Gribblenation

  Built by the American Bridge Company in 1928 as a means to usher traffic on the Teddy Roosevelt Trail, and later US 302, the Pierce Bridge in Bethlehem, New Hampshire is a historic steel truss bridge that spans across the Ammonoosuc River. After devastating floods in 1927, new bridges needed to be quickly constructed to get travelers to the White Mountains, which was as much as a tourist destination then as it is today. One of the bridges constructed was the Pierce Bridge, a 140 foot long bridge in the design of high truss bridges with its vertical members in compression and diagonal beams in tension. It was said that this style of bridge was easy to construct and had been proven to be strong and sturdy. After the Pierce Bridge was constructed, it became a destination for travelers, for people who wanted to fish the Ammoonoosuc River for its trout and for Civilian Conversation Corps (CCC) workers who worked in the area during the Great Depression. For a few years, there was a CC...

Prologue Before I start with Day 2, thought I should wrap up, and provide explanation why the Day 1 post stopped after getting to New Hampshire. After crossing into Vermont, I decided to get some exercise by checking out the Quechee Gorge State Park off of US 4 (Exit 1 off of I-89). This is when the fun started. First, it decided, when I was halfway to the Gorge, to start raining. I decided to return quickly back to the car, and in doing so, unbeknownst to me, dropped my wallet on the Gorge Trail. I then drove through often deluging rain (and speeds less than 30 mph) the 50 miles north on I-89 to my hotel. When I finally got there around 4PM and was asked for my credit card for reservation confirmation, it was then I found out I had no wallet, so no cash, cards, license, etc. Since my only stop was at Quechee, I headed back down there, fortunately, for the drive, the rain had stopped. However, the Visitors Center was closed and after I searched the trail a couple times, I went over to...

Vermont 100 was a lot of fun, but maybe the part of our second day drive that we enjoyed the most was through New Hampshire.  I'm not sure if it was the encroaching fog as nightfall grew or the more dramatic nature of the surroundings.  But our brief time in New Hampshire was certainly a highlight. For photos from this part of the trip head here . We wanted to stop at the I-93 NH Visitor's Center...but it was closed for the season.  However, at the exit we came across an older font styled I-93 shield. A few miles later we would exit onto US 302 East.  A quick stop in Bethlehem found us this cast iron sign. Just east of town on US 302 - we came across a great old abandoned truss bridge known as the Pierce Bridge. I remember this bridge from my first ever trip to New England in October 2003 but I wasn't sure if I had it confused with a bridge further west near the Connecticut River.  Seeing this bridge again was a pleasant surprise and it made for...