On Sunday, we drove from New Hampshire back to New York, stopping off to see the Emily Dickinson House and Museum:
The tour included both her childhood home (which she lived in until her death), which is a restoration, and the Evergreen, her brother's home on the same property, which is a preservation - it was fascinating to learn and see the difference!
Abby's requests for her birthday, in order. The farmer's market and flowers:
Hang out time as a family (this was in our room at Dowd's Country Inn):
Carrot cake from Molly's (there was also Thai food):
We got up early on Friday morning and packed up to head back south. We were eager to get to Sean's cabin on Perkins Pond, which is one of our favorite places. We got their late morning and had a little bit of time to relax before Abby texted she was done with class. Benji and I decided to hang back a the cabin while Kevin drove over to Hanover to pick Abby up:
 |
| Benji and Sean took the canoes out while Kevin was gone (I read on the porch) |
 |
| We sprung the canoe free before docking back at the cabin |
We didn't stay over with Sean this visit because Abby wanted to be back in Hanover for her birthday, so we said goodbye as it got dark and headed back to campus.
Most of the rest of the rain ended up passing us to the north, and we had a mostly clear last day in Lincoln. We started at this breakfast place which was only open a few days a week, but which we had wanted to try (totally worth that wait):
After breakfast, we decided to try our luck at Echo Lake, which was the body of water we had seen from above on yesterday's hike. We got about an hour in before it started to rain and we packed it up:
The rain cleared in less than an hour, so we decided to explore some more, stopping first at the Old Man of the Mountain state historic site:
 |
| The site has footsteps all over listing various heights. If you step in the footsteps that match your height and look at the nearest pole, you can see what the formation looked like before it fell |
 |
| This is profile lake, which used to reflect the old man |
From profile lake, we drove the short distance to The Basin, which is a naturally formed granite bowl which has a whirlpool swirl through it. The sign noted that Henry David Thoreau called it "the most remarkable curiosity of its kind":
The Basin was at the end of a very pretty trail along the Pemigewasset river, which Benji and I both waded into at a shallow point:
We ended the day in Woodstock, NH, which is a cute little town with some fun restaurants. We chose the Woodstock Brewery:
 |
| Funny box outside the pet store |
 |
| We ended with this gigantic dessert |
We had asked Jess and Rusty for suggestions of what to do with our next two days in Lincoln, but they had warned the weather would be terrible and suggested we might look for indoor activities (the remnants of hurricane Beryl were headed our way). Kevin kept an eye on the weather though, and we decided to brave a shorter hike the next morning. We set our sites of a 1.5 mile loop that had two small spurs with excellent viewpoints (with both spurs, it ended up just short of 2 miles). The reviews of the hike online were very positive, but they had warned it was "rocky" and that the second spur was "steep."
 |
| I am not sure what I thought "rocky" meant, but it actually meant that the entire first part of the hike was like climbing a staircase made of rocks |
 |
| Artist's Bluff. Kevin did not want to brave the edge of the rocks, but he was game to take a few pictures for us |
 |
| At the end of the spur, we realized that "steep" meant that is was actually a climb/rock scramble to the end, which Kevin opted out of. He did grab this picture of Benji near the top of the climb (I had already crested that outcropping above him) |
 |
| It started to rain right as we climbed to the top, so I asked Benji to stand for one quick picture before we went back down |
 |
| And a selfie, since Kevin was down below and unavailable to take a picture |
 |
| The course was themed "hobo hills" |
 |
| There were tons of these noisy bullfrogs everywhere |
 |
| For a mini golf course, it had really nice views! |
After Mount Washington, we checked into our condo in Lincoln, New Hampshire, which is right in the middle of the White Mountain region. On Tuesday morning, we headed to Flume Gorge, which is the biggest attraction in Franconia Notch State Park (and the only one that the state charges admission to hike):
 |
| Pretty covered bridge at the start of the hike |
 |
| Walk had us crossing this river several times |
 |
| Start of the actual flume gorge |
 |
| Coming out of the gorge, we crossed the river again |
 |
| Lots more waterfalls on the back half of the hike |
 |
| A second covered bridge at the end of the hike. This bridge was made from a single plank from a large "sentinel" pine that used to stand here |
 |
| View from the covered bridge |
 |
| On the little path back to the visitor's center, there was signage pointing out nearby mountains. This one is supposed to look like George Washington at rest |
 |
| I even remembered to take a group picture! Kevin, Jess, Ryder, Rusty, Jack, and Benji |
