About our recently acquired cottage ...

This is the back of the cottage.  Left to right you see the living area, the bedroom/sitting area, and the kitchen.

Readers have been asking, so I wanted to take just a minute and quickly explain about the cottage we're working on.  It's my parents' camp from back in the day.  We often spent my dad's vacation times there.  It's very rustic -- no water or plumbing, and, until recently, no electricity either.

To look back at its beginnings, this cottage is a piece of New England history -- the two small rooms (a kitchen and a sitting area/bedroom) were portable camps that would have been hauled to logging/lumbering jobs.  Upon arrival at the job site, the two rooms were bolted together!  The wheel wells may still be seen in one of the rooms, and the wheels are still in place under it.  Little platforms were neatly built over the wheel wells.  One held a Franklin woodstove and the other a dresser.   

Back in 1949, my parents used this tiny place as a home after they first married and lived in it while their permanent house was being built.  In the photo below, it is the little white building.  The one to the left is the kitchen, and the the part to the right is the bedroom/sitting area.    The window you can see in that part is the bedroom window.  I think they may have had a chemical toilet in the little brown building, which many years later became our playhouse.  In the driveway you see my Dad's lumber truck. 

After the house was finished, the camps were moved to property owned by the family in the woods of a nearby town.  So the tiny home became a little two-room camp out in the woods, to which my dad eventually added a large room to serve as living room, dining area, and bunkroom.  As mentioned, the other two rooms were a kitchen and a bedroom with a separate, tiny curtained-off sitting area containing the aforementioned dresser and a little Franklin stove, along with a rocking chair.  

My dad had a gravity-feed arrangement for cold running water only, and we had an outhouse.  In the living room was a couch, a couple of chairs, a television, a shelf with a telephone, a number of rollaway cots, an old pump organ someone had given us (none of  us knew how to play it!) and a picnic table with benches.  There were also some boxes full of books (bought at auction) and old magazines.  It sounds disorganized, but it really didn't feel it.  The dining area was in one corner, beside the large screened windows that were covered with wooden shutters when we weren't in residence.  The living room area was in the adjacent corner, and the bunks filled up the remaining side.  The organ was tucked in next to the door to this room.  There was electricity back then, but my parents disconnected it when they stopped using the camp.

My dad also added a screened porch off the kitchen (you can see the deck of the porch in the photo below, which must have been taken before he completed the porch and screened it in.   My brothers and I are in the picture with him.  Eventually, a regular peaked roof was also added to the cottage.

 
As a family, we often went over to the camp in summer, often for days at a time.  I guess, now that I think about it, there must have been times when we just went over to the camp for supper and the evening.  I know that we didn't always stay overnight, though we would often go there for a week at a time when my dad had some time off from work.  

My brother Tim and I outdoors at the camp

 On the way to the camp, there was a wonderful farm stand where my parents would often stop to pick up some fresh produce.  And my mother would then cook much of what they bought.  Often there would be peas to shell, green beans to trim and cut,  or corn to husk.   Sliced tomatoes were a must.  I don't actually remember what was served for meat with these fresh meals; my guess is that we just made a meal of those good vegetables.  Salt and pepper, and some margarine for the corn,  would have been the only seasonings.

So I have some great memories of the camp, but it really wasn't my favorite place because I didn't like the outhouse and the lack of a tub or shower.  As children, my siblings and I loved roaming around outside.  The woodsy surroundings were quite different from the farm fields we were used to at home.  We would often discover tiny orange salamanders, wild raspberries, unusual wildflowers, and other finds.  A tiny fern-edged woodland pool replaced the brook we played in at home.

We were able to buy the property from the trust in 2019 and are fixing the cottage up as a little retreat and a place to spend time with grandkids.  An Incinolet toilet will be a must, along with a sleeping loft for the kids.  I've mentioned before how our daughter and son-in-law (who live next door, a five-minute trek along a woodsy path) did a great deal of painting of walls and cabinets and replacing of flooring as a lovely Father's Day surprise for my hubby.  Hopefully, I can put together an entire post about our renovations as time goes on.

The revamped kitchen, courtesy of Jim and Carrie

One of my readers, Pamela, knowing that a place on the water has been a long-held dream of ours, had asked about a lake and no, sadly, it's not on a lake. 🌲🌲 There's a lake in the distance though, and it can be glimpsed in winter and spring. 😁  This spring photo from a few years ago shows the lake in the center of the picture, just to the right of the porch.

In fact, just the other day I noticed that, while sitting in a certain spot in the living room, the lake can be seen through the trees.  That is fun!  As I mentioned to Mr. T, this is the closest we're likely to get to waterfront property!

