The trip here was longer than we usually like---262 miles---but uneventful (except that our GPS tried to get us to cross a covered bridge that was too small and had a weight limit far below our traveling home)
and, since we left Bar Harbor at 8:00 am, we arrived at Contoocook (pronounced just like it is spelled, with the accent on "too") comfortably before 2:00 pm. The park is quite nice, but, once again, there are too many (very tall) trees and not only will our rooftop satellite dish not work, but there does not seem to be a place to put our backup dish to receive a signal. Pesky trees! The night we arrived, we settled for sleeping through several episodes of "The Closer" on a DVD that we borrowed from Pat and Bill. Very relaxing.
On Saturday morning, Becky urged me to try to set up the backup satellite dish, even without an obvious location "with a clear view of the southern sky" as required by DirecTV. At the second attempted location, it actually worked on most stations. Hooray!
Saturday night the park threw a wine and cheese party for the guests. The cheese was good, and the wine was so-so, but it was fun anyway. And, of course, free.
Contoocook is near Concord (the capital) and we went there on Sunday to have lunch (at Uno's Chicago Grill, no relation to the Numero Uno pizza chain and very good) and to hit Camping World and Wal-Mart. It was a typical day for us, until we (and Daisy) joined our neighbors Brice (pronounced "Breeze") and Lisa, and their two boxers, Nicco ans Stella, for an after-dinner drink and some great conversation. They live in Manchester, NH. Brice is in the marble business and visits Italy a lot as the result. He gave us some suggestions for our coming trip to Italy (we're leaving for Rome on September 21). They left for home on Monday, as did nearly everyone else at the park---it's deserted now until this coming (Labor Day) weekend.
Tuesday was set aside to visit Mount Monadnock, a local (60 miles away) landmark described in the literature as "[T]he most prominent New England mountain peak south of the White Mountains and east of the Massachusetts Berkshires, and...the highest point in Cheshire County." Wow! It is a hunk of largely-bare granite, formed much like Sugarloaf in Rio de Janeiro, and is purported to be the third most frequently climbed mountain in the world. I cannot imagine why it is that popular. I was warned that it was a strenuous climb to the top, so, being the jock I am, I chose to sit it out and do crossword puzzles while Becky, Pat, and Bill did their stuff. They were back within the hour, having made it only half-way up, and complaining that it was the most difficult climb ever.
We salved our bruised egos by having a terrific lunch at Daniel's Restaurant in nearby Henniker. It was another place in a small town with a surprisingly creative menu and a wonderful staff, like several we've encountered on this odyssey.
This really is a country filled with talented and interesting people.
On Wednesday, we went back to Concord---mainly to see the capitol and its suroundings. The capitol is a beautiful, impressive old building.
The legislature is out of session, so there was nothing going on. But we had a long talk with one of the guards, who filled us in on what we needed to know. We also visited the chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Very nice. Very reminiscent of their counterparts in Washington, D.C. I guess that was to be expected.
They even have manners in New Hampshire.
Interesting Data: The New Hampshire legislature is a part-time thing, meeting during the months of January through June only, with the members paid only $100.00 per year plus travel expenses. (The Speaker of the House and the Senate President, both of whom happen to be women, incidentally, get $200.00.) There are 24 Senators and 400 Representatives. That means each Representative has only 3,300 constituents (including children), unlike the federal types who represent more than 600,000 people each.
We were scheduled to leave here on Friday, but, due to the hurricane ("Earl") that is approaching the east coast, we have decided to head out on Thursday instead. We're not concerned that the hurricane would affect us directly, but traveling in the rain that will undoubtedly come to outlying areas would not be fun---or particularly safe. So we will head for Accord, New York, on Thursday.
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