Phew, we survived the flume...and a sopping wet tent!

A very damp Dacey and Declan stop to pose during our tropical Amazon rainforest loike 2-mile walk through the Flume Gorge in New Hampshire's Franconia Notch.

We just returned this morning from a last-minute two-night camping trip July 18 and 19th in North Woodstock. We decided to head north (and this time I convinced Kathy to come along) on Friday afternoon to take advantage of "Rediscover New Hampshire" on Saturday. Gov. John Lynch declared Saturday "Rediscover New Hampshire Day" in recognition of the 70th anniversary of the Cannon Mountain tramway and the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the Flume Gorge. What was cool was that New Hampshire residents were given free passes to the tram and the flume, a savings of about $80 for us and the kids.

While we enjoyed our freebies, the camping experience wasn't quite we bargained for. Torrential rains left us with a sopping wet tent, blankets and towels that never could dry. And when you plan a camping trip in a matter of an hour, you forget stuff ... like pillows, the air mattress, firewood, eating utensils, KETCHUP for the burgers and dogs...you name it, we forgot it. I ended up creating a makeshift pillow using a sheet and stuffing some clothes under it.

I'll expand on the trip more in a bit, but at least you all know that we saved 80 bucks on some New Hampshire attractions (we got to see the governor as well, but the kids didn't give a hoot about him) and we were drenched...my toes are still shriveled like raisins from three days with soaking wet sneakers and no socks...I forgot those too!