train which ran up and down the track every 45 minutes on scheduled runs (supported by a locomotive with several passenger trains). Thomas during the trip whistles and even has steam coming out of his stack!

The tickets are $18 per person (we bought tickets a while back in April thinking that it would sell out on the same vein as the Polar Express). Even though the train was full, it was possible to buy tickets right then and there! The train ride is only 25 minutes (with 20 minutes docking for pictures).

For extra activities, we went to see the character Sir Topham hat and got a picture with him. They had a huge Gift Shop tent. Patty was able to pickup a special theme shirt, lunch box, and backpack (for preschool) for Cameron. They also had face painting, water mist tents, mini haymaze, a large turtle to pet, some animals, tracks to play with, locamotive to climb, and even a free magnet gift if you make your way around to the station. Did I mention that besides our train ride event all of this was FREE and open to the public.

Although I didn't care for the "not very scenic" train ride (it is only 1/2 the Conway trip), the event was well done, and it was an enjoyable day and one my little guy won't probably forget.

Thomas returns to the Conway Scenic Railroad this upcoming weekend 18-20 July 2008.

Pirate Week at Danforth Bay

Danforth Bay's Theme for 5-11 July is Pirate Week. Patty spent months planning and collecting items for this. We even built not one but two sailor masks. We even decorated our golf cart. It was a lot of fun but decorations will come down tonight. Perhaps they will reappear during the Halloween season here at Danforth Bay.

Kancamagus / Swift River (updated 8/11/08)

Believe it or not we had a very dry week during our northern New Hampshire 2008 summer getaway. With high gas prices and a pending business/leisure trip we kept things kind of cheap and visited the Kancamagus River not once, not twice, but three times at three difference locations. This is a GREAT way to cool off on a hot summer day.

On our first trip we weren't really prepared. We only brought some light snacks, a few drinks, towels, and bathing-suits. I wasn't expecting to get wet so I chose not to wear a bathing suit knowing that the flowing river water is typically very cold. Although much to my surpise on this REALLY HOT day I ended up getting completely wet to cool off. Overall, we had a blast even though the location we picked was not ideal for our 4 year old.

The second trip we had it better planned. Towels, lunch, and even bought tubes at a local shop in Conway, NH for the older kids to go down the river, I wore my suit, and we found the ideal spot for Cameron. The weather however was rather cloudy and cool (72 for a high) but thankfully dry. We had a great time until this family of 3 showed up and litterally crowded our space. With miles and miles or river they kind of encroached on our "happy" bubble. With their 3 year old splashing, walking on our towels, etc. Its not like we were at Rocky Gorge or Lower Falls (where this type of behavior would be expected). The woman even had the nerve to undress her little boy in front of my 9 year old daughter! Fortunately we were at the end of our stay.

Our third trip was on a busy Saturday. Our spot that we had found on the second day was occupied. We ended up at Rocky Gorge and found a gorgeous beach area where we settled for a good part of the day. Even though it was busy in this area. We saw only a small amount of people on "our beach". We even brought our dog, Bailey!

There is good fishing at the Kancamagus too! During our visit, we saw several people catching some big fish! NH license is required.

Several locations on the Kancamgus Hi-way / Swift River is considered a fee area. We bought a seasonal pass sticker that we have placed on our car.

Pictures are here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/564032463NybZrm