The Berkshires

Last week John had 2 unused parent days that expired 6 months after Ellie was born. To keep these from going to waste we decided to go on a little trip. My sister Crystal recommended the Berkshires and it was an excellent recommendation. The Berkshires are part of the Appalachian mountains and are in Western Massachusetts. They are more like hills today, but hey they're half a billion years old. Cut'em some slack. Super cute little towns are nestled in the valleys and the region is known for its music scene too. Since we had Walter and a baby we just stuck with the great outdoors.

We were in no hurry to get to our campsite so we drove along back roads and old highways. We finally bought our own tent. We had borrowed a tent the last couple of camping trips, but now we have our own. It's just a small 4 person tent, and we figure when our kids get bigger they can graduate to a hammock and sleep with John. It'll be one of our family rites of passage.

So back to our tent. The tent said it could fit a queen air mattress. Perfect. We set up the tent and were pleased with how simple it was. Then I pump up my air mattress at the car. Once it was pumped to my desired firmness I try to put it in the tent. The door to the tent wasn't big enough to fit the air mattress! John and I had to squeeze it through. I was worried we were going to break something, but luckily we didn't. The original plan was for Ellie's pack 'n play to fit in the tent too. The air mattress took up all the room. There was enough room for her to sleep on the ground next to the mattress and for Walter to sleep at the foot of the mattress. Good thing babies have soft bones.

It had rained earlier that day and was windy and chilly. We ate our delicious tin foil dinners, roasted some mallows and went to bed early. I was worried that Ellie would get cold, which she did. I was a little cold too, so I just snuggled with her in my sleeping bag and we were both toasty. The only problem was I couldn't really move because it would wake her up. After an okay night's sleep we had french toast for breakfast! I'm so glad that John is Mr. Camper extraordinaire because it makes our trips so relaxing and fun. After our delicious breakfast we headed off to our first stop of the day. Tannery Falls.