New Salem MA is a town that is large in area and small in population – less than 1,000 in the 2020 census. It borders the Quabbin Reservoir that provides drinking water to the Boston area. It is remote and beautiful. Bucolic. A good place to rest and relax.

We spent 9 days there, in a cabin owned by brother-in-law Ray and his wife, Kim. We were in their house in Worcester while they were in the cabin and then, on the Friday before Labor Day, we swapped dwellings. They needed a few days in their house to prepare for a month in England. That was fine with us – both dwellings are more than adequate. It just put us further from Boston, so our list of planned activities had to be revised.

On the trip out to New Salem Marlene and I had a conversation about the reservoir and dams in general. So Friday afternoon we trekked down to the Winsor Dam in Belchertown. The Visitor Center there describes the history of the dam, including the taking of 4 towns by eminent domain in the late 1920s and the levels of water in the reservoir over time. It is currently 92% full.

After the dam we got groceries and fuel, then went back to the cabin. It was chilly so we build a fire in the woodburning stove (the cabin has no other heat source), had a drink and watched a movie on DVD (no TV reception but, thankfully, good internet service). The internet service is a relatively new thing – there was NONE about 4 years ago on Verizon. T-Mobile service was minimal then. Now both are quite good.

The next day – Saturday – we drove to Amherst MA, home to the University of Massachusetts. This is a large public university on a sprawling campus. We did a driving tour of the campus then did some shopping at Goodwill (a pair of walking shoes for Marlene) and Aldi (chocolate for both of us) and had dinner at Applebee’s. Riblets for me and a shrimp dish for Marlene. Pretty good. And we used the balance that remained on the gift card we had purchased back in May.

We traveled again on Sunday, this time to Springfield MA. My intent was to show her the statue of The Puritan (Samuel Chapin – on of Jett’s ancestors and a founder of the city) and then go to the MGM Casino. But it turned out to be much more interesting.

First we saw a very nice cathedral which was finishing its Sunday service. We thought it was a Roman Catholic cathedral but were surprised to learn that it was All Saints Cathedral, the primary Episcopal church in Massachusetts.

We left the cathedral and headed to The Puritan. But on our way there we walked through the courtyard near the several museums in Springfield and were surprised to discover some very cool Dr Seuss sculptures.

We went into one of the art museums but it was closed. But we ran into a couple of nice men from Africa. We did, finally, get to The Puritan. The, on our way back to the car, we saw some nice buildings, including the central library and the federal courthouse.

We were at the MGM Springfield Casino for over 5 hours. I held my own for 4 hours but lost $95 in the last hour. Marlene also did well for a time but ended down. But the monetary loses were secondary to an incident that left a bad taste in our mouths. When we arrived we got the cards that we could use to accumulate points (and which Marlene wanted as a souvenir). We asked if there was any new member promotion and were told that we would get a gift if we accumulated $2 in “SlotBucks” – basically points earned for playing slots. Marlene pretty quickly got more that $3 – we saw that she was over $4 when I was at $1.71. But later, when she looked, the amount had dropped to $0.71. We went to Customer Service to ask how that could happen and got no satisfactory answer. But no big deal – I was nearing $3 at that point.

When I finally got to $3 I asked how to get the prize and was directed to a bar in the middle of the casino. I asked the bartended how I get the prize and he pointed to two people in the corner. I approached then and was informed that the promotion ended at 7pm. The time was 7:20. No one had ever told us that the offer expired. I was annoyed. Marlene was furious. she found a manager and they mollified us by putting $50 on her card that could be redeemed for a free dinner. We ate well – fried seafood and some very good chowder – but we never did get the prize (a cooler).

Marlene continued to play after dinner. We got back to the cabin after 2am. We rested on Monday. On Tuesday we climbed a mountain. Mount Monadnock, to be specific. I had not climbed Monadnock in nearly 50 years, but I remembered it as a nice walk in the park – not strenuous at all. I told Marlene that it would be an hour to drive to the trailhead, an hour to the top, an hour back to the car and an hour to drive home.

Ah, memories. How faulty they can be. The hour to get to the trailhead and the hour to drive home were pretty accurate, but the walk in the park and an hour to the top – not even close. This was a brutal comeuppance for me. We climbed for 3 hours and didn’t make it to the top. The trip back to the car was “only” 2 hours. But I was so exhausted that my knees nearly buckled. And I fell twice. NOT a walk in the park.

But we did get some nice photos.

Getting down was every bit as difficult as getting up. My thighs were burning. Marlene did some of the trip down on her butt.

Wednesday was a much-needed day of rest. I had a few leg cramps and felt fortunate that I could walk at all.

Thursday was a trip to the Clark Art Institute, which I will describe separately. Friday featured a trip to the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville CT. We both lost again, but not much. Saturday was a day of preparation for the trip south (TS_10).

While in the cabin we didn’t see any exotic wildlife, but did enjoy the hummingbirds. It was a very pleasant 9 days. We also watched some good movies on DVD and ate well. Thank you Ray and Kim!