Fall is a beautiful season!

Olen and Jack by the AT sign

Olen at the top of Tyringham Cobble

Beautiful view from the hike

There is simply nothing like New England in the fall! Even as the stock market goes absolutely crazy and the Presidential candidates toss jabs back and forth across the country, the tranquility of the fall foliage is indeed comforting.

Our flight went well on Sunday evening…if you ignore the fact that Jack left his jacket in the Atlanta airport. We actually arrived in Albany 20 minutes early, but by the time we had claimed our suitcases, secured the rental car, and covered the 38 miles from Albany, NY to Hancock, MA, time passed and it was nearly 1:00 AM before we finally pillowed our heads.

Needless to say, we slept late on Monday and awoke to overcast skies and drizzle. Our first event was to go to the local grocery to purchase food items to take back to the condo. We did a little sightseeing in the area, viewing the foliage through peek-a-boo sunshine during the afternoon. We made one lovely drive through Pittsfield State Forest, but unfortunately at the time it was mostly “boo-sunshine”, and photography was not the best. We returned to the condo and enjoyed chili and a game of Phase Ten.

Tuesday’s weather was beautiful…clear and sunny, but frosty. We went first to Stockbridge, the little Massachusetts village made famous by the well-known Norman Rockwell painting. We had read about a “relatively easy half-hour walk” to the top of Tyringham Cobble(Cobble Loop Trail) for a beautiful view of the area. We arrived in Tyringham, located the trailhead and began the hike through a meadow and up a hillside for a birds’-eye view of the tiny New England village with a red barn and white church building. About half a mile of the Tyringham Cobble trail was part of the Appalachian Trail, which was exciting.

The hike provided other excitement in the form of a three-foot snake that decided to try to share the sunshine in the meadow with the hikers. The other excitement was that we ran into “bear” when we reached the top of the cobble. When we reached the top, there was a local man clearing the trail area with his companion, a beautiful black and white Husky named “Bear”… so we encountered “Bear” while we were on our hike. After an interesting visit with Bear and his human friend, we continued on. It was a great hike, but for the record, the “easy half-hour walk” took us two and a half hours!

We ate lunch at a small-town deli, and made an afternoon stop at McDonalds for ice cream. During the afternoon we drove through country roads to the small village of Lee where we stopped at an outlet center to shop for a while, replacing Jack’s jacket which remained in the “lost and found” bin at the Atlanta airport. On the main street in Lee we stopped to photograph the First Congregational Church building (1857) which boasts of having the tallest wooden frame church steeple in America. (The steeple looks like it is currently under some extensive repair.) We also stopped for gas in Lee, and made note that the gas here is nearly fifty cents per gallon cheaper than it was in Alabama when we left home.

We ate sandwiches in the condo for dinner and prepared to watch as much of the Presidential debates as we could stand. The leaves here are beautiful…the food is great…the company is fantastic. Will someone at home (or somewhere!) please get to work and try to do something to help out the stock market while we are gone??