Montreal and Mount Washington

I'm way behind in posting again! Sometimes it feels like doing homework.  But, I don't want to skip over any of the places we have been to, just to "catch up." I want to be able to look back at these posts and remember all that we did.

We had heard that parking in Montreal was hard to find and very expensive, so we took the Metro in. We were given printed driving directions to the Metro station at Camping Alouette, where we stayed. It made life a lot easier.

Note: You need to have Canadian cash for the Metro parking and Metro tickets.

These are a few of the things we saw on our two walking tours of the Old Montreal area:

One of the oldest buildings in the city

The altar at the Notre Dame Basilica

City Hall

We headed back to the States on Friday. We would have liked to stay in Montreal a bit longer, but the campground was full because it was a Canada/Quebec holiday.

Our next reservation was in New Hampshire near Mount Washington. We ended up taking a route that was about 70 miles longer, so that we could stop in at a Trader Joe's in Burlington, Vermont. Some detours are good! 

Forty-seven years ago we visited Mount Washington while Craig was working for a few months in Boston.  We were in our early twenties and quite prone to doing crazy things. That weekend we decided we wanted to hike to the top of the highest mountain in the East! 

We had not prepared in any way, and had no particular athletic conditioning. We took no water, hiking poles, or jackets, and did not have good shoes!

As I recall, the trail up wasn't bad below the tree line. It seemed to go around the mountain in a spiral up to the top. However, as the trees became shorter, the air grew cooler and a slight fog began to settle around us. At the tree line, I was a bit put off by a large sign warning of extreme weather changes, high winds, and deadly risks for hikers who were unprepared.  

I wanted to turn back!

We did not, at first. 

But then the trees were completely gone and all we could see ahead was a very rough rock field. We had difficulty seeing where the trail was because of the fog. So we turned back and went down the way we had come, hoping to try again someday.

This time, being much older and fatter, we choose to take the Cog Railroad up to the top. A much better way to get there for older people.

Each of the train cars is brightly painted and has its own engine. 

The cog tracks go pretty much straight up the mountain. There is one switching place where upward going and downward going trains can pass each other.

The cars are all hand made onsite by talented wood workers. In our upward bound train the seats were beautiful, but not very comfortable. The car we had going down had nicer padded seats.

There was a slight haze in the air that made the more distant hills fade into softness. We never skied in the East when were skiers, but this sight made us wish we were younger and it was winter. The summit parking area was full of ATVs. They were having a rally. It was fun to see all of them.

One of the things people (including us) do when they get to a special place is to get a picture of themselves with a sign.

So here we are: 2013 at the lowest place in America, 282 feet below sea level in Death Valley CA, and at the highest place on the East Coast, 6286 feet above sea level on Mount Washington NH. 

RV life is good, or at the least fattening!