Our Amazing Trip ~ Part 3: Mount Washington, NH

This was my very favorite day of the trip. We traveled to a small town about 45 minutes from Mount Washington the night before and stayed in a nice little motel. We had reserved tickets for the Cog Railway to take us to the top of Mount Washington weeks in advance. They often sell out for a group as large as ours.

The Cog Railway in Mount Washington is the first rack and pinion mountain climbing railway in the world and is the second steepest with a 25% to 33% grade. The only steeper mountain climbing rack railway is in Switzerland.

This is the way the wheel in the center of the train grips the track.

Mount Washington is known to have some of the most extreme weather in the world, so we were eager to get to the top and see what it was like on that particular day. The weather can change by the hour, and it isn't unusual to have sustained winds of 40 miles per hour and snow falling in the middle of summer. The winds can reach 200 plus miles an hour during the winter -- in fact, one-third of the year, there are hurricane force winds on top of this mountain!

On our one hour trip to the top, we were invited to try to stand up and walk up the aisle to take photos from the open front of the car. This was not an easy accomplishment. To everyone's relief, the ride up was less scary than we thought it might be. The tracks run in the middle of the mountain avoiding cliffs. Instead of wrapping around a mountain while slowly climbing upward like most trains, this one climbs straight up so the angle is challenging at times. Mount Washington’s weather is notoriously extreme. In winter, Mount Washington experiences sub-zero temperatures, hurricane-force winds, snow and ice that essentially turn the peak into an Arctic outpost. As we rode the railway, we noticed that the trees got shorter and shorter until they were just tiny bushes, even though they were at full maturity. Then they disappeared completely. There are only rocks at the top of Mount Washington, which allows the winds to become even stronger. 

We started at the base (2,700 feet elevation) with blue skies and temperatures in the low 70's. This area is called the Mixed Forest ecozone. A mix of temperate hardwoods, including maple, beech, and yellow birch, as well as hobblebush and wild raspberry bushes grow in the fertile, well-drained soil. At 3,000 feet, we rode through the Boreal ecozone, consisting mainly of conifers, such as spruce and fir, with paper birch in the lower to mid-range of this ecozone. There are few bushes growing, with  wildflowers, mosses, and ferns being the dominant ground cover. Tree lichens are also common. After 1,000 feet, we were at 4,000 feet elevation. This subarctic climate is home to the Krummholz, which is is a type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, shaped by continual exposure to fierce, freezing winds. Under these conditions, trees can only survive where they are sheltered by rock formations or snow cover. Out of the open windows on the train, we saw misshapen fir and black spruce and subalpine plants, such as Labrador tea and blueberries. Finally, at 4,400 feet, the trees disappeared. Ground covers are the same as in the Arctic Circle, including mountain cranberries, diapensia, mountain sandwort, various alpine sedges, grasses, and rushes. Mount Washington's summit is at 6,288 elevation. 

Once at the summit, we were told we could stay only for one hour before our train left again. One hour was barely enough for me. We had a rare clear day at the summit. It was gorgeous!! The wind was a steady 34 miles an hour and the windchill was 46 degrees. We loved it, although the storm lover in me would have been just as happy with snow and fog. The clouds were stunning and took my breath away. We headed straight for the line to take a photograph at the summit (6,288 ft).

There were several museums on the summit. There is a U.S. Post Office at the top and we were able to mail postcards. That was very cool. We visited the Tip Top House, which was one of the first lodges at the summit, but we skipped the extreme weather museum because we didn't have enough time. We just wanted to be outside enjoying the elements and the views.

                            

Before we knew it, our train had arrived and it was time to return to the base. What an experience of a lifetime!

Next up ~ The beaches of Maine and American Stonehenge.

