From Flowers To Mosaics to Potholes In Shelburne Falls

With Maine in the rear view mirror, it was time to start heading west.  The line of cars and RVs traveling toward Bar Harbor as we left made us glad we were on the opposite side of traffic.  We definitely enjoyed our time in the area though!  Next time we'll plan on a longer stay (without moving the rig) and we'll time our stay better to avoid the holiday crowds.

We were on our way to see Emmett again but we wanted to add a few more states to our US map.  We've already added Pennsylvania, Vermont and Maine.   We decided to spend the night in New Hampshire and earn another new sticker. 

Rufus isn't a fan of fireworks.  In fact, loud noises of any kind startle him and he runs for cover :-(  We wanted a quiet place for the night.  Luckily we found an RV park that had a spot open for the one night.  Ugh, one nighters are getting harder...

Our next stop was at Country Aire Campground in Charlemont, Massachusetts.  Another sticker :-)  By this time in our travels Rufus had also developed a fear of drive days.  As soon as we started the motor he would begin shivering and whining.  He was a wreck!  We found a nearby vet and made an appointment for the next morning.  In the meantime, we went into the small town and found a very interesting sight.

The nearby town of Shelburne Falls is home to Bridge of Flowers.  We truly enjoyed our walk across this unique former trolley bridge.  Bridge of Flowers spans the Deerfield River and also connects the two nearby towns.

as shown on their website

there are several benches for admiring the fragrant views

The bridge is open from April 1st to October 30th.  Their website has a long list of blooms listed by month that you can expect to see.  I honestly had a hard time deciding which photos to include.  We didn't see the 'no dogs' sign until after we were done crossing back over the bridge.  He's a good boy and there weren't too many visitors.  We don't let him lift his leg when it's inappropriate either...

Just down the river is another site worth visiting.  The "Glacial Potholes" began to form after the last glacier age when the Deerfield River first started to flow over these rocks, about 14,000 years ago. 

  
While walking through town I noticed a few mosaics.  They brighten up the walls around the small town.  There are 10 mosaics around town (I discovered this just today) that were created in 2009.  The mosaic artist enlisted the help of the local towns third graders to help decide the historic content of the art.  Here are three that I noticed on our short walk around town.

At the far edge of town is the Visitor's Center.  By the time we made it past it had closed for the day.  The reason we walked past is because there is a hidden geocache nearby.  The downstairs of the building was once the town's jail.  The cache is named Jail House Rock.  We found the log and signed it to earn our smiley and another Geocache Souvenir on our Geocache profile :-)  Honestly, we aren't too good about hunting them out.  We've found a cache in only nine different states.  But we did find some while we were in Japan!

the jail entrance is on the lower right side of the visitor's center

how bleak would this cell be?

two windows, maybe there are two cells?

Saturday morning finds us getting up a little earlier than we usually do.  The local vet was nice enough to squeeze Rufus in at 9:00AM.  Knowing where to go helped as we drove past it on our way back from visiting town yesterday. 

Trailside Veterinary Services took the time to see and diagnose Rufus when other vets in the area said they couldn't, on Saturday of a holiday weekend no less.  I brought Rufus there while Ron stayed behind and got Raven ready to travel.  I was immediately welcomed by the staff.  The friendly woman holding a cat turned out to be the doctor's assistant and not a customer as I had thought.

Once in the exam room Rufus became a bit nervous, as expected.  But he loved all the pets and attention from the doctor and his assistant.  Dr. Galusha took the time to listen to my concerns.  He asked plenty of questions about how Rufus has been eating, eliminating and behaving.  He came to the conclusion that Rufus is likely stressed by the constant moving around.  I suppose our dog is a home body too!  Best course of action is a prescription to help him calm down on drive days.  Half to one whole tablet every six hours as needed should do the trick.  We tried the half tablet first.  It helped, but we had to up the dosage to a full tablet the following day.  Plus we learned to give it to him about 30 minutes prior to departure.

All things considered we had a good visit to the area of Shelburne Falls.  Next time we come past this area I wouldn't mind spending an extra day or two.  Maybe get on a raft and cruise the Deerfield River.