Still leaf-peeping!

Leaf-peeping is an art!

'Wish you were here!

So this is art!

Engineer with a new Blackberry!

Yankee Candle cow

472-pound pumpkin

('Not sure how much the models weigh.)

Large Sycamore tree

We have been blessed with lovely weather, in spite of the local forecasters! Wednesday was sunny and clear…perfect for leaf-peeping. We devoted most of the day to driving highway #2 in northern Massachusetts, commonly referred to as the Mohawk Trail. This route follows a trail used by Native Americans to pass between the Connecticut and Hudson Valleys. We stopped at scenic vistas and small towns along the way.

One stop on the drive was at the village of Shelburne Falls. Shelburne Falls boasts of having glacial potholes carved out of rock during the Ice Age. There is also an old trolley bridge that has been transformed into what they refer to as the “Bridge of Flowers”, blooming from spring until late fall. We stopped to view both, and took the walk across the Bridge of Flowers.

We drove south to historic Deerfield where we ate lunch, took a meadow walk, and strolled up and down the 300-year-old tree-lined street viewing homes from the 1700s which they refer to as a “living museum”. For those of you who have been to Williamsburg, VA, Deerfield is similar.

We headed further south to the headquarters of Yankee Candle Company. The company has quite a spread in that area, and of course has every fragrance available in their candle line…for sale, of course. Once we entered the building we were overwhelmed with the blend of scents and found it difficult to tell the difference between one candle and the next one. There was one display where visitors could whiff different fragrances to determine their personality type. Donna Jo took the whiff-test and proudly proclaimed that she was “happy” and “confident”…and then told us she was not sure if it was “confident” or something else. (That convinced the rest of us that “confident” was not a credible evaluation of her personality!) They did have a 472-pound pumpkin on display, which made a great photo opp. Also, they had a “Yankee Candle Cow”, which was someone’s idea of art…or advertisement.

In the little town of Sunderland we stopped to photograph a large sycamore tree which they estimate has been there since 1787. Clouds began to gather as the sun went down, so we retreated to the condo for sandwiches and a game of Chickenfoot. The local forecasters predicted rain for Thursday, but by the 11:00 news they had changed their minds, and announced that the rain would come through during the night and clearing would come by morning.

Thursday morning was foggy and misty, but not raining. We drove to South Williamstown to see the Store at Five Corners, which is the oldest continuously operated store in the nation. It was interesting, but Jack, Donna Jo, Olen and I are experts at country stores, and we did not rate this one too highly, so we headed on to Williamstown to investigate an interesting store called “Where’d You Get That?” (gifts for the curious).

Williamstown is a college town…one of those brick-building-ivy-covered campuses…beautiful to see. They have an interesting art museum on campus that includes early documents from the founding fathers along with art, photography, and some strange eyeball sculptures on the lawn. Quite a combination of items!

After enjoying the “lunch special” at the local Friendly’s restaurant (sandwich, beverage and ice cream sundae!), we elected to take a walk on a rails-to-trails path in the town of Adams. Incidentally, while we walked the trail, Olen used part of the time to check items on his Blackberry. (Mental note: It probably isn’t the best planning to take a retired engineer with a brand new Blackberry on a trip that is supposed to be relaxing!)

Adams boasts of being the birthplace of Susan B. Anthony. On the way back to the condo from Adams we drove through the Windsor State Forest, taking in more lovely foliage.

The foliage in Massachusetts is lovely, but they do not have many of the variety of maple trees that grow in Vermont that produce the red leaves in the fall. We are looking forward to more red foliage once we move to the Vermont area. The weather channel shows the entire state of Vermont at peak foliage this coming weekend!