Masons in Massachusetts Weblog

Thunderstorms and Rainbows

masonsinmass — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:03:10 +0000

As we entered Colorado, we could see storm clouds on the horizon. It was wild to be able to see the storm from so far away. As we got closer we could see lightening as well. After about 45 minutes of driving, we reached the storm. And it was a doozy! Strong winds, lightening and thunder, and blinding rain that seemed to be pouring in buckets above us. It was 10 stressful minutes driving through. I sure was glad Steve was driving! After we reached blue skies on the other side, Eve turned around and spotted a beautiful rainbow. The temperature dropped from 84 to 59 degrees in a matter of minutes! Nature sure is funny that way.

Sunflowers!

masonsinmass — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:36:15 +0000

Just drove past a huge field of sunflowers in Kansas!

Backseat Buddies

masonsinmass — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:35:17 +0000

It’s a little crowded in the back seat of the car, with four very important pasengers. Eve is one, of course, and she has just been she has been the best sport on this trip! She is keeping her self entertained and hasn’t complained at all! Second is Biscuit, who spends most of his time snoozing, punctuated with deep sighs when he needs to stretch. He has also been barking at the toll booth workers. On the floor behind the driver’s seat is the hamster cage. Heddy is doing well, though she would really like a chance to run in her ball. The final passenger in the backseat is our seven-year-old bamboo plant that Ethan and Tricia gave us before Eve was born. You’d think that this would be the easiest passenger, but it seems to be having problems respecting other people’s personal space. All in all, it’s a full back seat!

Kansas Windmills

masonsinmass — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:27:24 +0000

The wind is incredible as we are driving I-70 across Kansas. One of the amazing sights that we saw is the fields of gigantic windmills harvesting energy from the wind. The pictures below do not do them justice. Each one is so big and they go on for miles! It was amazing to see!

Driving the Interstate

masonsinmass — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:10:14 +0000

We’re driving 3000 miles on this country’s Interstate Highway system. It’s a pretty impressive network, that most people don’t think of that often. There’s a whole etiquette of how to drive on the Interstate — when to pass, what lane to be in, how to safely manuever around the trucks. Oh the trucks. Wow are there a lot of trucks! All kinds of trucks carrying all kinds of goods to all kinds of places. It is clear from the rest stops and small towns along the way that these interstates belong to the trucks and the truckers. We are merely guests, visiting for a short time.

Hershey’s World of Chocolate

masonsinmass — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:48:04 +0000

After dropping Biscuit off at The Barking Lot, we headed over to The World of Chocolate exhibit at Hershey Park. It was great!! We rode the Chocolate Tour twice, had amazing shakes, and shopped for some chocolate. Eve’s favorite part (other than the chocolate) was the singing cows.

Barking Lot

masonsinmass — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:12:05 +0000

We’ve made it pretty far today! We drove through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. We rewarded ourselves with a stop in Hershey. The question was what to do with Biscuit, since we couldn’t leave him in the car in the heat for an hour. Luckily they have a day kennel right near the World of Chocolate, aptly named The Barking Lot. So Biscuit went there while we explored Chocolate!

On the Road!

masonsinmass — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:54:25 +0000

We are on the road and heading west! It’s a grey and rainy morning as we leave Massachusetts. First stop, Dunkin Donuts to fuel up for the trip.

We’ve been keeping track of our state totals, and we’ll each be adding to these totals as we go. Here is where we each stand at the start of our journey:

Steve — 33 states
Yapha — 30 states
Eve — 11 states
Biscuit — 4 states
Heddy the Hamster — 2 states

The Ice Storm

masonsinmass — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:56:53 +0000

On December 12, 2008 an ice storm hit Fitchburg and surounding areas, the likes of which had not been seen in over 50 years. All through the night we listened to the cracking and breaking of tree limbs. The sound was perfectly described by my neighbor and colleague Sean, as sounding like a shotgun firing at a chandelier — a cracking blast, then a soft tinkling as ice hit hit. We lost power for 12 days, and the temperature inside of our apartment dropped below 40 degrees, since we had no heat, either. Thank goodness my parents were close enough that we could stay with them. I don’t know what we would have done otherwise.

Below are some pictures of the ice covered trees. It is beautiful, but a sinister beauty. So much destruction occured, as entire trees buckled under the weight of the ice.

Fall Colors

masonsinmass — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:18:24 +0000

I haven’t been updating this much, now that we are all moved in, and school is underway. But I did want to share some fall colors with you! It has been unbelievably brilliant to watch!

The beginning of the leaves changing, early October

Middle of October, at Applewild

Eve loves Fall!