Blessings, Dawn

Our Amazing Trip ~ Part 2: Salem, Massachusetts

We spent the second non-travel day of our vacation exploring Salem. A couple years ago, Anne became very interested in the Salem witch trials and wondered what would cause such mass hysteria to whip through a community. I had heard that Salem was a bit of a tourist trap with lots of silly witch stuff. However, I was pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of serious learning opportunities if one looked just a bit. Apparently, Salem is interested in preserving their history and keeping cheesy tourism under control.

We visited the burying ground first thing to study the gravestones. Many of them were from the mid-1700s or even older. We couldn't find the one young woman who was buried in this burial ground and had been accused and hung for being a "witch". However, we very much enjoyed studying the different graves.

We then moved on to The Witch History Museum. We chose this museum because it was supposed to be historically accurate and didn't sensationalize this tragic event in history. It was very well done. The museum started off with a small lecture and them moved through the story of the witch trials while walking past wax displays.

We also visited the Salem Wax Museum, which told all about pirates, maritime history and the witch trials. It was old and a bit outdated, but interesting.

We saved the best for last. We toured the House of the Seven Gables, made famous by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1851 novel, The House of the Seven Gables. It is a 1668 colonial mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, named for its many gables. Hawthorne was a relative of the family who inherited this home and was entertained in this house. Later, he wrote a novel about it. We all found this tour to be fascinating. I always learn something new when touring a historic home. I learned about the water bucket fire brigade and how each home had their own leather buckets with their street address stamped on them, so that everyone would know who showed up (or didn't show up) to put out a fire. It was a good way of shaming everyone into getting the job done when there was a house fire. The kids loved all the hidden passages and the hidden stairwell in the chimney.

This bed and its textiles comprised one-third of the family's wealth and was right in a room where they entertained.

The door has 500 nails in it to show the wealth of the family. (Nails came from England and were expensive.) 

Leather fire buckets

One more fun picture, just because ~ 

Next up ~ Mount Washington, New Hampshire!

Blessings, Dawn

Our Amazing Trip ~ Part 1: Boston, Massachusetts

This was the hardest trip I have ever planned. On paper it looked almost too hard and in reality it was too hard at points. The travel days were by far the hardest, and I have much to say about them later. We took two grandmas with us. Dean's girlfriend cancelled at the last minute, which impacted our plans as well as Dean's emotional well-being. However, it was also an amazing trip filled with many wonderful moments. Our first non-travel day of vacation was spent in Boston. We had an Airbnb in Salem for two nights within walking distance of the T-Train station (public transportation for the Greater Boston and Boston area). We arrived at the T and took a commuter train into the city of Boston and then transferred to the subway. The maps were fairly easy to understand, and we found people were very willing to answer our questions when we were confused.

We started our day at the Boston Tea Party Museum. They assigned each of us a character and took us through the days leading up to the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773. Then we went on to a real ship that was a replica of the ones which held the tea and we threw the "tea" overboard. Lastly, we went inside and learned all that resulted from that fateful night. It was beautifully presented.

We ate our packed lunch at Boston harbor and planned our subway trip to the Public Gardens of Boston. The gardens were lovely. We rode the swan boats and talked about The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, which was a favorite book of my kids when they were young. The swan in that story ends up in Boston and also visits the swan boats. I love making little connections like that.

We also saw the Make Way for Ducklings statue which is based on the book, Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (another favorite of theirs as children).

After the park, we walked about a mile of the Freedom Trail and saw several historic buildings, including North Church, Kings Church, Boston Commons, The Old State House and Faneuil Hall. We wrapped up our day at Quincy Market. We enjoyed corn chowder and playing chess in the court yard.

Then we headed back to Salem for dinner and a well-earned rest at our Airbnb. We stopped at a hamburger place that had the most amazing hamburgers.

Next up ~ Salem, Massachusetts.

Blessings, Dawn

My Favorite Things

My favorite things this week.

Watching my son build and create. He did one of his Eureka Crates this week. It took him about two hours to build it and another few hours of tweaking it and playing with it. He cheerfully talked about how great the directions were (the directions are very visual for my visual learner) and enjoyed learning all about the history and physics of pinball machines.

