02 | March | 2018 | Musiewild's blog

Tags

Black-capped chickadee, covered bridge, Erratics, Flume Gorge, Franconia Notch, House finch, Ice Castles, Lincoln NH, Manchester NH, Mount Lafayette NH, Mourning dove, New Hampshire, Pemigewasset, White-breasted nuthatch

USA 2018 (3) A day with my cousin. Wednesday 14th February. Geoff had kindly taken time off work to be with me from midday on. Again rising later than the rest of the family, I had an enjoyable morning watching antics at the bird feeder.

Black-capped chickadee

Mr and Mrs House finch

Mr and Mrs Mourning dove (rather smaller than UK doves)

White-breasted nuthatch

But it was not only birds. The following sequence is a compilation of many attempts by the same squirrel.

Shall I try jumping? (It’s a long way down!)

I’ll have a scratch and a think

OK, perhaps not.

(But as this photo shows, the following day…)It was of course a great pleasure to get to know the affectionate Coco and Bam, sister littermates.

After an early lunch, Geoff and I set off on some local errands, including visits to a bank in Manchester for me and to their younger daughter’s school for her, and then headed northwards, while not leaving the state of New Hampshire.

Geoff had offered me the chance to see a covered bridge, once frequent but now sometimes preserved as historic features.

The bridge went over the Pemigewasset River

We were due to visit an attraction, the Ice Castles at Lincoln, later on, and swung by them now, in full sunlight. Other attractions there included a collection of trains.

Geoff then took me to the Flume Gorge at Franconia Notch State Park, where we took a short walk. I was not really shoed for more, but was very grateful to be wearing Nicole’s parka. Lovely to walk amongst such thick snow.

Erratics abound (and to be clear, an erratic is a geological term for a boulder where it shouldn’t be, moved there by glaciers!)

Another covered bridge, a serendipitous find, to which we did descend

Then on briefly to see Mount Lafayette, from a distance, where we rang Geoff’s mother in the UK from the car, lost the signal, and picked it up shortly afterwards. As one not quite as familiar with technology as the next generation, I found this easy and clear contact all very weird – and it was free!

After taking coffee and dessert back in Lincoln, we kept our appointment with the Ice Castles.

The adult slide

which I did enter

but which was much, much steeper than I expected, and from which my exit was not nearly as elegant as this. I wished I had taken a video – but not enough to choose to do the slide again!