I'm the Best Wife Ever...Apparently

Back in April when it was clear that Dave was likely getting a job, I saw a Groupon that had Dave's name written all over it.  The opportunity to drive a luxury sportscar.  Seriously?  My husband, who often starts a conversation with, "When I have my Firebird one day...", watches more car shows than I knew existed and owns several of the Fast and Furious movies, really needed to have this experience. 

So I asked him if he'd be interested and (duh) he said absolutely.  I bought it on the condition that if he didn't get a job, then I'd get to drive the car (psst....that never would have happened).  After the Groupon came through and the reservation system was set up with Imagine Lifestyles, the company based solely on renting high end sportcars to people with nothing better to spend their money on but not quite enough money to indulge in one of these cars personally, Dave was able to choose his car.

There were five options: Mercedes Gullwing, Audi R8, Ferrari 430, Ferrari 599 and Lamborghini Gallardo.  He didn't want the Mercedes because it didn't seem interesting enough and we had watched an episode of Top Gear where Rutledge drove one and could get the doors closed after getting it.  Dave nixed the Audi because we actually know someone with one (who doesn't like it) and frankly, he could test drive one if he really wanted to.  Both a Mercedes and an Audi seem like more attainable vehicles.  Sure he probably would never buy one and certainly not the Gullwing or the R8, but the brand is accessible.  I was surprised that Dave didn't choose either of the Ferraris but as it turns out, he's just not that into them.  But the Lamborghini....now that's something I'd seen him notice on the highway.  Covet is probably too strong a word, but he definitely noticed the orange one zooming around Boston and liked what he saw.

On Saturday morning we headed to Foxboro to Gillette Stadium where they set up a course in one of the large parking lots.  I must love my husband because in addition to treating him to this experience, I actually went to the home of the New England Patriots to watch him do this.  Because really there is no other reason for me to ever go there.

It was a gorgeous day and the staff had things very well organized.  There was a reasonable crowd, but only about half the people were driving and things did move pretty quickly (well, they are fast cars).  The staff was pretty good about letting people take pictures of their drivers and generally made sure that everyone who wanted to could get a picture of their driver in their car at the starting area. 

Who's driving a Lambo?  This guy.

Dave said his instructor was great and basically told him to just listen and hit the gas.  Eager to please, Dave said sure and for most of his three laps he had the pedal to the floor.  Dave said he didn't get a chance to look at the speedometer during the straightaways but he did notice coming out a turn at about 60 miles per hour.

At work on Friday morning, I was chatting with colleagues about weekend plans and mentioned that I bought this experience for Dave.  My coworker Matthew looked at me and said, "You are seriously the best wife ever."  When Dave got out of his car, with a huge smile on his face, I asked him if he had fun.  He said yes, and then thanked me, saying "You're the best wife ever."

Eh, I do what I can. 

Plus, I figure between this and my failed trip to Germany, I'm due for something really big.

Open Letter to the Drivers of Boston & Cambridge

Dear "Drivers,"

Boston likes to say it's a walking-friendly city, and since the city is only 2 square miles, it sort of is.  I mean, you can walk anywhere.  But you shouldn't.  And you drivers are the reason why.  Because you fail to acknowledge anyone that isn't in a car.  Hell, you barely acknowledge that there are other drivers on the road. 

Unless you decide to pull my favorite trick: the non-moving violation.

Or as I like to put it, stopping in the middle of the damn road to let someone else make an illegal move.  Like, I don't know, pulling out into a crosswalk WHILE SOMEONE IS IN IT.

Maybe it's guilt from being stupid, rude and generally douchy, but at random moments a driver will decide to be "nice" and let another drive turn/pull out in front of them.  On a busy street.  During rush hour. Resulting in traffic backed up in the even busier intersection behind them.

This morning I was walking along the sidewalk, approaching a driveway to the delivery entrance of a college dining hall.  I walk this path every day and often see delivery trucks backing in and pulling out and appreciate the patience these drivers must have to wait for traffic in order to pull back out onto the busy street.  But that driveway, which actually has a crosswalk, is midway between two traffic signals, so it's never too long before the driver can get where he wants to go.