Watching my daughter dance is still a thrill after all of these years. Even when they are just trying a few new moves and it isn't cleaned up at all, I love it.  She sure didn't get her flexibility from me.

We continue to love our monthly Universal Yums box. It was from Turkey this month. It came with lots of fun things to try and great information in the booklet. We liked the mints the best this time and really disliked the Turkish delight.

Lastly, I love these flowers that Trader Joe's gave me for free, because I asked if I could have one flower from a bouquet added to another and readjust the price. They told me to just take the extra bouquet and rearrange the flowers at home. WOW! 

There were some real difficulties this week, but all of these wonderful blessings made it an easier week to get through.

Blessings, Dawn

Hands-on Geography

I spent much of the summer sorting our belongings. Here is another teaching technique I want to remember. I found these from when the children were young. They are simple cut-out shapes that fit one inside of the other. The smallest is called "Our House" and has our street address written on it. That circle fit into a bigger circle that says "City" and listed our city's name. Next is a shape for "Our County", "Our State", "Our Country" and "The Continent" that we live in. This is a visual way to understand our place in the world. It also helped our children realize that cities fit into counties which fit into states and so on.

We no longer live at this address, but I blacked it out just in case.

Blessings, Dawn

Projects

Our summer is winding down. However, we aren't ready to transition to fall yet. There is still a huge road trip to plan, execute and have a wonderful time on. Also, we are wrapping up my long list of summer projects.

Project 1 ~ Continue the Journey of Reducing our Belongings and my Workload

Just one box of Lego bricks off to the consignment shop

Every item you own needs to be maintained. I am really over taking care of so much stuff. I would rather invest my time and energy into people and animals. I needed to get my kids on board with getting rid of tons of stuff, too. It turns out they don't want to spend their free time cleaning and organizing either (outside of normal chores). So we are actively reducing our belongings. It is a work- in-progress, but progress is being made. Last week's biggest accomplishment was dropping off all of the LEGO bricks and figurines at the consignment shop. We had 25 years of accumulated LEGO kits in our home. Four kids plus LEGO sets from friends over the years meant tons of LEGO bricks and figurines, all unassembled and mixed together in a huge drawer. We washed, sorted and packed 27 gallon size bags for the consignment shop. They are ALL GONE! If I had it to do all over again, I would never let our family end up with so many LEGO kits and bricks. The kids stopped playing with them because they were too overwhelming, but they didn't want to let them go because they were fun to play with before they became all mixed together. I should have kept that part of our life way more under control and limited so playing with LEGO would have remained enjoyable.

Piles of figurine parts that needed to be put together.

This was our Lego drawer. An empty space!

Project 2 ~ Our Big New England Trip
I have spent hours upon hours planing for our New England trip. We are taking our immediate family, the maternal Grandmas (one is a step), and Dean's girlfriend. That makes eight of us which won't even fit in our mini-van. We are facing 14 hours of driving just to get to the starting point of our multi -state New England road trip -- not to mention lots of motel hopping and a budget to stick with as well. Did I mention that we have a host of special needs that will impact this trip?! It is a huge undertaking for us. I feel like it is finally coming together. I think and hope we are going to have a grand trip. 

Project 3 ~ Our Ultra Gentle Start to School
School is very gently underway. The teens are doing about an hour of school work a day. They will be increasing to about three hours of book seat work in September. We are getting a feel for how long different subjects will take and how to flesh out the schedule once the full school year starts in September. So far, I haven't needed to make any drastic changes. I decided not to do a back-to-school curriculum post this year because I feel like how we use our many resources will be an evolving process. Instead, I will be posting our monthly goals and resources based on what real life opportunities are being offered to us. Once I know what our month will look like, I will add in the living books and lessons that will enhance or fill in gaps of their real life opportunities. They will still be doing plenty of school work, but this is a shift in my attitude that school work is the most important thing going on in their lives. Instead of trying to squeeze in tons of school around their lives, I will be using our books and resources to provide them with a living education that enhances their daily lives. I have lots of resources pulled from our shelves plus many, many lesson plans set up, so it will still be easy to grab things as needed. I am also hoping that this new attitude will help the checklist person that I am stay in the present and reduce worry for the future.     

