Last week was spring break for our schools, which meant I was free from having to take my granddaughter to school all week. Earlier in the year, I booked our timeshare in the Berkshires as a base for trying to find geocaches in towns in Northern Connecticut, Southern Vermont, and Massachusetts.

Before & after my time in the Berkshires.

I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go with the wound in my abdomen. However, two days before I was supposed to leave I saw the surgeon’s assistant and she said I no longer needed the wound vacuum, which was huge. As of this past Friday, I was also cleared from at-home nursing care. The wound that was original 5cm deep is now just 1/2cm deep. The wound that was 14cm long is now less than 7cm long. I see the surgeon’s assistant again tomorrow, and it might be that I just have to put a bandage on it until it’s fully healed, rather than the wound dressing I’m currently using. Yay! Took about 10 weeks since my appendectomy on February 26th to finally be free.

Still, this trip was the first time I really did a lot physically. I’d chosen geocaches that were close to the road with only a little walking, but it still took its toll on me. My knees started hurting and I was tired. After 5 days of geocaching, I woke up about as tired as when I went to sleep and with a lot of aches and pains. I cut my trip short by 3 days and came home. There will be another time. I’m pleased that I managed to find 270 geocaches in 46 towns during that time and see many interesting places.

W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site https://www.duboisnhs.org/

Norman Rockwell’s grave and his studio at the Norman Rockwell Museum – https://www.nrm.org/

In September 1969, Thom Reed had a UFO Encounter here that had been deemed “historically true.” The benches in the park have been sponsored by various paranormal television shows. https://ufopark.org/

These are called “barn quilts” and they are all over Northwestern Connecticut.

I found a number of interesting giants.

The Hoosac Tunnel which is a railway tunnel between North Adams, Mass. and Florida, Mass. It’s a 4 3/4 mile long tunnel through the mountains https://hoosactunnel.net/

Beautiful student artwork in one town.

This old home is now an art school. Very pretty! My one friend said it looked like a “creepy dollhouse” she built.

An old iron furnace. There were several sites around the area that once had foundries on them. At one, I found some very unusual rocks. My 6 year-old granddaughter is heavily into rocks right now so I brought her home a couple. I found out it’s actually slag, a by-product of making iron!

Statue in Mohawk Park, Charlemont, Massachusetts https://www.mohawktrail.com/history.html

All in all, I had a great time, even if I felt very tired.

May 1st was my parents’ wedding anniversary. They were married in 1949. Mom died in 2013 and Dad died in 2015. I had plans that day to go to a geocaching event at a brewery in Maine, but my dog came up lame that day, so we didn’t attend. Of course, dog is now fine. If it hadn’t been the weekend I would have been running her to the vet for nothing, and it’s a project to get her to the vet.

The diamond painting I’m currently working on. It’s more than halfway done. I’m very critical of myself while I’m working on it, but when I step back and take a picture, I like it better. I still don’t think this is one of the better ones I’ve done, but my son is thrilled – it’s for him.

The one good thing about coming home early was that I was able to watch the Mets pitchers throw a combined no-hitter. There’s only been one other no-hitter ever in their history, so this was huge. Speaking of the Mets, they are having a legendary season. It feels like it’s 1986 again. I’ve been a fan since 1975, so was there during many lean years. I do feel a bit like (Mets owner) Steve Cohen has turned into George Steinbrenner and is just buying a World Series where the Mets teams always seemed to be the underdog who fought and scrapped their way to a title. However, I am enjoying watching this team play. Players like Pete Alonso with their heart and energy really make it fun.

My daughter is due on May 10th with my grandson. This will be grandbaby #3. We had a couple of times in the last few weeks we thought she might be early, but it’s looking now like it will be either this weekend or later. I can’t wait to meet him!