Luckily they stayed on the horizon, and we had a peach of a day, weather-wise. It was too good a day to waste, and we loaded up the bikes late afternoon and headed out. We passed Woodbridges Restaurant, across from Mt. Holyoke College, and saw it has finally reopened it's doors, and patio. We'll have to check it out soon...
Farther on, we noticed many a cow, grazing in the fields by the side of the road up on Rte. 47, under the shadow of Skinner Mountain. I pulled over for a pic of the country scene...
Then I saw that several cars were pulling in and out of a recently built building, up on a hill-side right nearby. They were coming and going from the brand-spanking new Barstow's Dairy Store and Bakery, which has opened for business.
The Dairy store and Bakery, at first glance, looks a lot like a new ranch style house tucked away near a farm. In fact that's what we thought it was, as we watched it's building progress whenever we would pass by. I had read later, in the paper, what the building's true purpose would be, (and frankly, I wondered what it would do to one of my favorite spots, scenery-wise, on this section of Rte.47). Happily, at the moment anyway, it still very much looks just like a nice house up on the hill; Very low key. Only the new sign at the entrance by the road, and the cars rolling in and out of the parking lot, give it away. We pulled in for a closer look, and maybe some pie.
There's picnic tables lined up outside, and a nice outdoor porch with more tables. You can take in the great view as you eat...Don't have time? they have a drive thru in back...A drive thru...
It's nice, new, and roomy inside. There's a case with all kinds of pastries, and signs above the counter have long lists of their breakfast, lunch and snack menus. Paula, (that's her below in the green shirt, and who I assume is the proprietor), was all smiles. She mentioned that they just opened two days ago, and so far, the response has been fantastic. Apparently many people had been waiting for opening day...
In the corner is a display of nick-nacks for sale...
Kelly bought a slice of Blueberry to go, and said that she read on the wall inside that the fork she was using to eat the pie is compost-able. Made of corn. Ingenious.
I know we'll check it out again. It's right on my favorite route north...
We continued on with the business of the afternoon, which involved a spin down the Norwottuck rail trail.
It was just about sunset, so we detoured down to the river bank for a look. There, we witnessed a tranquil, almost cloudless beauty.
I was just about to call it a wrap on another lovely afternoon, when the bike suddenly felt wobbly. What the... Oh, Doh! A flat.
Ok, luckily gadget boy always has an air pump strapped to the bike. A pump I've used dozens of times, to top off the tires. A pump that of all days chose today, as darkness was falling, and we're about 4 miles from the car, to break on me. It spurted out air in every direction except into the tire, as I frantically pumped and prayed, to no avail... Aaargh...
I tried to get Kelly to pedal back on her own, and drive the Jeep back here pick me up, but she resolutely refuses to drive the thing. So it was that I was hurling down the bike path, in near total darkness, on a girl's bike. Actually, I soon forgot this affront to my macho-ism as I became enthralled by the spectacle of hundreds of Fireflies, lighting up for a split-second all around and in front of me, making the darkness sparkle as I pedalled through. It would take much more than a simple flat tire, to sour such a beautiful evening...
4 comments:
Drats, we almost took a ride around sunset yesterday so I, no doubt, would have noticed you if you were riding a girls's bike like a bat out of hell. Thanks for the heads up about Barstows!
I was noticing the clouds yesterday, too. Very cool. :)
Yes, it was a really lovely day. Monsoon season will return for the rest of week.
It appears those clouds have kept their distance long enough...looking out the window right now (5:15 Thursday), it looks like the monsoon is about to hit any minute...
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