Attitash Mountain

 Attitash Mountain was a highlight from our time spent in New Hampshire.

Daddy and Elainah ready to go on the Mountain Coaster, a rider controlled roller coaster.

At the bottom after flying 2,880 feet down the mountain!

Testing their balance on the slacklines!



"Someday I'll be able to walk on that..."

"...but for now I'll just take a nap" :)



Riding the chairlift to the beginning of the alpine slide!


This girl has no fear!  She would sit as close to the edge of the chairlift as she could!



Ready for the mile long ride down the mountain side!

(the last two pictures were off my phone, sorry for the poor quality :)


After one ride down the alpine slide guess who was at First Aid with a scraped up chin and leg and sprained thumb?!
 Lillia, Hope, and Joshua all took spills on the alpine slide. I guess they found out using the brake isn't such a bad idea, not as fast of a ride but a little safer!!



 David wanted to jump into the Air Bag but he was just a little too short!  Maybe next year buddy!

Daddy forgot he wasn't jumping off the high dive and held his nose for a split second as he dropped! lol!!  The jump is designed to give you a soft landing and feel the rush of making a freefall jump from as high as a three-story building. 

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Attitash Mountain Resort closed at 4 pm so we drove over to Cathedral Ledge, a popular area for climbers.

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We also stopped along the Swift River on our way back to the campsite



Lillia spotted a momma moose and her calf along the road as we were driving!!!



We all love seeing wildlife!

Enjoying a yummy soup supper made by Mommy after our long day of excitement!

:: New Hampshire ::

   We traveled on from Massachusetts to a campground in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.



Can you spot the bathroom building through the trees? .... kinda a scary run in the dark as your imagination goes wild thinking about bears and other creatures of the dark forest :P



Ready to start the day :)

 

 

Mt. Webster



 

The signs in New Hampshire are a little different then the ones we are used to! :)

 

While in New Hampshire Dad took us to Attitash Mountain Resort, where the longest alpine slide in North America is located!  We had a blast flying down the mountain side on our little carts.  For the most part everyone stayed safe and without injury...except for three of the risk-taking Sangers!

Moving on to Massachusetts!

We began our day in Massachusetts with a stop in Plymouth. Plymouth was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, passengers of the famous ship "the Mayflower". Plymouth is where New England was first established.

 

Plymouth Rock

The rock seems very small to actually have been where the Mayflower landed...it is said there used to be a chisel and hammer kept here for travelers wishing to chip off a souvenir.  Perhaps this explains the small size :)

 

In Plymouth there is a replica of the original 17th century Mayflower ship, the Mayflower II.  The replica was built in England during 1955–1956, in a collaboration between Englishman and an American museum. The ship was built from reconstructed ship blueprints held by the American museum with hand construction by English shipbuilders' using traditional methods.  On April 20th, 1957, recreating the original voyage, Mayflower II was sailed across the Atlantic Ocean.

 

With a few exceptions (electric lights added and ladder replaced with a lower-deck staircase), the ship is considered a faithful replica, with solid oak timbers, tarred hemp rigging, and hand-colored maps. The ship is 106 ft. long by 25 ft. wide, 4 masts, and 6 sails.

It seems like a large ship but just imagine 102 passengers on board for 66 days, not to mention the estimated 30 crew!

 



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We continued on to Boston where we toured the U.S.S. Constitution, also known as "Old Ironsides."

The ship was named by George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America. 



"Now, this next week, the Lord willing, I aim to take my little girls that's just got out of school on their little school vacation, so I pray that you will pray for us. My oldest daughter, in high school, she wants to see where Paul Revere made his midnight ride, where he left the church there. And we... It's right up here in New England and we want to go up and see that.  Then, I've always wanted to see Old Ironsides. How many ever heard the Old Ironsides poetry? It's my favorite of all that I know; outside of Christian, that's my best. I just... I start to read it and I choke up and sit down, walk around, go back. How could you sink it after... It's just like taking a horse and killing him after he's made a living for you and your family. I just--I just can't see that. "So I'll extinct her!" No, don't do that. When the British cannonballs hit against it and bounced off its old oak sides, I--I couldn't see you take it out and sink her. 

Give her to the gods of the storm,
The lightning and the gale!
I really like that."
 -Brother Branham



In 1830 a poem was written by Oliver Wendell Homes Sr. as a tribute to the U.S.S. Constitution.  Because of this poem the ship was saved from being decommissioned and is now the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat.

Aye tear her tattered ensign down
long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar;--
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee;--
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!'



 

After working 20 hours the sailors would go down to their hammocks for a four hour sleeping shift.



The Officers ate in here but the enlisted men sat on the floor by their hammocks to eat. 



Inside the tiny little "pantry". 



Barely big enough for one cook!!!



I thought it was cool how the cannons each had a name.



Inside the Captains quarters...he had a little nicer sleeping arrangement then everyone else! 

Whatcha guys see? :)

 

Also in the Boston Navy Yard across from Old Ironsides is another naval vessel used during World War II, the U.S.S. Cassin Young.

 

Operations Office 



Can you imagine using a mixer this big?! 



Benjamin doesn't look too sure of this new perch :P

 

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There was an interactive children's museum about ship life on Old Ironsides.



There was also a display where they could practice tying up the ships rigging while balancing on a rope.

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While in Boston we also visited the Bunker Hill Monument.



Follow the bricks up to Bunker Hill...

The Bunker Hill Monument was built to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first major battle between British and Patriot forces in the Revolutionary War.

 

We climbed 294 steps to the top of the monument...

While we were sitting in the grass below the monument we looked over to see David crawling along the sidewalk intently focused on catching the squirrel seen further down! :P



Walking back to the van to continue our travels! 

 

New Hampshire bound!