The Kichlines: February 2005

Home Again

Well, it appears that this vacation is coming to an end. It was once again very relaxing and educational. I got a chance to meet new people, ski with Jaime and see some more sites. Overall not to shabby.

We had a fairly long drive home, leaving Conway at 12:45 PM and arriving at our home at 12:45 AM. We made a number of stops on the way home, namely the New Hampshire Wine and Liquor outlet, and my parents. First and foremost, those NH liquor stores are like Walmarts filled with booze! Quite amazing and with very good prices. Jaime and I got some bottles of desert wine and refills of Amaretto and Kaluha.

We stopped by and saw my parents which was good, but it set us back nearly 2 hours. We arrived at about 9:15 PM and left there at about 11:15 PM. But it was a good time.

Tommorrow (or today actually) we may extend our vacation by sleeping in and maybe skiing nearby with the fresh snow expected. We shall see. I will also try to post some pictures of the last leg of our journey in the AM.

Leaving Today

Jaime and I decided to leave today to beat the weather that's heading North. It was a good relaxing time. I think we're going to come back in the summer and do some hiking. There are plenty of mountains and streams to explore. We'll have to pack up our stuff and say good bye. We will probably head into town for a little bit, stop at the Mexican restaurant for lunch, and head back... for the 9 hour trip. Maybe next time we will take a flight out of Philadelphia for $100 round trip. Well, gotta go pack.

Meeting New Friends

One of the neatest things about hostelling is meeting new people and talking about new things. I have found this to be the most interesting thing that has happened to me each time I've come to New Hampshire. Last time I got to chat and befriend a young woman named Jamie, and this time I got to meet Eva, Phillip and Rosemary from Germany and Sweden. It is just a good feeling to reach out and connect with others that come from a different background and experience than you. One of the interesting moments was chatting about how Eva and Phillip experienced the Berlin wall coming down, or how American culture views World War II and Germany. It is just fun to open your mind and learn about other cultures. We also had some discussion about something simple like alcohol. Phillip is 20 and luckily did not yet get carded. He talked with his brother in Germany who is turning 16. He joked that he will get to drink beer before Phillip (the beer drinking age in Germany is 16).

Another interesting thing I learned is where I should go when visiting Germany. Eva really suggested Berlin. Rosemary said Italy and France are also very beautiful. They gave some real insight to Bavaria and Octoberfest and how that does not really embody all of Germany and is really a tourist attraction. It really made me think more about visiting Germany. All of them did seem to think that get a train pass was the best, and least expensive routes.

Well, I'm going to get some sleep. I stayed up late enough and need to drive back tommorrow, regretfully. Perhaps we will stay another day if this storm appears to break up.

European Friends - These are some of the awesome people staying at the youth hostel. Most of them are working in the states taking care of kids. This gives them the opportunity to learn English and take some classes. Most were from Germany, but Rosemary was from Sweden. I had some good conversation with them about politics and just general life interests. I also kinda learned to count to ten in Swedish! Left to right: Phillip, Rosemary, Oggi, Eva, and Joe. Joe had a very difficult name so he's just Joe. If any of you find this site, it was great chatting with you!

Another great day

Jaime and I had a better day of skiing today. We hit some blue trails on the north side of the mountain that had great views of the presidential, snow capped range. Everything went great except for some miscommunication at the ticket haus. We had purchased lift tickets the previous day, and then I went to see if we needed to do anything to ski today for free (since we got the tickets after 2:00 PM). She said something like we needed to have that done yesterday and today we would have to pay full price. Grrr! So I went back and talked to someone else. Here, the cashier thought I meant something else and everything worked out.

One of the best times we had skiing is when we decided to check out the "Meister Hut". It was a cabin on top of the mountain the appeared to have coffee. Inside we found a cute little cabin that served a good bit of food. There were two guys running the place that were hilarious! I'm not sure if it was sheer boredom or what but they entertained us with free food, jeering, human head jenga, and bussing tables on piggy back. The one guy was looking at the lights (while on piggyback) and decided they needed to change one. The whole thing met a climax when the two were heading towards the closet for a spear bulb. They narrowly avoided one beam, but the guy on top slammed into the other beam. This was hilarious and the two definitely made the best of the situation. I must say, this was incredibly entertaining!

The last part of the day I did some black diamonds while Jaime stayed on blues. I also did some "glades" which is basically skiing through the forest. Its a little technical but not fast. It was a lot of fun. All was well and I didn't fall until the very last run when screwing around on a green trail. Lucky for me, somebody got a picture of it. Awesome!

Well I need to get a shower and Jaime and I are heading back into town for some steak! There is a group of German folks here that I may try to say hi to, but it will probably end up being embarassing. Enjoy the photos!

Youth Hostel at Sundown

The Saco River

Saco River Covered Bridge

Jaime and I in front of the Presidential Range. (Note, this was done using the car as a tripod and the timer. Love that angle!)

Mount Washington at Sunset

White Caps

Jaime on the Trail

Winter Stream

Great Day of Skiing

Just a quick note that Jaime and I had a pretty good day of skiing at Cranmore. The trails were excellent with excellent packed powder and minimum ice. All in all not bad and we are anxious to get back tomorrow for some more downhill action!

Snowman

White Caps

Silver Bells

Jaime!

Gorham Brook

South to North

The Rt. 16 Tour

As tradition to any vacation we take, we had to take the lengthy drive around the main highway of the area. J and I drove up from North Conway into the White Mountain region to catch some views of Mountain Washington, Adams and Madison amongst others. We drove over to Lowe's Path and then headed back.

We're back at the hostel, but just long enough to change into our ski gear. We are hoping to hit the slopes in a few minutes. My friend Ric e-mailed and said he's trying to catch a flight up here and if he does, we may get to have some northern fun together. Sweet! Well, off to Cranmore for some skiing.

Just a dusting of snow

Last night we got a light dusting of snow up here in the north. A group staying in the hostel is travelling back to Cape Code and has to travel into about 1 foot of snow! Its enough to make things look even nicer up here! We still haven't determined what we are doing this morning so I guess we will just go out and discover.

About Where We're Staying

I thought I might mention some information about where we are and our lodging. Jaime and I are staying at a youth hostel in Conway, NH. For anyone ever looking for a different getaway you must consider hostelling! The place we are staying is very comfortable and clean. But that's nothing compared with the price! In fact, Jaime and I got a private room for less than $40 per night! You can't beat that. And with all the money you save on lodging, you can do more skiing! For more information visit: http://www.conwayhostel.com/

We ate dinner at Horsefeathers right in town. I dined there before and it never disappoints. Make sure you check it out if you ever visit!

We are planning to stay three nights, but if things go well (or if we get snowed in), we may stay an extra night and leave Monday, who knows...

The one cool thing about hostelling is you get to meet people you wouldn't otherwise, so its a fun social experience. We chatted with some youth group leaders from a Massachusetts YMCA and also with a single dad that was taking his 6 year old out for some father-son bonding. You hear so many interesting stories and learn just how small the world is. I found that Peter (the dad) went to school at Temple University and loves Bucks County, and a member of the YMCA youth group has relatives in Ligonier, PA. It really is a small world. Peter also told an interesting story about how he and his son went dog sledding up here. How amazing! There is really every winter sport known to mankind in the North Conway!

Well, I'm anxious to get some sleep to prepare for tommorrow. Our plan is to go skiing at Cranmore after 2:00 PM so we can get the ski-two-days-for-the-price-of-one deal.