Wednesday Medley: Road Trip edition

Wednesday again, and time for the Wednesday Medley hosted by Terri at Your Friend from Florida.  This week's Medley has a fun theme, as Terri is basing the questions off National Road Trip Day, this coming Friday.  Road trips are fun, and this Medley sounds like fun too, so why not head over to Terri's and get the the questions to answer them on your own blog? 

1.  Have you ever done a spur-of-the-moment road trip?  Where did it take you?

I'm sure we've done that more than once,  but one that stands out in my mind is a day when our girls were young teens and it was a pouring down rain type of day.  It was either a Saturday or a vacation day -- probably a vacation day, now that I think about it, as Mr. T worked most Saturdays back then.  We wanted to take a road trip but the weather was not at all conducive.  Mr. T suggested that we take a drive to the very tip-top of New Hampshire, where none of us had ever been.  So we got in the car and just headed up there.  No snacks, even, as I recall.  We stopped in Colebrook, the largest town up there, and had lunch at the Wilderness Restaurant.  

Then we drove on and saw the Connecticut Lakes and turned around before getting to Canada, if I remember right.  I'm pretty sure it never did stop raining!  But it was a fun trip, mostly because it was so unplanned.  Below is a very blurry photo of the second Connecticut Lake.

 Now the trip to the Great North Woods has become more familiar as we've traveled up there many times to stay in a favorite cabin on Back Lake.  But it's always a wonderful getaway -- and the Wilderness Restaurant is still a good place to eat!  Its sign still looks the same also.  Below is a sunset on Back Lake. 

2.  If time and money wasn't an issue, what roads would you choose to travel and how long would you be gone?

We have talked about this more times than I can count.   We would love to take a road trip all across the USA and visit friends (and blog friends!) all along the way.  We would be gone for as long as it took!  A train trip across the US would be fun also, the type of trip where you can get off the train along the way and get back on a day or two later, if Amtrak still offers that option.  But I think we would really prefer the road trip.  Lord willing, it will be a retirement project!

3.  When you go on a long road trip, what snacks and beverages do you take?  Do you pack a picnic? Does the back seat turn into a nest? 

We nearly always take trail mix.   Sometimes a picnic.  Usually water to drink, but with us a road trip pretty much always involves at least one stop at Dunkin' Donuts for a coffee or iced coffee, depending upon the weather.  Our most recent vehicles have been an SUV and a minivan, and with both of those we can pretty much contain the travel gear to the cargo area where it doesn't get too disorganized.

4.  Please tell us about something interesting or strange you have seen on the side of the road. 
A few times we traveled in upper Michigan at night.  There were deer literally lining the sides of the highway and grazing on the grass there and in the median.  That was just plain scary.

One of the neatest sights we have seen on the side of the road was a moose we saw a few years ago who seemed to be posing for us!  These photos were taken as we rode by and are not the best, but you get the idea.

 

The sights below are both from a trip to Freeport, Maine a few years back.

 

5.  Who does the driving when you head out in the car?  Do you stop in the rest areas along our Interstate highways when you have to use the facilities, or do you choose a fast-food restaurant or gas station instead?  Not TMI... inquiring minds want to know!

Mr. T does the driving.  We usually do stop at the state rest areas when traveling the interstates, unless it happens to be mealtime.  Ideally, then, we would find a Cracker Barrel.  

Check out a couple of our amazing New Hampshire state rest stops and welcome centers here:  The Common Man Roadside.  You will be surprised at how nice these are and how well they represent our state.  The photos below show a covered bridge that is built inside one of these welcome centers. 

 Meanwhile, on the other side of the country (more or less) the photos below are from the Schellbourne roadside stop in Nevada back in 2016, I believe.  Lots of fascinating information there about the  Pony Express and local Indian history as well.

 On secondary roads, we might stop at a gas station/convenience store, a fast-food place or a Dunkin' Donuts.  And one time, out West, an Indian grocery store, which was a very nice and well-stocked supermarket with the only public restrooms for miles around.  There were lines!

6.  Please share something with us about your week so far.

It's had its share of weather extremes!  Hot and humid Monday with periods of torrential rain.  Today (Tuesday as I write this) it's windy and very cold.  I felt as if I had a very productive day at home yesterday, which is quite unusual for a Monday.  Three loads of laundry done and put away, supper made, blog post written, work on my Sunday School lesson and a craft project -- and no doubt more that I can't think of right now.

Are you planning a road trip for Memorial Day weekend?  We aren't, but we hope to take one soon!

Snow trains

The above photo (which you will want to double click on, to see the entire thing) is from the February, 1948 New Hampshire Troubadour.  The photo is by Boston and Maine Railroad, George Hill.  It pictures skiers leaving the Snow Train in North Conway.  You can see the train cars there at the back of the picture.  I think that the vehicle just behind the skiers may be one to transport them to the actual slopes ... from what I understand, the various ski areas would have transportation waiting when the trains pulled in.

