New Hampshire - Day 20 - Connecticut River valley

Crow's Nest Campground
Friday, 20 July 2018

Today I took the trip I'd planned for yesterday - to the west and south along the Connecticut River.

today's route 

I went first to Claremont, where I'd heard there were a lot of old buildings.  And there are.

That elaborate one on the left I think is the old opera house - which suggests a much grander past.  It now has shops and offices in it, including the local Chamber of Commerce.

The church on the right is elaborate in a very different way and I don't think my photo did it justice.  That statue in the foreground was a surprise.  I went to look at the inscription just out of curiosity and found this: "Erected in honor of the soldiers of Claremont who died in the rebellion of 1861-1965 by their grateful fellow citizens.  The date on it is 1869.  First time I've seen the Civil War called a rebellion on a statue.

The thing about the town of Claremont, though, is that it's trying very hard - it's clean and has flowers everywhere - but downtown has about a 60% vacancy rate.  Those vacant stores are the very nicest looking vacant stores I've ever seen, but they're still vacant.  I can't decide if it's on it's way up or down, but they're putting a very brave face on it, whichever way it is.

Col. John Willard House 1784

Next I drove south to Charlestown and found an unexpected mine of history there.  For one thing, the town is very old and still has 63 pre-1800 buildings listed on the National Register.  There are quite a few houses that look much like this Willard house that front the Main Street.

There are also quite a few buildings from the 1800s.

South Parish Unitarian Church 1842

Silsby Free Library 1893

There were also several historical markers within a few blocks of these buildings.

First, there was this one about the Battle of Bennington VT

 Then there were these three about Fort #4.

Then there was this one about the Liberty Tree.

I think this is the elm tree the plaque is referring to.

And, on a lighter note, there was this one.

After Charlestown I drove down to North Walpole, which is across the river from Bellows Falls, VT.  I'd gone to Bellows Falls last month looking for the bridge because I'd heard that below it somewhere are some petroglyphs.  And the rocks in the sides of the river show 2 different types where zillions of years ago the African tectonic plate joined up with Vermont.  I wasn't able to get close on the other side so I tried again on the NH side.

This is the bridge, which is closed, and there's so much vegetation it's hard to see anything without going down there.

This RR bridge is right next to the other, and these rocks are on the NH side.  I don't know if the 2 different colors mean they're different types of rocks or not.  Well, I tried.  I just don't know enough.

On a much sadder note, Jasper is worse today.  I've given him all day to show me something else, anything else, but he's worse.  He's incontinent most of the time now.  He's used the box once or twice but mostly just eliminates where he's lying.  Today he hasn't bothered to stand up to eat, and in fact has eaten almost nothing, even when I've put food on the floor under his nose.

To me, not eating is a clear sign that a critter has given up.  Not if he's just sick or hot or something - but when they vet has told me they're dying, I usually wait for the critter to tell me when it's time.  I think Jasper is saying he's done.

18 years is a reasonable life for a kitty.  Neither that fact nor the fact that his body is giving out makes it easier for me to give him up, but it's time.  I have an appointment back in Concord at 11:00 tomorrow morning.  Very sad.