I figured out a few weeks ago that the town of Littleton was going to have a festival on June 12, so I decided to attend (who can't use some "glad" in their lives?). I left my condo at around 0745 and drove towards Haverhill on I-91, VT/NH-25, back roads and NH-10. As I made my way north on the east side of the Connecticut River, I stopped to explore at Beddell Bridge State Park - it looked like a another good (remote) place to launch my kayak! After a short time there, I got back on NH-10 and continued on to Woodsville. The festival in Littleton didn't start for a few hours so I thought today would be a good day to walk a little bit of the Ammonoosuc Rail Trail. It took a bit of searching but I located the trailhead near an old Rail Depot (0900). After about a week of resting, my knee finally felt good enough for a longer walk again. I started on the western end of the Rail Trail and followed it from Woodsville to Bath, roughly four miles and back. I saw lots of ATVs and a few deer - the weather was beautiful! At my turnaround point, I saw a cool covered bridge that crossed the river to a quaint little town - might be good to visit someday... I was done walking by around 1200 and got on US-302. I continued northeast, along the Ammonoosuc, and reached Littleton just after 1245. After a bit of searching, I found a place to park and then walked around in town, looking for events related to "Pollyanna of Littleton Glad Day". There were many tributes to the hometown of Eleanor H. Porter, the author who wrote about the extremely positive protagonist played by Hayley Mills in the Disney Classic. The town was filled with people who were looking for their happy place! I stopped to take pictures at the Pollyanna statue, talked to nice ladies in the Glad Shop (they gave me free fudge, lemonade, a commemorative pin, maps and a sticker to wear). I stopped into several shops and then took a stroll along the Ammonoosuc River Walk. The covered footbridge was very nice (cool, breezy). I noticed that there was a brewery nearby (Schilling Beer Company) and went inside to do some taste testing. I met some nice people inside who were from Plymouth (NH) and shared some conversation with the bartender (Bernard from Belgium). Other bar patrons were initially watching a Euro League soccer tournament but they later switched over to watching ND Baseball. I was done with my "gladmaking" by 1430. I walked around town (more shops) for another hour and then got back on the road. I used I-93 to go north and I was able to switch to I-89 near St. Johnsbury. I talked to Brenna and Mollie on the phone during my drive. Just before reaching home (1630), I got gas in Hanover at around 1630. What a nice day!
