Day 13 - Portland, Maine

I think I'm leading a charmed life - the weather has been absolutely perfect ever since I got to the US!

Had breakfast in another great diner in Burlington, VT - Libby's Blue Line Diner - their special this morning was Canadian Bacon Frittata, and it was wonderful! Then set out vaguely south-eastwards ...

Passed through Montpelier, capital of Vermont, where I was very impressed with the fabulous gold dome on the State House. Then meandered through to Crawford's Notch, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (which are not at all like the Lefka Ori/White Mountains of Northwest Crete!), where I had a wander around and a coffee.



My map told me that Mt Washington was the highest mountain of the range, and when I got there, I discovered that there was a road up to the summit - well, all who know me understand that if there is a mountain I must go up it! Of course, there were lots of safety warnings, but to a resident of Crete the road was a doddle! This is the home of the World's Worst Weather, apparently, but not today! Sunshine, light breezes, and only a little haze, so the views were phenomenal. Once you get to the car park it's a bit of a hike up a rickety wooden staircase, then clambering over the rocks to actually stand at the summit, which is 6,288 ft above sea level. But so worth it!

Eventually made my way along all sorts of winding roads through pretty little New England towns, with their white clapboard houses and cedar shakes on the roofs, and each one had a variant of the typical white church with a very steep spire! The landscape through western New Hampshire into Maine was very reminiscent of southern England, very green, very well-kept - but of course much bigger!