I was approaching from the right.  The delivery driver wanted to make a right hand turn. Clearly, this meant he didn't need to look to his right, only his left, to gauge his ability to pull out into traffic.  As I approached the driveway and stepped from the sidewalk to the "street," I was shocked and amazed to see a cab driver (of ALL people) stop and wave the delivery driver on. 

Let me reiterate: the cab driver, who had the right of way, a green light ahead and about a half dozen cars behind him, stopped in the middle of the road for no reason other than to let this driver out of the driveway.

WHILE I WAS IN THE CROSSWALK.

The delivery driver, excited and happy at the kindness of this stranger, started to pull out into the road.  Until I smack my hand on his hood and started yelling at him to remember to look both ways before he pulled out.  (Actually, no, I didn't curse.  Yes, I kind of regret it now.)

The good news is that this was a delivery van and not an 18 wheeler that often delivers to this location. The better news is that I think the driver was more scared than I was. (Serves him right.  Seriously, looking both ways is something you learn in kindergarten only to be reiterated in Driver's Ed 101.)

Morals of the story: Look both ways before pulling out into traffic.  Don't stop in the middle of the road to be "nice." (It's illegal; seriously, non-moving violation--look it up.) And for goodness sake don't get your panties in a bunch because a pedestrian is following their right of way in what is proudly boasted as a "walking" city. 

So, Drivers, be warned.  I will take my right of way and I will yell at you if you violate my right.  If you really piss me off, I might hit your car.  And if you keep it up, one of these days I swear I might need to rip you out of your car, GTA-style.  And if you can't see why I'm right, then you seriously need to go back to Driver's Ed.

XOXO,
Colleen

The Best Random Day Trip EVER

When I realized how far up into Vermont we would have to drive to get Lizzy to her new home, I started wondering what else we could do in that direction to make the trip a little more palatable.  So I looked at the map and I thought about places and things in Vermont that Dave and I like and tried to find some overlap.  Lo and behold, we lucked out.

Being a novice baker, I have been wanting to visit King Arthur Flour, ideally for a class, but even just to go to the bakery and store.  Luckily King Arthur Flour was minutes off the interstate we used to get up through Vermont.  And better still, the Harpoon Brewery was only about 20 minutes from King Arthur Flour, a few minutes off the same interstate, a little further south. Since Harpoon is Dave's favorite beer, I knew we would have to stop.

While driving towards Lizzy's new home, I mentioned to Dave that we would have to stop at a roadside stand of some sort to get real Vermont maple syrup.  As a huge maple syrup fan (I haven't been able to buy anything other than the real stuff since we moved in together), he agreed and we kept our eyes peeled for the right place.

About 15 minutes from our first destination, Lizzy's forever family, we spotted a sign on the side of the highway for Cabot Creamery, indicating it was only 5 miles away.  We agreed we should stop and see what it was like.  So after leaving Lizzy with her new family, we got back in the car and headed to Cabot, VT.  The town is quite quaint and soon we found the Cabot Creamery, including a factory store.

We went inside and started looking at all the local Vermont goodies and then Dave noticed that they offered a tour.  Since it was about to start and was only $2 per person, we joined the group.  The tour started with a short film noting the history of the Cabot Creamery and farm co-op.  It was pretty cool to learn how they started, the quality they require of their farmers and what they do with all the milk, curd and byproduct.  They actually return the water drained off the cheese to the farm fields, putting nutrients back in the soil, and then of course the cows are eating that naturally enhanced grass.

Then our tour guide Tori told us all about the different cheese products and types they make, including some limited items that are only available close to the creamery.  She was very thorough--I had no idea they were so specialized in certain types of cheddar.  She then took us a on a quick trip through the plant, showing us the machines that make cheddar cheese (from curd to package) and another machine that, at the time, was filling 16 ounce packages of sour cream.  The video actually showed us one of the machines, the one that lifts the finished boxes onto the pallets.  I had to comment on it when Tori asked if their were questions because it was painted like a cow. (I asked who painted it.  She said the company that made it sent it like that.  How funny is that?) So of course when we saw RoboCow, I had to snap a picture.

