Day 49, On Which Denis Misses His Riding Friends Most of All

We decided to come to Western Massachusetts because Colleen highly recommended MassMOCA. She thought we'd like it; she was right😊

When we were planning the trip, we also checked out bike rides. A ride from Great Barrington looked like one we would enjoy. So, we picked a campground near the trail.

The combination of the rain last night (no thunderstorm) making things muddy and slippery, the lack of shoulders or bike lanes, and the fact that we've seen so few people biking on the roads, made it more scary than desirable to me this morning.

Quite reluctantly, Denis agreed to ride on a paved trail trail with me today. The Harlem Valley Rail Trail is actually in New York. It is currently 26 miles one way. The plan is to have it extend 56.

One terminus is in the Tactonic State Park about a 10 minute drive from here. The other is just past the Metro North Station, which can take you to New York City.

We didn't ride all 26 miles. We went 16, before turning around and stopping in Millerton for a quick lunch,
and then riding back, getting to the car just before it began to sprinkle.

The paved trail rolls past ponds, fields, farms and homes. One of the nice things is that is it shaded 85% of the time. One of the bad things is that trees prevent you from seeing the beautiful hilly vistas.
We saw very few other people on the trail. I guess partly because it was threatening rain. 

Millerton is a small town with its fair share of cute places to eat or shop. My guess is that it is a popular place on the weekends when more people are out on the trail.

After riding, we headed to ice cream in Great Barrington. Soco Creamery has some pretty fun flavors and I missed being able to get tastes before choosing. Denis got lemon basil, which was delicious. I got lemon poppyseed, which was good.

Great Barrington is a very cute tourist destination in the Berkshires. It reminded me a lot of Carmel, CA, with its upscale stores and restaurants.

We needed a few things from a grocery store for dinner and breakfast. An internet search found Guido's, a locally owned store with lots of locally sourced produce and nice people working there. 

The campground we are staying in is very quiet. There are a lot of seasonal residents. Somehow, we lucked out with a site right next to the lake. We only wish the weather had been a bit nicer so we could have sat out, instead of having to enjoy the view from the Pod.
 
Location: Taconic State Park, 253 NY-344, Copake Falls, NY 12517, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 9, Rockin' n Rollin' all Night Long

Image
Our crash wrap survived the night. The forecast called for a high wind warning with gusts up to 50 miles an hour. We are pretty sure that wasn't an exaggeration. That was accompanied by heavy rains. Our RV developed a small leak around where the slide comes out but it only required a rag on the floor to keep the water from spreading in the night. We were really relieved and thankful that the temporary fix held.  Ardith and Jim decided to head back to Ashland today. They'd planned to stay an additional night. Tomorrow we would continue north and theywould head back inland and south. If the night's storm and the forecast for continued rain, wind, and chilly temperatures (as I write this at 6 pm it is 46°) wasn't enough to convince them to leave, the standing water in their campsite was. We didn't have too much on our list of things to do given the weather but we headed out to Oceanside Beach. We got there during a break in the rain. Luckily, it was low tide. A walk do...
Read more

Day 7, The Long and Lonely Road

Image
March 28, 2023 Death Valley, at 3.4 million acres, is the largest national park in the contiguous 48 states. More than 90% is protected wilderness. As we left the park, we made sure we had gas since we'd be driving for a long time with not more much besides vast expanses. We drove through Death Valley Junction. Pretty much at all that is there is the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel. It was originally built by the borax company but was abandoned in 1925. In 1957, Marta Becket came across the abandoned building and felt it was asking her to ressurect the building. She moved from NYC and began offering dance and mime performances but the audiences were small so she began to paint an audience on the walls. It took her four years. There were no tours anytime close to when we passed through so the image is from the web. From Death Valley to the Mohave. We are outside Barstow tonight. It is about halfway to our next stop. I found a Harvest Host at Slash X Cafe, abou...
Read more

Day 1, On the Road Again. Destination Olivia

Image
Since our big adventurer, we've only been out in the pod on a few occasions and then only for a few days at a time. Even though I made lists of what we'd taken on our long trip, it took a while to assemble it all together. We also need to sanitize the fresh water tank. When we finally drove away, the planning and packing already seemed all worth it Driving to our first stop was a bit unremarkable. We made one rest stop at the Dunnigan Rest Area. It has lots of eucalyptus trees which makes it a nice rest stop by California standards. Our first night is at MoonBeam Farms, a lavender and loofah farm. It's a Harvest Host, meaning RVs can stay one night but you must have your own water, power, and there are no trash facilities. In return, you are asked to support the host by spending $20-40. Caz gave us a tour. She currently has ten different varieties of lavender. Some are culinary, others are more fragrant and provide buds and oils for her many products. As we walk...
Read more