Colleen had a doctor’s appointment, so we lounged around the inn, had breakfast, and enjoyed some tea. Colleen came by at 11:30 am and we headed to the McAullife Museum. Breakfast was wonderful!!
Our favorite witch was on duty making the Halloween decorations.
The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center is a science and space museum in Concord, New Hampshire. It is named after Christa McAuliffe, the teacher-astronaut who died in the 1986 Challenger disaster, and Alan Shepard, the first American in space and a New Hampshire native.
The center focuses on space exploration, astronomy, aviation, and Earth science. It features interactive exhibits, spacecraft and aviation displays, educational programs, and a planetarium theater. Its mission is to inspire learning about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, especially through the legacy of McAuliffe and Shepard.
The drive to the museum took 65 minutes, and we drove through miles and miles of fall-colored trees.
The displays were very informative and well done for kids and adults.
We walked through all the exhibits, taking about two hours as we stopped to discuss several; I remembered more than I thought I would.
Some of the displays were NOT meant to be interactive, but alas, we were NOT being supervised today.
We continued our walk and went upstairs for additional displays.
Suit up, ladies!!
They discussed the weather and saw a replica of the first weather station at the top of Mount Washington. Mount Washington is the highest peak in the northeastern United States, located in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. It rises to 6,288 feet and is famous for its extreme, rapidly changing weather, including some of the strongest winds ever recorded on Earth.
The mountain is a popular destination for hiking, sightseeing, and skiing nearby. Visitors can reach the summit by hiking, driving the Mount Washington Auto Road, or taking the Cog Railway. It is also home to the Mount Washington Observatory, which studies weather and climate conditions.
The shack had to be bolted to the rocks for fear it would be blown away! At an isolated weather station like Mount Washington, radios were used to:
- receive weather reports and forecasts
- monitor time signals
- communicate with other stations
- receive emergency or aviation/weather-related transmissions
- support operations when phone lines were unreliable
The RC-123 receiver was a receive-only radio, probably for AM/CW or shortwave-style communications, depending on its exact design. It likely paired with separate transmitting equipment if two-way radio communication was needed.
231 mph / 372 km/h
Mount Washington Observatory, New Hampshire, USA
April 12, 1934
Mount Washington held the world record for decades and is still often cited for having some of the most extreme weather ever directly observed by people.
We headed back home and stopped at the Flannel Tavern for lunch.
The menu was quite varied, and we had a glass of wine to wash it down.
The jukebox was on the internet, and I played REAL music that everyone enjoyed!
The girls were fun to be around; we laughed all day long!
After lunch, Colleen pulled into a Pick-It-Yourself apple orchard, but it was too cold to pick, so we bought a bag of apples for tomorrow’s apple sauce activity.
We enjoyed looking around, and they had many types of pumpkins and apples.
We then headed home to rest and relax before tomorrow’s adventure.