After the tour we went back to the store to sample some of the cheeses.  We tried to behave ourselves since we hadn't yet had lunch, but I did have to get a second taste of the Buffalo Wing Cheddar and Dave was amazed at the limited batch of Classic Vermont Vintage Cheddar.  So of course we had to get both.  And then a few more.  We could have done a lot worse, but ultimately this was our haul.

I don't know if it was the lack of food or just being happy from finding a random place to stop, but outside I goofed off a little.

Moo.

We got back in the car, quickly got back on our route and decided it was time to stop for real Vermont maple syrup.  We'd passed a sugar house on the way up, so when we came near it again we pulled in and got exactly what we wanted.  The sugar house itself wasn't very exciting, but we knew it was the type of place where we would get "the good stuff."

Now it was time for me to get excited.  We were on our way to King Arthur Flour.  In true Vermont fashion, this company is 100% employee owned and really turns out some quality products.  Their recipes are amazing and I understand they have wonderful classes.  Ideally, I'd like to take a class there sometime, but stopped by the store was a fun introduction. 

King Arthur Flour is undergoing a huge expansion, building up their Baking School, store and bakery, among other things  The project will be done sometime next summer.  Guess I'll be holding off on that class until then!

Inside the store, I found myself completely mesmerized by all the different ingredients and tools. all of the thoughts running through my mind of what I could potential make with some many tasty morsels.  Dave was very patient with me as I slowly and methodically went around the store (literally around--the store is a giant circle!), placing things in my basket.   I'd warned Dave that I planned to fill my basket, but then promised to go back through it and buy only the things I wanted most.  Which I did.  My final purchase was only a fraction of all of my wants.

Indeed there actually were specific items I knew I was going to purchase, like Fiori di Sicilia, an extract-like flavoring that gives a unique "secret" ingredient flavor.  I also ended up getting maple flavoring and cinnamon oil, among a few other things.  Items that did not make the cut were the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion cookbook and the mini cheesecake pan, but not I have a reason to go back.  On the plus side, they were running a special that day so I got 15% off my total purchase, which was like getting the cinnamon oil for free!


Happy with my King Arthur Flour swag, we got back in the car and headed toward the Harpoon Brewery.  Dave had been there in July for their BBQ festival with his friends Ben and Nick.  They'd gotten a brief tour, had some beer and ate some good food.  Dave asked if I wanted to do the tour, but I wasn't sure if they would be offering one, based on the information in the pamphlet I'd picked up at the Visitor's Center that morning.  We'd planned on grabbing a bite to eat since they have a pub-style restaurant and we were famished.  We'd left around 8:30 in the morning and other than the stop for nibbles of cheese at Cabot, the only other sustenance we'd had was a bag of peanut butter M&Ms.  

Inside Harpoon, Dave used the facilities and I started poking around the store with all the hats, T-shirts and what not.  I was just about to go to the hostess stand and give our name for a table when I heard a woman holler to the crowd that anyone going on the tour should line up at the door.  I hesitated, not sure if I should hurry and buy tickets for the tour or if Dave wasn't interested.  Just then he came out and I told him the tour was about to begin and did he want to go.  So we ran over to the register, got tickets and headed to the door.  They carded us, gave us tasting glasses (that's always a good sign) and the tour began.  Dave's tour back in July was only an abbreviated version, so this was definitely a treat. 

I'd like to stop for a minute and appreciate our tour guide who, while admittedly having trouble with math at the moment, almost didn't give me a glass because she didn't think I was 21.  And then realized by birth year was 1980, not 1990, and that even if it was, since my birthday is in February, I'd be 21 anyway.  Looking back, I kind of appreciated it because when I'm with Dave I never get carded at all, let along questioned about actually being over 20.


Cat and Dan, our tour guides, gave us an amazing tour.  Having gone on a brewery tour before, we kinda knew how beer was made, but the history of Harpoon and the unique things they do to make their beers was pretty cool.  Local farmers actually take the brewery's used mash for feed for local cattle (no wonder the cheese tastes so good up there!).  Plus Cat bubbled over with personality and energy and you just know she loves her job.  Along the way we had some samples.  First was a swig of unfiltered IPA.  IPA is Dave's absolute favorite, but I usually don't care for it.  But this unfiltered stuff was great.  And super cold.  Cold beer is happy beer.


