Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Visiting Friends


What a wonderful weekend we had. We spent time relaxing (maybe not the right word) with friends in the Berkshires. We squished 2 huge suppers, 2 large breakfasts, a campfire, several geocaching expeditions, an ATV ride, a pontoon boat ride plus swimming, a horseback ride, a long stroll around Hancock Shaker Village and cave exploring all into about 42 hours...between thunderstorms!

WOW!

It was relaxing. We were keeping up our usual pace with friends who understand fun.
The first shot is of one of our long conversations on the back porch. The second is to capture a "first" in geocaching. We had 2 GPS units to work with and ours was clearly the lesser of them! This cache was tricky, it's near "Balance Rock and what a beautiful spot.




Night boating between thunderstorms had us a lake to ourselves! The pontoon boat was a highlight for the boys. Our captain, with a little chiming in from the first mate, anchored us over a really cool sand bar. The water was just 2 feet deep over the bar and the kids hopped off to swim and play until the storm started to light up the sky. Then off we headed for the dock with the first fat raindrops hitting just as we tied it up and headed for the cars.



This is a cave with one of the many Hidden Brooks in our friend's neighborhood. The boys are not much on spelunking but they were amazed at the rock formations and seeing the brooks disappear into underground places.


Hancock Shaker Village, the city of peace, was a wonderful field trip. We learned a ton and found it to be a city of peace. We watched their hydro powered mill work and toured many of the buildings. We watched a fabulous thunderstorm move across in the distance with clear strikes seen behind that round barn. Stunning. The gardens were remarkable and we all enjoyed our time at the village.

We all agreed that we needed to stay for at least a week to do all that we really wanted to do. Thanks again to our fabulous hosts. They run the best ever bed and breakfast in the Berkshires!


~Rachel

Caching in the Berkshires


You want me to go up where? We did a couple of caches out here on this road in the Berkshires. The first one was "One for the Boys" and it was easily found right along the side of the road. Our boys were enchanted with the idea of climbing up this big hill from the moment they set eyes on it.

I was a little less excited about that idea.


We parked the trusty Subaru at the bottom and started to check the GPS. Only 300 feet from the car! We're close. The GPS wanted us to go a little right of the easy trail and a little left of the big hill. Which way to go. While I'm deciding the kids have already moved on. And UP!
John held my hand while we ascended this hill. My sandals were not the right choice for today! But what a view from the top! Maybe even worth it.
At the cache we found the typical fare of items, signed the log and headed back down the "easy" trail. The cache was named "Jeepin' cache" and it is obvious why!
Great fun.

~Rachel