Emotionally and physically exhausted, we left Boston after a final cup of coffee at Faye’s place with Gilles & Karen. Bye kids, we’ll miss you!!!
We drove directly to Sports Authority in Somerville, where we proceeded to be their favorite customers. We bought a Thule, new sleeping bags, a new combination cook stove / grill, hiking boots, emergency blankets, and a whistle. The last two items are directly related to our last mountain experience on Mt. Hood when we did the stupid city person thing and went on a hike unprepared. To quote Todd Wells, “I rescue idiots like you off the mountain all the time.” We promised never to do that again, hence the emergency supplies. Once we’d completed our purchase, we spent about an hour in the parking lot rearranging our packed car and trying to figure out how we ended up with sooo much stuff! We even attracted the attention of a local cop who stopped by and remarked that “wow, that looks like a lot of gear for just the two of youse.” Brett thinks he was really checking out our vehicle temporary trip permit, although he never mentioned the fact that the car is without plates, which apparently is against the law in MA.
Once we were “geared up,” we headed drove about 2.5 hrs to Ashfield in Western Massachusetts, where Brett’s clients Diane & Peter had graciously invited us to stay at their country house, “Wildrest.” Built in the mid-1800’s the house is a maze of light and airy rooms touched by wildflowers, and a kitchen inhabited by someone who loves to cook! The home has a cozy, sunken fireplace, collected antiques, and fine examples of Diane’s passion for linens. She is the owner of London Lace – check it out on the net at www.londonlace.com . Wildrest is set on a beautiful hill, with an English cottage style garden that Peter has put a lot of love into. Winding paths lead through perennial beds that were slowly fading in the early autumn. Statuary, trellises, vine covered arbors, and carefully placed benches provided plenty of vistas and vignettes for photos and for enjoying the final sunny and warm days of the season.We dined Friday night at Tusk & Rattle in Shelburne Falls. We also took a stroll across the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls. The town reclaimed a defunct railroad bridge and turned it into a beautiful flower garden, maintained by the local garden club.
On Saturday, we enjoyed a great breakfast in Ashfield at Elmers and then headed to Northampton. We spent a few hours at the Smith College Museum of art, spent the afternoon wandering around their botanical gardens and the plant conservatory, one of the few remaining glass conservatories in the nation. Northampton is very much like Eugene, Oregon . . . . a very crunchy college town - not that there’s anything wrong with that! We had a great dinner Saturday night at the Green Street Café in Northampton.
Got up Sunday morning and left Wildrest (thanks Peter & Diane!), had breakfast in Shelburne Falls, and began our drive out to the Maine / New Hampshire boarder to meet our neighbor Jean at her place in Maplewood, near Province Lake.
1 comment:
So okay, I get how the emergency blankets could've helped you on Mt. Hood, but would the whistle? Wouldn't that just have cut down the time you had to wait before you could find relief in the endless balm of the rescue squad's sarcasm?
Seriously, I want to hear the story.
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