Cat had filled a pitcher of the unfiltered IPA and then started given about 2 ounce pours to everyone.  With beer still left in the pitcher, she started handing out seconds.  Who was the first person she refilled?  Dave, of course.  There were probably 15-18 people in our tour, and there was a couple standing near us. The woman leaned over to Dave and asked him if he liked IPA.  He said yes and she asked him if he wanted hers--she hadn't tasted it because she knows she doesn't like it, so she just poured it in his glass.  Dave made a beer friend!

Later on in the tour, Cat brought us another sample, this time of the filtered IPA.  And yes, the entire scenario I outlined above was repeated.  Exactly.  At this point Dave had 6 tastings to my 2.  Of his favorite beer.  Lucky duck.

Finally, the tour concluded with a sampling frenzy as Cat described the 10 or so beers they had on tap at the moment and Dan offering to pour us as many samples as we'd like to try.  I tasted the UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen and the UFO Pumpkin.  Both were super yummy, and as Cat described, the pumpkin tasted like "liquid pumpkin pie."  Dave tried the 100 Barrell Oak Aged Dunkel and the Leviathan Imperial IPA, and another one I was forgetting.  Clearly he had so much beer, I was starting to forget things.  Or it could have been the fact that in 8 hours I'd only eaten cheese and candy.  One of those.

So to the pub we went!  The restaurant is the Riverbend Taps and Beer Garden and the food is classic pub fare of burgers, sandwiches and fried things.  We each ordered UFO Pumpkins and then tucked into an appetizer of chicken tenders served with amazing french fries and an awesome ranch dressing.  Again, in true Vermont fashion, ingredients are local where possible and out sandwiches were actually served on King Arthur Flour bread.  Everything was delicious and a leisurely dinner was truly was the perfect way to end the day.  With stomachs filled and our beer buzz subsided, we headed back home.


So let's recap: In a little over 12 hours, we drove to Vermont, adopted out dog to a wonderful family, visited a creamery for a tour and tasting, got real Vermont syrup, visited the King Arthur Flour factory for perfect baking ingredients, toured the Harpoon brewery and got lots of samples and a great dinner.  Yeah, I'd say that's not bad for a random road trip.

Apple Picking!

Fall in New England means it's time to hit the orchards and pick delicious apples right off the trees. Dave and I are lucky that we have a volunteer run orchard right in our town, which just happens to be the birthplace of Johnny Appleseed. We've actually been picking three times this season, but yesterday was the first day we remembered the camera.

Since part of our task with fostering Chiquita is to get her exposed to people and social situations, we decided to take her with us. She loves to ride in the car, but prefers the highway. She actually starts to whimper when you slow down.

Monday morning we called Red Apple Farm to see if they allowed pets. They do! So we got our stuff together and headed about 30 minutes west. It's a great little farm that has a lot of activity for the whole family. In addition to pick your own fruits (seasonal apples, pumpkins, peaches, berries, and more), they also offer hayrides, farm animals, a BBQ pit set up on weekends, and a country store full of all the apple-y goodness fall has to offer.

Chiquita did pretty good on the way to the farm but was so excited once we pulled into the lot. She rode the whole way in the tailgate area of Dave's Jeep, but having to stop and get directed by a guy in the parking lot caused her to spring to the back seat and practically lick Dave's ear off trying to meet this new person. Once parked, she did get back into the tailgate for Dave to let her out, so there is progress.


We got directions to the apply picking, and Chiquita was in seventh heaven with all the attention. She got lots of pets and even got to lick some friendly people. There were an awful lot of distractions, but she did pretty well. There were even times when she listened! She made friends with a few little kids and gave them gentle licks, which was good to see her interact well with little ones. And she even met another doggie friend. That went...OK. They were friendly at first and then something happened. We're not sure if the other dog aggressed or if there was some misinterpreted barking, but she let Dave pull her away onto other things.


One cool thing about the farm is it's wind turbine. The farm is powered by a recently installed 15kw windmill. A brisk New England day, the turbine spun the whole time we were there, and it was remarkably quiet.

