Day 56-58, East Otis, MA (Sandisfield, MA)

Very nice visit with Ro’s sister Beth, husband Joachim and our niece Avery.  Beth and Joachim made a homecooked meal Friday night that was delicious.  Attended a book fair in Monterey and climbed Monument Mountain (1642').  Path was very steep and rocky but mostly forested until reaching the summit which has a rock outcropping which offers a wonderful view of the Berkshires and even the Catskills in NY.  We all met Ro’s other sister, Kathy, and husband Bob (who drove from Millis Saturday and stayed until Sunday) at Jae’s Korean restaurant for lunch in Lenox.  Walked around Stockbridge and then Great Barrington.  Ate dinner a Baba Louie’s Italian restaurant.  Then back to the house for ice cream cake to honor Avery’s 15th birthday.  Sunday morning was Joachim’s famous blueberry and chocolate chip buckwheat pancakes, yum!  Rest of Sunday was just chilling out.  Beth and Joachim’s house is quite isolated and our campground was about a 25 minute drive away which we made mostly late at night during which we saw 2 foxes, a coyote, a raccoon and a groundhog.  The last trip back to the campground on Sunday was before sunset and half way there a driving hail storm hit us.  I tried pulling under a tree but it was no relief from the pounding.  The noise was deafening.  When we made it back to the coach, the electric and water were out.  So we were dry camping in the campground the rest of the night.  I will also mention that I will never complain about Florida mosquitoes again since they are much smaller and vastly outnumbered by their northern bretheren.  Joachim has an electric bug zapper shaped like a tennis racquet with which I had much fun trying to reduce the mosquito and bug populations.  I got to get me one of those.

Day 55, East Otis, MA  (Sandisfield, MA)

The Hadley Walmart is relatively new and in a big shopping area with a Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Bed, Bath and Beyond.  We shopped at all of them and fully stocked our coach.  Headed south to visit the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden in downtown Springfield.  Made two turns with the coach and the streets got narrower with each turn.  One more turn needed but we decide not to go forward as the road was too narrow and the turn was blind.  Pulled into a church parking lot that was mostly empty and just big enough for us with room to turn around.  We called the sculpture garden to verify it had RV parking but got only a recorded message.  We called the church and were granted permission to park there.  Five minute walk to the garden verified our decision not to make that last turn as nowhere to put the coach or turn around.  Visited the sculptures, took photos and back to the coach - total time away from coach was 15 minutes.  Grandkids better like the photos of the Seuss characters!  Onward to Overflow Campground in East Otis where we will stay 4 nights while visiting family.  Approach road was winding mountain road of about 30 miles.  Some uphill grades so steep coach could do no more than 15 mph.  Check in, then drive around Great Barrington before meeting Beth, Joachim and Avery at their Berkshire house for a visit.