Our trip in the fall of 2010 served the dual purpose of seeing old friends and enjoying the breathtaking fall foliage. This view of the Sunday river (l) gives a hint of what we saw. It was a cool but sunny day when we set out from Bridgton ME to search for covered bridges. I'm a born romantic and nothing says romance like a covered bridge.
The Sunday River Bridge, built in 1872, is named the Artist's Bridge because of its reputation as being the most photographed and painted of the venerable covered bridges in Maine.
We had the bridge to ourselves until a lovely couple from the Boston area drove up. They were gracious enough to shoot this photo from the opposite end of the bridge. Gracious because our camera kept timing off and I kept asking them to move closer or farther away. I was keenly aware that the photo opportunity would be a one time thing and wanted to make the most of it. The bridge, an 87 foot Paddleford truss, was closed to traffic in 1958 when a new bridge was built downstream. It is located about four miles northwest of North Bethel.
The road from Bridgton west led us through the beautiful White Mountain National Forest in NH. The sign reads, "White Mountain National Forest, Constructed by the town of Albany 1858, Renovated 1970." We drove over this bridge and through the forest for several miles. In Dallas people live on a golf course; there they live in the forest, although I assumed some of the homes belonged to caretakers. 
Left is a view of the river from our vantage point on the bridge. 
If you look closely you can spot Don to the left of the Saco River Bridge in Conway NH. It is on Rt. 153 and runs through the town of less than 2,000. We had to move out of the way of traffic several times before we could resume our sightseeing and picture taking. Typical tourists. 
We happened to drive through Fryeburg ME on the weekend of the Fryeburg Fair, an agricultural event. The locals warned us about the traffic jam, but we've seen more cars on a Dallas area parking lot. Pictured left is the Hemlock Bridge built in 1857. It is a 109 foot Paddleford truss (the oldest surviving one using this system), and was reinforced to carry local traffic in 1988. It is located 3 miles NW of Fryeburg over the old channel of the Saco River. The Eastern hemlock tree, which grows 40 to 70 feet tall, is a most attractive conifer, but the name just doesn't bring romance to mind. 
Our dear friends, Dick and Bev, drove us to the Parsonsfield-Porter bridge located near Porter ME, not far from their home. It was built by the towns of Porter and Parsonsfield as a joint project over the Ossipee River in 1876. The bridge is a 152 foot structure of Paddleford construction strengthened with laminated wooded arches. The bridge, located one half mile south of Porter, was closed to traffic in 1960 when a new bridge was built upstream. We didn't bother to hide inside the bridge or even from the camera--times have surely changed! We loved these old bridges so much that we had our 50th anniversary family photo taken on the covered bridge in Prairie Creek Park, Richardson TX. 
The Vermont Country Store was closed when we arrived and we had to shine our carlights on this bridge to even see it. It was moved to the parking lot of the Rockingham store and leads to the Grist Mill and Water Wheel Museum. It is situated on 86 acres and encompasses a Christmas tree farm. We did make it to the Weston store the next day, purchasing maple syrup, candy, etc. Their slogan is "Purveyors of the Practical and Hard to Find." 
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