We left Saturday morning and took the scenic route up Route 16 through Conway and North Conway which are the epicenter of White Mountains tourist activity. Unfortunately I didn't think hard enough about the fact that plenty of other people would be heading north to enjoy the fine weather, plus the normal "leaf peepers" so we got stuck in a traffic jam in those towns for more than an hour. We still made it to Santa's Village with an hour left and we managed to snag a bunch of rides before closing. If you enter less than three hours before closing your ticket is good for another day and that was part of our plan.
We camped across the road at the Lantern Inn and Campground. It was a pleasant place and they even had s'more making as a free activity. The girls made instant friends with a family with two boys and a little girl who pulled in to the next campsite. They played "midnight tag" (at 7:00) for a long time. I laid on my back on the picnic table and tried to see some of the Draconids meteor shower. No luck. The moon was almost full and rising and there was a wispy thin cloud layer that was illuminated just enough by the moon to obscure all but the brightest stars. I didn't see a single meteor in 25 minutes of staring.
In the morning we drove a mile to the town of Jefferson for breakfast. It so happened the fire department was holding their annual fundraiser breakfast that day so we joined them in one of the town churches.
We were in line at the entrance about 20 minutes before the park opened. There was a good crowd at the park but it never got too crowded. I think the longest we waited to get on a ride was 10 minutes, if that. Both girls liked the Sleigh Skyway (a monorail), the antique cars and the twirling candy cane ride. Audrey fell in love with the reindeer roller coaster and she also went on the flying swings with Carol. Charlotte loved the racing water rafts. We all had a blast on the bumper cars.
In the afternoon we headed out to the parking lot for lunch in the van and to put on swim suits for the small water park. The girls and I played in the water for almost two hours. Charlotte went down her first little kids water slide, and Audrey went down her first "real" water slide. She was afraid of the enclosed slide but I reassured her that it was fun and eventually she gave it a try. She loved it. There is a huge bucket on top that slowly fills and then empties out and douses the center of the water park every few minutes (just like at Great Wolf Lodge). This one has a bell that gives warning and Audrey was very tuned into it because she did not want to get doused. But as we were about to dry off I invited Audrey to stand under the torrent with me and she did! She hugged my legs very tightly but was brave and of course afterward thought it was great fun.
By then it was about 2:30. I thought we might leave at 4:00 or so since we had a three hour drive home and I had to work the next day (the girls had Columbus Day off). But we were having so much fun that I let go of my schedule and we ended up closing the park down at 6:00. It was really a fantastic day.
The drive home was a breeze, perhaps due to the Monday holiday. We were home shortly after 9:00 so I wasn't even up late. We realized later in the week that we had forgotten to watch the gas gage and had arrived home on fumes. The weekend getaway gods were apparently watching over us.
We might get in one more weekend camping trip this coming weekend. We have definitely gotten good use out of our camper van ("Ruby Tuesday") this season.
Oh, and the leaves in the White Mountains were a little subdued but still gorgeous, especially the "golden hour" before sunset.
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