Feels Like Home

We had our fair share of problems to ring in the month of August:

• We ditched a campground due to bad electric and even worse attitudes
• Our generator started leaking oil just when we needed it most to power our AC in a tremendous heat wave
• A fierce bolt of lightning struck a tree right next to our RV, leading to a fire and a whole host of damages

This led to our concerned mothers rightfully stating that it's "hard" to live in an RV. It is at times. But when the lifestyle is for you, you focus on the positives. In spite of everything, we still had our freedom and our adventures. Better yet, when the problems hit, we were able to leave our current location and bring our home to a place we knew would take good care of it. This also meant being able to go to the place that we felt happiest. It's no secret that New Hampshire is our #1 out of 50, and no state will ever change that. Someday we plan to buy land and build a house there, but that's for a future chapter. In the meantime, when we're RVing New England, we'll be sure to prioritize our time in NH. The beauty of RV Life is that we can stay in the state for as long as we want, and we can jump around regions, getting a taste of the mountains, lakes, coast, Canadian border, and anywhere else that strikes our fancy.

What is it about NH? My love started a long time ago, when I attended piano camp up there for three summers during my teenage years. Those days at camp exemplified my coming-of-age, and I even credit them for sparking my love of New Age music, a spark that's led me to be a New Age composer today.

When Anthony and I started dating, I was excited to show him everything I love about the state. We took a lot of daytrips there, and a few years later when we got into hiking, the White Mountains were our playground. Though we looked at venues elsewhere, it wouldn't have made sense for us to get married anywhere else.

When the pandemic hit and the state borders closed, we were devastated. We craved the outdoors and fresh air, as well as the stress relief that comes from getting into nature. MA had closed so many trails that for a while we felt stuck. We may have even snuck across the border for some R&R one day.

The more experiences we had and memories we built, the more we realized that NH doesn't have to always be the state next door. We contemplated buying land and building a house right away. In fact, the RV plan initially developed because we thought we might get a trailer to live in while our house was being built. But the adventures kept calling, and we decided that we were at a place in our lives where travel made sense. Whenever we decide to stop being nomadic, NH will be there. Even now, NH is there whenever we want.

Our August visit to NH got cut short due to our delay leaving MA, but we still made sure to create more memories while we were there. We couldn't let the week go by with the focus entirely on service appointments and troubleshooting our equipment.

We had made plans with my friend Shannon, her husband, and their daughter to have a "NH Adventure Day," something that's become a tradition dear to our hearts over the past few years. We weren't sure we'd be able to make it given everything that had happened recently, but somehow we cleared our Saturday for a fun day at Clark's Bears, aka Clark's Trading Post. The Clark Family raises bears and trains them to perform, and it's amazing to see what those creatures can do. When they're not performing, the bears live in a safe and secure habitat near the Trading Post. The nurture and care they receive prolongs their lives, and they can live many years longer than the average black bear in the wild. Check out this bear riding a scooter!

One of the perks of RVing in a familiar state is that sometimes we don't want a grand adventure, but we'd rather stay local. We didn't have a lot of time for giant hikes or excursions, so we checked out some local trails - ones we'd probably never visit otherwise. That's how we discovered the Quincy Bog, a beautiful cranberry bog/preserve that was walking-distance from our campground. We spent an evening with Tanner, walking the boardwalks and admiring the plants and champion trees that grace the trails.

We also found a little more of a challenge at Rattlesnake Mountain, only a short drive from our campground. The foothills of the Whites in this area have very wide summits; they create ridges that, if the trail leads there, you can walk across. At a height of just over 1500 feet, Rattlesnake Mountain is more of a hill, but the views from the ridge are nothing short of extraordinary.

Then on our final day, we capped our visit with a trip to Polar Caves, which was located just a couple minutes up the street from our campground. NH is home to lots of fun, outdoorsy attractions that showcase the geology of the region. Polar Caves was formed by glacial activity 50 thousand years ago, and this year the attraction celebrates its 100th year. Visitors can explore the passageways and feel the cool glacial air. There is also a nature trail, gem mining, and animals. Having enjoyed similar excursions in the past, we wanted to take advantage of our close proximity to Polar Caves, a place we had known about for years but hadn't yet had the chance to go. We had a wonderful time crawling through the passageways, seeing the cliffs and boulders, and feeding the resident deer and ducks. We also happened to go on the hottest day we had all week, so the cool caves were very welcome! After a week of trying to navigate both service calls/appointments and leisure activities, we were happy to end our NH visit on a high note.

We got a glimpse of what RV life can be like in New Hampshire. Not only did we feel well taken care of in our repairs, but we got to dive right back into everything we love about this state. For us it is the perfect balance of adventure and calm. For all the times we've relied on it to relieve our stress and make us feel whole again, or to celebrate milestones and the best of times, we can't help but look forward to calling this place home someday, no matter how much we're enjoying our life of travel.