You can sort of see it behind this barn. I was trying to take a picture of the hayride, but didn't turn out so much. :)

At least the orchard had other things going on and Chiquita got some good exercise, because the apples left a lot to be desired. We were able to pick about a dozen Yellow Newtown Pippins (yeah, I'd never heard of them either), but the Baldwin trees were wiped clean save for the tiny and frost damaged ones. Disappointed, I ended up taking my meager bag to the country store to pay, only to find some beautiful McIntosh apples there. So I picked up a bag there.

I showed true restraint in the country store, because all you could smell were amazing apple baked goods. I did cave in and bought one apple cider doughnut for Dave and I to share, but I refrained from the pies, the dozens of doughnuts to take home, the apple cider and even the homemade fudge.

We got back to the car and enjoyed our doughnut while Chiquita got a cookie and a last little lick on a 2 year old girl coming by on a wagon. Lucky for her she had the sense to keep her cookie in the hand farthest from Chiquita.

We figured the ride home would result in a sleepy puppy, passed out in the back. Unfortunately she was still wound up, and as we were on the highway, before I could stop her, she had jumped into the back seat with no hope in getting her back.

This is what a bad dog looks like.

So Chiquita didn't earn any cookies for the ride home. But considering she's probably never been exposed to that many people and animals (and pigs at the farm) at one time, she did pretty well. She's only a year old, and still a puppy in many ways, so we're calling it a win. We'll just have to keep exposing her to break some bad habits.

Meanwhile, I have to find some recipes so I can bake up some apple cookies with my Yellow Pippins.

Orange County Choppers

When Dave and I drove down to Lisa's wedding in June, we took a different route than normal. It was much faster and gave us new stuff to look at. On the way home, I was driving and we were on I-87 in New York, about to take the exit to get onto I-84 and head back to Massachusetts. For some reason, I looked over to my left and saw a building on the other side of the highway.

"Gee, that building looks familiar," I thought as I looked back at the road. I looked at the building again, and exclaimed to Dave, "It's OCC! That's their new building! Want to stop?"

I did not crash the car or create any traffic violations. We took our exit, but couldn't figure out where to go to get to that side of the highway, so we just drove home. But we were excited at the prospect of stopping on a future trip.

For those of you who are wondering "WTH is OCC?", allow me to explain. OCC= Orange County Choppers, also known as the motorcycle shop featured on the hit (and newly renewed!) TLC program, American Choppers. Not actually interested in motorcycles, I was turned on to this show almost 8 years ago when Dave and I visited our friend Jesse for a New Year's Eve party (before we were even dating) and spent a few days with friends hanging out at his parents house. There was an American Choppers marathon and the boys beat the girls on choosing what to watch on TV.

I was hooked from the beginning. The designs on the bikes are phenomenal. And just seeing it go from paper to finished product is pretty impressive. Not to mention the family dynamic between the father, Paul Senior, and his two sons, Paul, Junior and Mikey. The personal interaction, sometimes volatile but often very funny, make for really good TV.

Needless to say, when TLC announced an end to the show this past spring, Dave and I were a little intrigued and mildly disappointed. For Christmas last year, I bought Senior's book Ride of a Lifetime for Dave. He loved it, and really gained a great deal (more) respect for Senior as a businessman.

And last week I found out that they renewed American Choppers. The bikes are just as awesome and the family plot thickens, what with Junior leaving the company (we saw that episode last year) and starting a competing business of his own. Oh, and Senior is suing Junior. (You can vote for who's side your on, too. I truly believe in Senior and what he has built, so I have to go with him. And I don't understand these people that are on Junior's side--seriously? Read the book!)

So, back to our drive home last Sunday, we decided that since it was the middle of the afternoon and I didn't have work on Monday, we might as well stop at OCC. We eventually found it (our GPS map is a little old, so we had to follow our, I mean my, directional instincts--I won!).


It was a great day, so there were lots of bikers around and people who generally had the same idea as us. We saw cars in the lot with plates from all over New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio and even one from Texas.

Inside, they have a great showcase in the windows of some of the best bikes they've built. I couldn't believe how huge some of these things are. Really big bikes. I have a whole new perspective of the work they do on the show.

Spiderman bike--they created webbing around the gas can and the wheels.

