New Hampshire (part 1)
I was going to indulge in some more urban decay and dead thistles this week, but when my friend sabster reminded me that it was exactly a year ago that she, our mutual friend merry_bean and I went on our legendary Eurotrash Do New England Tour, I thought it would be appropriate to post some pictures taken during that tour.
For those of you not in the know, the great 2004 Eurotrash Do New England Tour involved, among other things, a hired car, lots of waterfalls, mountains, Tolkien references in bizarre and unexpected places, and ultimately a much-anticipated reunion with a group of American Tolkien-heads, with whom we visited the great Lord of the Rings exhibition in Boston, played Lord of the Rings-themed Risk and Trivial Pursuit, enacted Lord of the Rings action-figure fights and generally had a lot of fun. Sadly, I haven't got round to scanning my photos of the social side of things yet, nor of all the unexpected Tolkien references we came across. Furthermore, my waterfall pictures turned out rather disappointingly (I'm rubbish at photographing falls), and it was a little too early in the season for spectacular autumn foliage. However, I did get some nice shots of the mountains in Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire, which I'll post over the next few days.
And because I know that someone else will say it if I don't, I'll say it myself: "I want to see mountains again, mountains, Gandalf!"
These pics were taken on Mt Washington, the highest mountain in the northeastern United States, and supposedly the one with the worst weather in the world. We got to experience a little of the latter at the top, which was so misty that... (no, I'm not going to say it), and did indeed find the mountain to be a little on the windy side (which is my way of saying we were nearly blown off it). Unfortunately, we got to the mountain a little too late in the afternoon to see it in its full, sunny glory. All the same we very much enjoyed our journey to the top, and the gorgeous patches of early-evening light which lit up the hills below us. For me, coming from the flattest country on earth, seeing a mountain is always a pleasure, and Mt Washington is as beautiful a mountain as I could have hoped to see when I crossed the Atlantic in search of some Tolkien-related fun.
So. Yeah. I really do want to see mountains again, Gandalf. And then find somewhere quiet where I can finish my book.
Oh, tea!