Thu 13 Jun - Lincoln, NH

We decided on a quieter, lazy and local day as we have been "running around" a bit lately. Let the wildlife go about their daily business today so to say.

So, let's start with a few pics from our motel site and our cabin.

The place is called Profile Motel and the picture below may give you an idea as to why.

Mid morning (in Hans timetable, which is 8ish) and Di is still in bed with the iPad. Is she blogging? or just lazing?

Our cabin is the first to the right, with the black Chevy Impala parked in front of it.

There is a brook just behind our cabin (to the left in the picture). You can't hear the water from the inside of the cabin with the door closed, but sitting outside in the enclosed area you can. And it's very relaxing to hear.

This note is inside our porch. Hmmm....

The housekeeper does this party trick of making an elephant out of a towel and centred it onto the bed. There is a guest book inside the cabin and we understand from the comments that this has been going on for years and that it is very much appreciated by the guests. Needless to say, we liked it too. We wanted to keep that towel instead of using it.

Inside the reception of Profile Motel, they had one of these fantastic coffee machines, that we have only seen once before in St Michaels, Maryland. The machine does only one cup at the time, but quite fast, and it is the closest to a "real" cup that we have encountered by a do-it-yourself machine.

The reception also has this "Bill of Rights" set up on the wall. It does makes you feel more valued as a customer.

Some time after noon, we reckon that it is time for lunch, in the cheap and chirpy Chinese restaurant that we saw yesterday next to the pizza joint. They did advertise lunch deals for $6.25 including a soup and a chicken wing on top of your chosen meal out of a selection of 26 or so dishes.

And this is what the lunch deal food looks like for 2 people... Ohh, minus the soup as that came first and has already been eaten..

And the result... Well, we were both full and saved our chicken wings for later. Cost in total including tea, fortune cookies and tax is $13.65. We kept questioning how they could make any money at this price?

We thought that this was funny. Apparently by law, all restrooms in restaurants have to have a sign advising the employees to wash their hands after completed business. Some comedian had slightly modified the sign inside the men's restroom at the Chinese restaurant.

As we leave the Chinese restaurant, a number of bikers were packing away some shopping on their bikes, parked just next to our car. We couldn't help giggle as we heard one of female bikers suggest to the other that they would go and get some soda water. We had previously joked among ourselves that bikers today drink mineral water rather than alcohol, at least when they are riding.

We then drove to the Lincoln's Visitor's Centre to get more info about hiking in the area. The Forestry Service guys, who also had their representation inside, were most helpful. You could tell by their initial questions to us that they had enough of ill-prepared punters coming from elsewhere to hike "their" mountains. Hypothermia in summer is a big risk here. Negative comments were made about t-shirst and sneakers. We assured them we had all the gear necessary and left with maps and information and 2 suggested hikes, likely for Saturday and Sunday given the current weather forecast.

Hey, you scratch my back and I scratch yours...

I am looking at you...

We then drove north a bit on I93 to the trailhead for both our intended hikes, just to check it out. Yep, high mountains on both sides and clear evidence of a glacier passing through this way a long time ago. Hans is getting excited :-). Di perhaps got a bit overwhelmed. Fantastic scenery even from the interstate.

The trailhead had lots of maps and information including a timetable for a AMC shuttle bus that would take you here / return you from here (far right on the photo). It is all very well set up. The AMC is the Appalachian Mountain Club, established in 1876, to look after the trails and shelters in the White Mountains. They have since expanded to cover between Maine and Washington, DC. They even have volunteers at shelters and huts out on the trails during the summer hiking season.

We spoke to 2 hikers at the trailhead who just had completed one of the 2 hikes that we intended to do. They had done it in 6 hours (about 9 miles, 14.5 km) and according to them, the views were fantastic, but it is up, up and up for a stretch. And strenuous.

Here is Di with our non deer damaged (so far?) new Chevy Impala. See, no scratches...

We swing by a grocery store called Price Choppers to get some more supplies including water and hiking food... and post hiking drinks, see below. A great deal where you can pick and choose any 6 beers or shandies for $9.99 out of perhaps 50 mostly local brews (great for road testing) but also some imported brands.

True to the spirit of Lincoln this week, there were quite a few bikers inside the store too. Of course, most of them could be found in the beer and wine section.

We drive back to our cabin for a hot chocolate and later to sample the local delicacies (read alcohol). At 5.30pm, the rain started again and is predicted to continue throughout the night, but we will not be going anywhere so we are high and dry (on our outside screened porch) and not so dry (inside ourselves)...

Dinner was crispbread, cheese and wurst in our cabin. Lazy evening as the showers came and went and arrvived again. Good night.

Posted with Blogsy