FBI bike (left) and New York Fire Department bike (right). They have this area set up so you can get your picture taken with the bikes. And the background is made up of patches from various emergency agencies from all over.

Lance Armstrong Foundation bike--pedaling not required!

The OCC version of Santa's Sleigh. I believe Senior actually dresses up and rides this bike to events where gifts are handed out to needy kids.

Besides all the merchandise and loads of TVs to watch episodes of the show, they have hallway you can walk down and actually see the shop and where they build the bikes and film the show. It was pretty cool to see. We may need to stop on a weekday to catch them during an actual build.

The lovable and plush versions of (left to right): Paul, Sr., Mikey, and Paul, Jr.


On our way out, I was still taking pictures. A nice guy asked if we wanted a picture of both of us.

The bike above the door is the Air Force bike.

We were really glad we stopped. The bikes are amazing and it was a cool little side trip into a little reality TV vice of ours. At least it's not complete trash and we learn a lot about motorcycles! And anyone who actually is into bikes should absolutely make the trip. They really are more than just bikes--they are works of art and each one is totally unique and absolutely original.

Jeep Rocks and Road Tour

Again with the Jeep obsession. I told you it was mildly unhealthy.

Dave had gotten an email from a friend stating that the Westfield Air Show (which was nearby to where we were camping and going on this past weekend) was also going to host a Jeep sponsored event called the Jeep Rocks and Road Tour. Dave's been to a few events like this, usually ski resort events, and it's designed for the Jeep owner to get a chance to test drive the new vehicles and other branding-type activities. He pre-registered (such a good idea!) and after we packed up camp and had breakfast on Sunday, we headed down to the air show.

The drive was pretty cool--all back roads and no highways through a pretty area of Western Mass. It rained the whole drive, heavy at times, but it was still a nice, scenic ride. We eventually made it to the air show and after a little confusion, ended up parking in the first main lot.

Despite the rain, there were a lot of people headed to the air show and traffic was pretty thick. We were totally unprepared for rain. In the weather reports we caught before we left home, none of them had mentioned rain, so it must have been a late development that we completely missed. Dave had one umbrella in the car, but no sweatshirt or anything (the one he'd had for camping was pretty filthy) and I had a hooded sweatshirt. It was a light rain, so we made do. A little wet, we started trudging through the parking lot (oh, yeah, those were the air fields--yea, mud!) and into the main gate.
We heard a few planes taking off to do their stunts, but with the clouds so low and the fog thick, you really couldn't see anything. In order to get the altitude to do any good tricks, the view of the planes was already obstructed by the clouds. Plus, if you tried to look up and see them, you just got pelted in the face by rain. But we heard a lot of big engines!

The show is big. There are a ton of activities and it's very family oriented. There were several big inflatables for the kids to bounce in, lots of planes to tour and other military stuff. Vendors with food and souvenirs and a few other placed to have fun in between watching the planes. Lego had set up an area where all the kids could go in and make a Lego airplane. That was pretty cute, but I like the decorations around their tent the best.
We eventually made it over to the Jeep area, which was as far away from where we parked as you could get. But we marched on. While the air show itself was cool, we wouldn't have been there had it not been for the Jeep stuff, and certainly not in the rain. (Are you with me on this obsession thing yet?) There were quite a few Jeep related activities going on too. We enter the tent, and since we were preregistered, we could bypass the line (which wasn't that deep) and headed right up to the front desk were a soldier who was helping out gave us our ID tags with our VIP stickers (yup, VIP just because Dave thought to click the link and tell them we were coming) and got us all set up to use the area. She also helped us find the main event (at least for Dave). They set up an "Owner's Playground" were anyone in a Jeep could drive on the dirt course, designed to simulate a 4x4 trail.