Project 4 ~ Painting the Back House
We are all working on painting our back shed or house as most of us call it. It could be converted into a living space some day, if needed. Right now we are only using it for life lessons. We had the windows replaced. After we paint the exterior, we will pick a new project. Perhaps learning how to replace the door or lay a floor on the inside (it only has a sub floor). My crew hates to paint, so this is an ordeal for them. They are earning money for our trip as motivation. We hope to have the three sides we can easily access completed by the end of today. We will work on clearing the vines and weeds behind the house this fall and paint the back in September or next spring.

Project 5 ~ Assembling Furniture
One of Dean's goals this year is to do an Industrial Arts project every week. Besides painting the back house, he assembled a chair for Grandma this week. It was a quick project and I think he enjoyed it. It certainly built his confidence. He was smiley for most of the day afterward.

Project 6 ~ Socialize
I am not sure this is really a project, but I didn't want to leave out some of the fun we had during the last two weeks. Dean did his last week of camp counseling. It went well. Anne got to go roller skating with a friend. This was the main thing on her bucket list for the summer. Our closest rink is about an hour away and hard to get to with limited hours. I am glad we accomplished her wish. Dance is still happening a few times a week so that Anne can stay conditioned.

Camp Counseling

Anne is my very own flying squirrel.

Blessings, Dawn                                                                                                                                   

August Goals--A Mix of Work, School and Travel

Wow! It is August already. I can hardly believe it. The summer is racing past us and I have so much more I want to do. I shall not whine about it, though. I have got lots of de-cluttering done and lots and lots of weeding. We will see how much more happens over the month of August.

We are adding a bit more school each week to our schedule. I have worried, re-evaluated and re-evaluated once again over Anne's subjects and the materials she will be using this year. Her dance, work, and family required activities schedule is so packed on paper that I am concerned that she won't be able to do more than three subjects a day (most days). She has agreed to do school work six days a week and she understands that she may be doing school into June. However, if she keeps to three subjects a day with rotation of some subjects weekly, she will be done with all that she is attempting to complete by mid-May. I am hoping that reducing her daily work load and spreading it out will help her not burn out. She started three weeks ago and has already finished one Life of Fred book (Australia High School language arts) and two units in her Earth Science curriculum.

Our school plans for August are ~

Anne plans to complete another Life of Fred book and her cursive book this month.

Dean is working through his Critical Thinking book and doing very well. He enjoys the lessons.

I am reading two books right now. The fetal alcohol syndrome book is really good and is stretching my thought process during these years of raising a young man with fetal alcohol syndrome. The second is just a book by John Taylor Gatto. I like anything he has written about education.

We are reading books about Salem and Milton Hershey before our New England trip. They both will be reading these.

We are doing a few projects from this book before leaving and a few more once we return.

We are also listening to The Scarlet Letter and working through some of the comprehension questions before visiting Nathanial Hawthorne's home on our vacation.

Dean will be a camp counselor for one more week starting Monday. It is the Wandering Swordsmen camp, and he is really looking forward to it. I am glad he is going to get a little bit more on-the-job training. It is so good for him. Anne continues to work two days a week. She loves her job. She is also dancing three to four times a week in the month of August. Her new schedule is out for fall, and she signed up for 17 hours of dance each week!

We are gearing up for our big trip to New England. We are still firming up plans, but it is going to be an amazing journey.

Lastly, we are squeezing in lots of fun. Anne hopes to invite one more friend for an overnight this summer and she got to go out to lunch with her best friend last weekend. Both teens went to the mall with their twin friends for their birthday.

It's going to be a great month!

Blessings, Dawn