I've been intending to put this post together for awhile.  We'll see how coherent it is or isn't, as I've cobbled it together over a couple of weeks and used a number of resources.

  Of course most people are aware that skiing has a long and fascinating history in New Hampshire, but not everyone realizes that, before the average person was able to afford their own car, skiers came to New Hampshire's mountains by train.  By snow trains, to be exact.

The Conway Scenic Railroad's website states that when Mount Cranmore [located in North Conway] opened for its first season in 1937-1938, snow trains brought skiers from Boston to help fill its slopes.  During the war years in the 1940s, as many as five trains every Sunday brought thousands of skiers to North Conway for a one-day excursion!  At their peak usage, the snow trains transported 24,000 passengers each ski season!

I had known about Snow Trains, of course, and always was intrigued by the idea.  But recently a couple of things have piqued my interest even more.  It was probably last winter when I noticed a poem about the snow train in one of my vintage New Hampshire Troubadour issues, accompanied by the photo above.  I knew that I wanted to share it on my blog.  Here it is:

SNOW TRAIN
by Pauline Soroka Chadwell

Even one day among the hills of snow
Has surely wrought a change in them -- they wear
The look of mountains in their eyes, the flow
Of health whipped to new life by crisp, clean air
On glowing faces.  Somehow, voices, too,
Speak with an eager warmth not often heard
In urban groups, as they all scatter through
The station, parting with a friendly word.

No city walls can ever hold them long --
Now that they've known the freedom of the hills,
The brimming rapture of the ski trail's song,
Beauty, so perfect, that it quickens, thrills
The soul -- Leaders of men are taking shape
In youth that turns to mountains for escape.

This was originally published, apparently, in the Portland Oregonian, in a section called "Oregonian Verse".

This poem surely is a powerful reminder of how good it is for us to get sunshine, exercise, and fresh air in the midst of God's glorious creation.   It's not just healthy, it invigorates our thinking and gives us a sense of perspective.  Sometimes I wonder how much better things would be in our land if we (all of us, but thinking of younger people in particular) spent more time in the outdoors, rather than tethered to devices, social media, and video games.  We'll probably never know the answer to that, but it's an interesting question.

Since discovering this poem,  I've also found some wonderful vintage magazine advertisements for the snow trains.

Before reading up on them, I had not realized that the snow trains brought skiers for only a one-day excursion!  I had assumed it was for a weekend.

In  his article "Snow Train Parade", author John Gruber wrote in Trains magazine: "Boston and Maine’s early and long-lived efforts are the best known among snow trains. B&M inaugurated its one-day excursions on January 11, 1931, carrying 196 people to Warner, New Hampshire, a ski resort. The railroad, in cooperation with the Appalachian Ski Club, took more than 8,000 passengers out of Boston in that first, 10-week season."

In that time frame of the early 1930s one could travel round-trip from Boston to the New Hampshire ski slopes on the snow trains for about $1.75.  Even in the early fifties, the snow trains were not expensive: "Lots of fun for little cost" -- as the 1953 advertisement states below.



Traveling on the Snow Train was just plain fun, apparently: a sort of ongoing party until the train reached its destination.  An old poster from the Boston and Maine Railroad advertised:  “See old friends again…meet scores of other ski enthusiasts…visit up and down the aisles as the bright, warm cars roll on toward the glistening slopes and cheerful lodges.”

In an article by Kathi Caldwell-Hopper, published last November in the newspaper The Laker, I read that "The casual atmosphere of the snow trains meant improvising sleeping conditions; sweaters and parkas became pillows and blankets and hot thermos beverages and sandwiches were shared among friends and fellow passengers.  The baggage cars on the snow trains became the storage area for skis and the cars often doubled as ski repair and waxing stations."

But it wasn't only young people who traveled to the mountains on the snow trains.  In an article by Ernest Poole in the January 1948 New Hampshire Troubadour, I read,  "As years passed and the Snow Trains increased, more older people came on these rides.  Most of them came along to ski, but a story is told of one little old lady who took a train each Sunday, rode with the young people up this way and then sat knitting till they returned.  When asked by a girl why she did it, she said: 'Just to be with young folks, dear.  Down there in Boston I get so sick of just sittin' around listenin' to my arteries harden'."   I can see myself in her shoes, taking a snow train north and sitting and crocheting or embroidering in one of the ski lodges.  Far preferable to just sitting around at home.

It all sounds wonderful, doesn't it?  No wonder thousands of skiers came north each winter on the snow trains!  I for one wish the trains were still running.  But then I tend to be sentimental.  How about you?