2026 Life Logs, Day 04: Intervale to Mt. Washington to Lincoln to St. Paul’s in Concord
Date: Sunday, January 4, 2026
Weather: Overcast and Cold; High Temp from 0 to 20 degrees F
Location: Back at Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
After a whirlwind tour of parts of New Hampshire today, I am back home with my Shadow tonight. Heather and family got home mid-afternoon, but Justin, Jo, Ziggy, Coco, and I took the scenic route from Intervale to Boston Logan where they finally headed home to Puerto Rico at 10:15 tonight. They will arrive in San Juan around 3:30 am PR time (2:30 EST) where they will spend the rest of the night in a hotel before returning to Finca Maravilla tomorrow afternoon.
Today started with farewells at the Airbnb in Intervale at 10 am, the official check-out time.
Heather and family headed south to Cape Cod, but since the flight to PR had been delayed until after 9 pm tonight, I offered to take Justin and family on a whirlwind tour from Intervale northward through Crawford Notch to Mt Washington to ride the Cog Railway halfway up Mt. Washington (as far as it goes in the wintertime), to Franconia Notch and on to Lincoln to have lunch at the Gypsy Café, to St. Paul’s in Concord where Justin attended high school, and finally to Boston to have dinner at Helmand’s in Cambridge with a final drop off at Boston Logan.
It was not a clear day, so the views from the ride up Mt. Washington were not spectacular. Regardless, the ride was absolutely beautiful. When we reached the Mid-Mountain Waumbek Station at 3,800 feet the temperature was a little below zero, but not too windy, so it was just VERY cold but tolerable for a short time. There was free coffee and hot chocolate and a firepit where we could roast marshmallows. Ziggy used his new camera to take photos, and we all enjoyed the white-on-white beauty.
Once we decompressed from the ride, we continued driving northward for a bit before turning south to drive through Franconia Notch and make a stop in the town of Lincoln for lunch. We chose the Gypsy Café based on its name and it was a great choice.We arrived in Concord just before 4 pm to do a walking tour of St. Paul’s where Justin went to high school. A friend of mine who is on the staff there met us and took us inside many of the buildings. The students have not returned from winter break, so everything is locked up tight. But we got a VIP tour thanks to my friend Kate. The tour brought back many memories, and it was fun for Justin to go into the dining hall and find his name carved in one of the wooden panels for the class of ’95. We all enjoyed going into the beautiful library and then walking past the chapel. The St. Paul’s campus is so beautiful.
When we arrived in Cambridge, we had dinner at my favorite restaurant, Helmand’s. It features food from Afghanistan, and it has become a family tradition to eat there when in Boston. I then dropped JJZ&C at the airport at 7:45 pm. I headed home, hoping that the flight to Puerto Rico would not be further delayed. I got home safely and heard from Justin at 10:15 pm that they were on the plane. It will be 3:30 am Atlantic Standard Time when they arrive, but hopefully the memories of our family time together will make up for the lack of sleep. Their visit certainly started my new year out on a loving, positive note.
