Entry Twelve

New England

Since leaving Canada, I've been zipping though states at the rate of about one per day:
Northern New York: 20 hours
Vermont: 35 hours
New Hampshire: 40 hours

This is my first time in New England. Although I haven't spent much time, here are my impressions as a Westerner. Each and every town has a prominent cemetery. It usually the first thing you notice as you approach a town. Most of the towns proclaim to have incorporated in the 1760's to 1790's. I guess with that much history, a town tends to accumulate a lot of deceased. Most of the towns have a historical section, downtown. The buildings have all largely been restored and it makes for an impressive showing. Victorian homes and grand architecture are everywhere in most of these towns and they are the most impressive I've seen in any region that I've passed through. Towns tend to be no more than 5-10 miles apart, except in the mountains. Their sense of scale is small and very appealing.

An Example is Montpelier, Vermont's Capital. The Capital Building and the State Complex are clustered at the west end of town and only take up a couple of blocks. A tightly compact downtown follows, extending for only one-half mile. But within this area is a vibrant miniature urban center, complete with commercial, financial, movies and other services, including a Farmers Market. A stream even runs through the area. There is a hustle and bustle of many people, young and old. Yet a mile further east, you are back out in the country-side, following a river valley with neatly-ordered farms. With a population of only one-half million people, Vermont's Capitol packs a lot of charm in a surpringly small area.

Although New Hampshire is more populous, my route along Highway 302 took me through the heart of the state's mountain country: the White Mountains. I saw very few towns. I did, however, see three covered bridges, one of the classic symbols of New England. Mostly I saw the Appelacian Mountians. The famous Mt. Washington was easily identified by all of the large antenae on its peak. I spent all of the morning working through the mountains, culminating at Crawfords Notch, a low pass through the mountains. There was a steep, thrilling ride down the east side to the lowlands. The mountains, while pretty and majestic in their own rite, are not particularly spectacular. They are all rounded and forested. It was gratifying not to see a single clearcut, which has been the case throughout my passage through New England. On the east side, the mountains rise 2,000-3,000 feet above the valley. It has the feel of Interstate 90, west of Snoqualmie Pass, except that the trees were predominantly deciduous with relatively few evergreens.

One thing that has struck me is the large number of low dams that I see everywhere. Fish passage has evidentally never been a consideration in this region where great care has been taken to dam even the smallest of streams. Its as if the people are not content until they have formed a small pond and a short, artificial waterfall along each and every stream.

I an now in Maine, famous for its moose, among other things. That's great because I would dearly love to see one of the creatures. I have seeing moose warning sings in virtually every state since Idaho without once ever seeing one and I would dearly love to.

Tonight I will Hit Portland, Maine and the Atlantic, my Quest completed. I will have about 4 days to relax and sight-see as I work my way down to Boston. I am very much looking forward to falling asleep to the restful sound of the ocean surf, which I last heard 38 days ago on the Pacific Coast.