a-MAIZE-ing .... (sorry 'bout that)

The rain kept coming until noon-ish.


Phone calls were made, and the consensus came down to postpone the Mt. Monadnock hike for a couple weeks. Maybe.

I had been up since 7 o'clock and had a backpack full of gear. I was going to do something with the day. We headed out and decided to have breakfast and think of something to do.

We stopped in at Stables Restaurant on Rte. 9 in Hadley.


It was packed with customers as usual. A short wait and we were seated and served by this lovely lady, with the fitting name of Joy.


Stable's has great breakfasts, true to their motto of 'Country Cookin'. They also make they're own bread, sliced toast as thick as a book.

The sky had finally cleared up by the time we finished eating, and we headed north up Rte. 47.

The idea of going to that cornfield maze in Sunderland came up. We kept on Rte 47 and soon saw this sign:

Mike's Maze has been an annual attraction since 2000. Each year they trace out a maze through several acres of cornfield. Really amazing designs. This year's design is Jazz great Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong playing his horn.

I had never done this maze before. I was suprised at how well organized and designed the experience was. It's not like they just collect your money and set you loose in a cornfield.

Rather, they have devised a cool music game, where you have to locate about 20 music chimes in the maze,

play them with a metal baton they supply, and guess which popular song matches which title from a list they give you.

Get a certain number of songs correct, and they give you a little pumpkin.

This girl shows you the ropes before you enter the maze.

Each group gets a numbered flag to wave in the air in case you need help, and you mark your number on this board before you go in, so they know who makes it back and who has been lost to the abyss.

The pathways were well packed with loam and clean, just a few small mud puddles from the rain.

We had good fun tromping around in the cornfield and arguing about which song was what, and which way to go.

Somewhere in the maze is this cool potato gun you have to shoot through a hole on a board, to win a prize.

There is a food tent nearby, and of course pumpkins and other farm products available for purchase.

They have they're own website with more info at http://www.mikesmaze.com/

We left with our prize pumpkin and smiles on our faces.

Right across the street is this interesting looking store, with grindstones built into the facade.

I was going to ask my kid to put his nose against one for a picture, but I think he's starting to get to old to cater to my whims.

I did however get him to stand next to this MASSIVE Sycamore Tree nearby in town.

In front of this tree is a plaque from the National Arborist Association commemorating it as being alive during the signing of the Constitution... yeah, at least.

From there we were still feeling our oats, so we crossed over the Connecticut River to tackle Mt Sugarloaf.

Because it was there.

More on that coming up...