NET Hop 4
84 miles via NH 3A, NH 104, NH 106, NH 11, NH 108, NH 236, ME 9 and ME 109. Cumulative tow miles: 315. Truck miles: 117. Cumulative truck miles: 1604.
On paper this should have been a quick, easy trip. Google said it would take 2 hours and the roads, while secondary, were well-traveled state routes.
First problem: one thing you can absolutely take to the bank is that secondary roads, in New Hampshire, in June, will be pretty broken up due to the winter frost heaves. That was the case for most of this route. The 10 miles on NH 11 northwest of Alton Bay were particularly nasty. That road produced a tossed salad in our refrigerator’s vegetable bin.
Second problem: the route picked by Google was almost identical in time to two other wildly different routes. There was no dominant route. When we set the destination in the GPS it violently disagreed with Google on how best to get there. Navigating by map is much more difficult than navigating by GPS. I tried. I endured the countless recriminating “recalculating” notices but even after 15 miles down the Google route the GPS disagreed. I eventually missed a turn, gave up on the map and followed the GPS. It matched about 80% of my expected route but inexplicably took me through the heart of Rochester, one of the larger cities in NH, when it seemed that a shorter route would have avoided it. Bottom line: the route I traveled was about 6 miles and 25 minutes longer than the route I intended to take.
Despite all that, it was a fairly pleasant ride with nice scenery much of the way. And it was a beautiful June day – low 70s, puffy clouds dotting the sky. Better than a day in the office.
Our site
Our home for the 3-day Escapees Chapter 3 rally was the Newfound RV Park in Bridgewater NH. This park is quite small – only about 50 sites. But most are pull-thrus and each has a picnic table and a fire ring. There is some shade, a dog park, a small playground and a short walk through the woods along a babbling brook. It also has a small recreation center with a pool table, a ping-pong table and a give-and-take library. No pool, but Newfound Lake is nearby.
The pull-thru sites are short. We had to park the truck across the front of the RV. But it was adequate.
The most surprising thing about the park was the cable TV. You had to get a decoder box from the office and attach it to one TV. Some people couldn’t do it, either because their RV television connectors were not accessible or because they were technically challenged. We got ours attached and were surprised to find that we had over 70 channels, most being digital and crystal clear. And there was an on-screen program directory and program information. It was, for three days, like having a satellite dish. Jett was in TV heaven.
Even more surprising was that I was handed the box with the cable gear with no deposit required. Those boxes can’t be cheap, but the office didn’t even ask which site I was on.
Trust. You don’t get that very often on the road.
Musical entertainment
The rally was a lot of fun. It was low-key and smaller than we expected – just 8 rigs. There was a breakfast each morning and a pot-luck supper the second night which featured pork roast and slow-cooked chicken pot pie (without the crust, of course). As pot-luck dinners go, this one was near the top.
Frankly, the best thing about the rally was the people, which is a tribute to the quality of the people who are brave enough to RV in the northeast. I heard many interesting stories and got quite a few recommendations on places to visit on our trip west this fall. We even got some free musical entertainment from two very accomplished guitarists/singers.
Two more things that made this hop a pleasure: doing laundry at the Wizards of Wash laundromat and having pizza at Pat’s Pizza, both in Bristol NH. The laundromat wasn’t fancy but the machines were great, the staff was friendly and helpful and, best of all from my perspective, there was a community 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. I put 24 pieces in place and before I knew it the laundry was dry and ready to be folded. We went to Pat’s afterward, on the recommendation of the laundromat staff. I had calzone and Jett had pizza. Jett’s assessment: “best pizza crust EVER.” And we hit the happy hour window so I had two beers for the price of one. That is what I call a perfect laundromat date night.
Meeting/game room
Pat’s pizza and calzone
Not-very-full park