Beautiful scenery as we traveled from Maine into New Hampshire

The arches in the Groveton Covered Bridge were made of several boards glued together.

To supposedly make for shorter days, we stopped for one night in Palmyra, ME as we left Lubec, ME and headed to Lancaster, NH.  Thursday's drive was 3 hours and Friday's 5!  Of course we had stops counted in that time. The kids did great but it took its toll on all of us.  We were maybe a "little" grouchy?

 

Samira was happy there was a pool.

Cyrus and Samira aren't all smiles like their parents below, but we did try to duplicate their photo.

Zia and Josh 2004.

Pat and I also went through here in 2019.

We were just too tired to fix dinner so this made us "happy."

Close your eyes!  Can you tell which wafer cookie has strawberry filling and which one has chocolate?

Samira and I could not, but Grandpa was correct.

Beautiful Court House in Landcaster, NH, built in 1887.

Saturday morning we decided to visit a couple (turned into 4) covered bridges near us.  New Hampshire has over 50 covered bridges, which seems like a lot, but Vermont has over 100.

In 2019 we drove across the Mechanic Street Covered Bridge.

#31, the Mechanic Street Covered Bridge, was built in 1862 in Lancaster and uses a Paddleford truss. It is temporarily closed.

#30 is the Mount Orne Covered Bridge with  Howe truss in Lancaster.  It connects New Hampshire and Vermont.  We drove across.

#32, the Groveton Covered Bridge, was built in 1852 with a Paddleford Truss with added arches.  Only foot traffic can cross.

This would have been a great picnic spot. 

#37, the Stark Bridge, was built in 1862 utilizing a Paddleford truss.  It had several structural rennovations over the years.  As well as driving across, it had walkways.  Just past Pat is a refrigerator padlocked to the bridge and running.  Why??? To the right is the Stark Union Church, built around 1853.  Originally several denominations filled this church.  Church pews were numbered and sold to families.  While it is still active today services have been suspended due to truss issues that have caused the roof to sink.

The small Stark elementary school houses 7 grades.

Across the street from the bridge and church is the Stark Cemetary.  In 2020 there were concerns that graves and gravestones might slide into the river as the hill erodes.

Where are the Piepers now?  Lancaster, NH