Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts

Lenox, MA to Brattleboro, VT
Northward, ever northward. As much as we enjoyed the Berkshires, we continued our trek north this morning, making our first stop in Bennington, Vermont, in the heart of the Green Mountains. Our letterboxing quest led us to Old First Church, a beautiful village church built in 1805. The church was founded in 1762, the first Protestant church in Vermont. Over 200 years since the dedication of the present building, Old North continues to be an active church community.

The historic cemetery adjacent to the church has graves dating back to the mid 1700's and is the resting place of 75 veterans of the American Revolution, as well as the poet Robert Frost.We love that letterboxing frequently takes us to cemeteries, especially an old one like Old First. Often the clue for a cemetery letterbox tells the story of a person who rests there.


Moving east from Bennington, we headed into a very heavily planted area for letterboxing. Unlike most days of this trip, when we've found three or four boxes, we logged into 12 letterboxes today. Plenty more await us tomorrow, and we should reach a new milestone since we finished today with 995 finds.


We saw this sign at a trail head today. It happens to be a trail used by snowmobiles in the winter. But, huh?Daily Stats:
Miles Driven: 143
Letterboxes: 12
High temp: 68
Inky fingers: 20
Puzzling signs: 1
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Lenox, MA, Stockbridge, MA & Great Barrington, MA
The Berkshire Mountain area of Massachusetts is a popular vacation getaway and is known as a center for visual and performing arts. The popular Boston Symphony Orchestra spends its summer season at Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox. In nearby Stockbridge, the Norman Rockwell Museum houses a vast collection of the works of one of America's favorite artists. In his lifetime, Rockwell produced more than 4,000 original paintings.

Norman Rockwell used live models for his paintings. He would show them the kind of expression he wanted them to exhibit. Then he would pay them two dollars for posing for him. As he began to get older, Rockwell would hire a photographer to take a picture of people in the various poses, and then he would paint the illustration while looking at the photograph. The museum exhibits some of his photographs as well as paintings. Rockwell's studio (above) is located next to the museum and open to visitors.

One of the letterboxes we searched for today took us to the location of this amazing beaver lodge near Great Barrington, MA. We were quite impressed to learn what talented engineers beavers are. Not only do they construct dams on rivers and streams so they can build their lodges in the resulting pond, beavers also create canals to float building materials that are difficult to haul over land. The dome-shaped lodge which has an underwater entrance is made by piling up parts of trees and filling in with mud to make insulation. Wolves and coyotes, the beavers' primary predators, find it too difficult to break through the complex network of branches and mud so the beavers stay protected. The preferred food of the North American beaver is water lilies, which they had a plentiful supply of here.

Though non-migratory Canada geese have become a nuisance in many areas of the United States (and even in Europe and Asia as well), one cannot fault their dedication as parents. Once the female lays eggs, both parents protect the nest while the eggs incubate. During this incubation period, the adults lose their flight feathers, so they cannot fly until their eggs hatch after 25–28 days.Adult geese are often seen leading their goslings in a line, usually with one parent at the front, and the other at the back. This male was keeping a wary eye on Dianne as she crept toward the water while the parents ushered their goslings away from potential harm.

Any time we are near the Appalachian Trail, Ken likes to take a bit of a hike on this 2,178-mile trail from Georgia to Maine. He has now hiked the trail in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Massachusetts and hopes to find it again when we reach Vermont. Today we met a young man who is thru-hiking the AT from Pennsylvania to Maine. He hikes alone and has been on the trail for about a month. To maintain his supplies, he has packages mailed to him along the way. We had lots of other questions we wanted to ask him, but the day was getting late and he wanted to make another few miles before setting up camp for the night at Mount Wilcox.

Daily Stats:
Miles Driven: 85
Letterboxes found: 4 (current total, 983)
High Temp: 65 degrees
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Tarrytown, NY to Lenox, MA
In the late 19th century, the beauty of the Hudson River Valley lured such wealthy industrialists as Gould, Rockefeller, and Vanderbilt to build summer homes in the area. Many are now open to the public. Another popular attraction is Sunnyside, the home of Tarrytown's favorite son Washington Irving. Our plan to visit some of these great estates of the rich and famous in the Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow area was disrupted by the weather this morning.

As we set out for Sunnyside, rain arrived in a sudden downpour. While we were safe and dry in our car, we saw a young woman at a bus stop who was getting drenched, so we gave her an umbrella. What a feel-good moment to be able to help someone with exactly the thing they most need at the moment they need it!

As we drove north along the river, the weather cleared. We letterboxed a bit on both sides of the river. Having lived in the Atlanta area most of our lives, we have become accustomed to buildings being torn down when they become a bit dated and replaced with something shiny and new. It has been such a pleasure to see some of the historical sites in this area. Even the public libraries are housed in the most impressive buildings. Many have benefitted from generous philanthropic bequests, such as the Tarrytown Public Library. Salisbury, Connecticut's public library is also a majestic structure and has also benefitted from generous local residents. We ended the day in Lenox, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains. We plan to spend a couple of days here before continuing northward.

Daily Stats:
Miles: 153
Letterboxes: 3
High Temp: 72 degrees
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