It's been a tough week, ever since Hurricane Irene blew in from the Atlantic and roared up the East Coast last weekend. To our friends coping with the aftermath - our hearts go out to you and our thoughts are with you.

Compared to other places, we here in the White Mountains and New Hampshire were largely spared, but we, too, have to clean up and make some repairs in our backyard.

We are so proud of our road crews, which, every day, are making progress in opening more miles of roads that were affected in Sunday's storm.

Through their efforts, the Kancamagus Highway is now open from Lincoln to the Discovery Trail, about five miles out of town, and from Route 16 in Conway, you can take a nice ride right up to Bear Notch Road and down into Bartlett Village. Gov. John Lynch has pledged to open the Kanc in its entirety by Sept. 15.

In Crawford Notch, a temporary bridge is being put in place and we are confident that Route 302 will also open soon. All of our attractions are open this Labor Day weekend and they are accessible from wherever you are traveling.

We did not have any strong winds from the storm, so the late summer foliage has not been affected and it is right on track to begin turning into the lovely fall colors come the third week of September or so.

The 36th annual New Hampshire Highland Games in Lincoln will go on Sept. 16-18.

For those of you planning your fall journey to the White Mountains, we look forward to seeing you. For our friends tending to the tasks at hand, the things that draw you here, like the mountains, the woods and warm hospitality, will be waiting whenever you can get here and we send to you our best wishes.

If you need help with your travel plans, or for the latest updates, please call us at 800-346-3687 or stop by our visitors center, off exit 32 of Interstate 93 in North Woodstock. You can also find helpful information on our website, www.VisitWhiteMountains.com.

Let's waive the 10 second rule this rule this week. Please take a couple of minutes and slip into this view from Sugar Hill.

We are here and we will see you soon!!