We had to go back to the car, out of the parking lot, go up the road and then come back into the air show from another entrance, but it was totally worth it. We got up to the entrance and the guy working in the tent at the Owner's Playground was awesome. He saw we were already registered and said, "Go ahead and do it as many times as you want!" Then he looked at Dave's Jeep and said, "I'd recommend doing it in low, but I'll leave that to you." I told him that we were already disengaged, and he laughed. Then he gave us each a Jeep key chain. I love free swag.
It was primarily a dirt course with holes and hills and good deal of mud, thanks to the rain, but they also put in this uneven bar thing and a teeter-totter, which was pretty cool. But I must confess. This is the last picture I was able to get because the battery died! I was so dedicated to having pictures for the blog (because blogs are better with pictures), that I wore down the battery! So I don't have any more of the course, but it was so much fun that after we did it the first time, I asked Dave if I could drive. So I did it too. It was a little unnerving and I had to back up and try again on this obstacle, but I had fun.

After we romped in the Owner's Playground, the guy in the tent told us how to get back to the nearby parking lot so we could return to the Jeep activities. We headed back and then started to look around at the Rocks and Road Tour. They had a whole area of Jeep history with a 1950s Willys, the original Army Jeep, some of the new models and museum style displays. They also had off-road and on-road courses where you could test drive a new model-year Liberty, Wrangler, or Grand Cherokee. We headed there and noticed the line was LONG. They had a separate line for each vehicle, but there must have been at least 30 people in each. Then we noticed the VIP line. We bypassed everyone else again (ye for preregistering!) and when we got to the front we noticed only one other couple in front of us. It was awesome. Dave took a few pictures for me with his phone. That hill in the background was part of the course.

Dave wanted to try out the Wrangler Unlimited, 4-door please. It was so cool He drove and I sat in the back. A Jeep expert rode shot gun and was pretty cool. Right away she and Dave started talking Jeep and she said to him, "Don't even bother using the brakes on this course. You know how to drive it, so just let it go." That big hill at the end was very cool--you couldn't see the road anymore on the way up, and when we pitched down, it was pretty steep. And the track was so muddy and awful--it was great! And Dave was excited about the Wrangler, which will probably be his vehicle of choice when his Cherokee stops running.

On our way out of the off-road course (we didn't do the on-road--too tame), we were asked to record a video (commercial) about our experience. Why not? So we did. I think they sent Dave the link, so I'll see if I can post it. If not, maybe you'll see us on TV sometime. They also took our picture--this is the style Jeep we drove, except we had that cool burnt orange color. But the green's not bad. We wandered around some more, and noticed they had a few other areas. There was a rock climbing wall (too wet to be safe) and an area for the kids. They corralled a level dirt track and put a bunch of Jeep Power Wheels in it and let the kids go at it. It was so cute! They also had a Soft-Top Challenge where you had to race against the clock to take the soft top off a Wrangler and fold it up in less than a minute. Since we've never had a Wrangler and wouldn't know where to begin, we passed on that opportunity. Then we saw the Teeter-Totter Challenge. This looked interesting. The challenge was to balance the Liberty on the teeter-totter for five seconds, and you only had a minute to do it. So hard. Dave tried first. I took some video of him trying it out.

Wow--posting that actually worked!

Then of course I had to try. Hey, I beat him in mini-golf, can you imagine if I had been able to do this? Alas, I could not, but he took my picture anyway. We looked at some of the displays, took a survey for Jeep and then got more free swag (I love free stuff). The woman taking my survey asked a standard question of why we came to the area today--primarily for the air show, primarily for Jeep, partially for the air show... I didn't let her finish and said, "Primarily for Jeep Rocks and Road." She looked at me and said, "Really?" I said, "Yup, have you seen his shirt?", pointing to Dave's Jeep club T-shirt.

We left the air show after that, not interested in being in the rain anymore and really hungry. We had such a good weekend and I'm totally surprised by it. I never expected camping to be as easy as it was and even engaging in my husband's Jeep obsession was pretty entertaining. Maybe he'll convert me...Nah, we're going away next weekend and definitely staying in a hotel.

Change of Plans

With the trail run a total bust, Dave and I went back to the campground. When we pulled in, I made Dave stop at the camp office/store. I'd noticed they had a bunch of pamphlets on local activities when we'd checked in, so I ran in a grabbed a bunch.

We headed back to our campsite, had lunch and looked through the information. We found a few things that we knew we'd enjoy. Not far away, in the town of North Adams, was a mini-golf course. And in the same town was Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts. And of course I was able to find a couple of ice cream parlors on the little map I picked up in the office.

