Debi and I hit the road early Saturday morning. It was with much anticipation, that we headed north for the long planned weekend in the Berkshires. My cousin Tim Barrett had suggested we take a Road Trip to his neck of the woods, back at our cousin Ali’s wedding, back on the Fourth of July weekend. After an early re-route, we made the majority of the drive on the scenic Taconic State Parkway. We arrived at my Aunt Ronni’s house and enjoyed a couple of hours of catching up and reminiscing, before we followed Tim out of there and agreed to meet up at our Air BnB in the gritty, cool town of North Adams (about 45 minutes from West Stockbridge where Ronni lives).

Debi caught a quick nap before Tim arrived, and then we walked down into the heart of North Adams on our way to the Mass MOCA complex down by the Hoosic River. Tim knows a lot about the area and was a great tour guide, throughout the weekend. We were a bit late, to venture into the Museum, so we opted for some outdoor refreshments from the Bright Ideas Brewery, and some Chips and Salsa from a food truck set up in the open town square-like, plaza. It was great way to spend an absolutely gorgeous, autumn afternoon.

We had a delicious dinner at Grazie, before heading back to the Air BnB. Tim decided to head back to West Stockbridge, and we agreed that he would come back for us in the morning, for a hike.

Tim arrived back out our home base for the weekend, at around 10am, bearing the gift of Fresh Cider Donuts from Bartlett’s Orchard in Richmond (yes, they were delicious!). We hopped in our car and made the short drive to picturesque Williamstown, eventually finding Hopkins Memorial Forest (which is owned and maintained by Williams College). It was cool and not long before it began to rain, though the density of the forest kept us mostly dry. We probably went more than four miles on varied terrain, up and down some moderate grades and crossing several brooks. One of the best things about Hiking, is it allows for conversation, which is a great way to visit with a cousin you don’t get to see too often.

We finished up and headed back into Williamstown, a classic, small New England College Town. We decided on The Purple Pub, which is a very cool Sports Bar, pretty much in the center of town. We enjoyed more great food (Burgers for Debi and me, a Salmon BLT for Tim) and some great local beer on draught, while we casually watched some NFL action.

We parted once again, back at the North Adams home base, which was in a lovely, very large Victorian House up on the Hill, that is behind the town. We had told Ronni that we would stop by her place again Monday morning on our way home, and this time we stopped at Bartlett’s for more Donuts (also some Apples, Honey and Peanut Butter – all of which have been great!). Tim happened to stop in from work while we were there and we had a shorter but equally great visit with both of them, before we headed for home on what turned out to be a rainy, but otherwise uneventful drive.

It really was a nice couple of days. Tim is quite the ambassador for The Berkshires and it was great getting to spend time with him, and his Mom. We did not get to do as many things as we had hoped to do, but that only means we will have to get back up there again!

Back at home, it would be time to shift gears. Tuesday, we began the Fall Lacrosse Clinic for Girls, in Hempstead. I was pleased that we had twelve kids and five coaches in attendance (a couple of new coaches). I felt like we were pretty well organized and covered a lot of things, in the hour session (it goes by quickly). Everyone was engaged throughout, and most importantly, the Girls all had fun! It felt good to be back out there.

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