We ate lunch, jumped back in the Jeep and headed out to North Adams, about a 20 minute drive. Soon we were at The Range. A few families were playing already, but it was a pretty quiet afternoon there. The course was pretty with lots of flowering plants and a couple water features. The holes looked relatively tame, too, so I figured we'd have a quick game on our hands.

We started and per usual, Dave beat me on the first hole. We tied the second. And then the unthinkable. On the third hole, pictured above, I did it. Hole in one! Dave was so defeated. I almost got another one on the fourth hole (it just missed). We tied the front 9, so Dave was starting to feel a little better about himself. And then I did again. On the 10th hole, I got another one! I was officially kicking Dave's butt, since both holes I got one, he got three. But not to be completely embarrassed by his wife, Dave got an ace on the 11th hole. I had the take this picture twice because the first time, Dave was holding the flag backwards.

We were pretty close for the rest of the game, and I think Dave was trying to get into my head. The 18th hole was pretty cute, the only one with a little theme to it. A testament to our proximity to New York State, but still loyalty to Massachusetts. Of course, we both went to the Fenway side.

Ultimately, I beat Dave by three, which is good enough for me. We turned in our clubs and balls, I mildly celebrated and then we headed through town, up to Mount Greylock.

Mount Greylock State Reservation is part of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. With a summit of 3,491 feet, the Scenic Byway to access it was steep to say the least! We made the slow climb up the mountain (it was a paved road, but at least Dave had his Jeep in the woods and his low gears definitely helped on the way down!), eventually reaching the summit. Hiking trails cross all through the area, as well as some ski trails. At the summit is the Veterans' War Memorial Tower (above) and the Bascom Lodge. We went into the Tower and climbed to the top. This is actually the view towards home! The haze and lower clouds limited the view, but on a clear day, supposedly you can see pretty far East. We live pretty close to Mount Wachusett. The lodge was closed for a private event, but we were still able to enjoy the area.

Probably the most interesting thing about coming up to Mount Greylock was the activity going on behind the Tower. We had parked in the back of the lot, so the easier way to get to the actual grounds was to walk around the back of the Tower. As we came through the trees on the path, there was quite a crowd gathered. Turns out, when you're up this high, it's the perfect spot for para-gliding and hang-gliding.
We watched for about 20 minutes as this para-glider tried to take off, but the winds weren't constant or direct enough for her to actually lift into the air. There were at least three other para-gliders and two hang-gliders in line for it that also ended up packing their gear up, but we know that a few of them had gotten off earlier in the day. When Dave and I arrived at The Range (which also has batting cages and a driving range in addition to mini-golf), we saw a guy dressed in the same gear as this woman, pulling on some wires and wrapping up what we thought was a parachute. Turns out, the The Range is perfect landing spot from here. (When we drove back down through, we noticed the wind socks in around the driving range to help the gliders land.)

It was pretty cool to watch these people try, and the patience they need to wait for the right gust. I supposed if I was going to jump off a perfectly good mountain, I too would want the perfect conditions. We'd never seen anything like it before.

After walking around some more, we made our decline back into the town of North Adams. Again, the road was steep, but we made it. We had told the GPS to take us to an ice cream shop in town, so after we came down the Scenic Bypass, it took us back into town a slightly different way. We were on this "country road" and suddenly saw a road sign, intended for trucks: "Use Low Gear, 17% Grade"

I wish I would have taken a picture. After going through the Scenic Bypass, twisting and turning up the mountain, but still steep, we were literally being dropped into the town below. Dave came to the crest of the hill and suddenly it was like being on a roller coaster. I busted out laughing and Dave was totally flabbergasted that climbing a literal mountain was less intimidating than what was now a residential road in this town. The good news was, it took us a lot less time to get back into town than it did when we were going up.

We got to our little ice cream shop and enjoyed an late afternoon treat. Overall, considering our plans were completely altered after spending the entire morning on a defunct 4x4 trail, we had a great day. We got back to camp a little after 5:00 pm and while we were making dinner (yummy calzones!), Dave asked me if I thought the group was off the trail yet. I actually didn't; I had a feeling they didn't have nearly as good a day as we did.