From July 2015

Grand Canyon of Massachusetts: Chesterfield Gorge

While in Massachusetts we had to visit the “grand canyon of Massachusetts:”  Chesterfield Gorge.  Chesterfield Gorge is listed as the “grand canyon of Massachusetts” on the Massachusetts government Facebook page, and we know everything that is posted on Facebook must be the truth. Most of Massachusetts is relatively flat with lots of bogs, rivers heading …

Read more

Nashua River Rail Trail

Monday was a lovely day, so Tom and I took the opportunity to ride the Nashua River Rail Trail.  The Nashua River Rail Trail runs for 11 miles in Massachusetts, crosses the state border into New Hampshire, and continues for another 1.5 miles.  The trail runs across the bed of the former Hollis Branch of …

Read more

Salisbury Beach Campground

While Tom and I were on the shore of Massachusetts we stayed at Salisbury Beach Campground.  Salisbury Beach State Reservation is one of the state’s most popular beaches and has 484 camping spaces.  The campground is located on a peninsula between the ocean, the Merrimack River and a wetland marsh.  There are three large parking areas …

Read more

Camping with Friends

Tom and I spent the last two weeks camping with our friends, the Shaws.  We have known Sandy Shaw since John and her son Steven were grade-schoolers and ended up in the same Cub Scout Pack.  When Sandy and Eric got married nine years ago, I was able to perform the ceremony on the rim …

Read more

St. Matthews United Methodist Church

Yesterday Tom and I attended St. Matthews United Methodist Church in Acton, Massachusetts.  It was the closest United Methodist Church and it has a really good website with the worship times front and center.  The web site is so up-to-date, that yesterday’s sermon is already available to listen to. Although the outside of St. Matthews …

Read more

The Freedom Trail

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile red-brick-marked route that takes visitors to 16 historically significant sites in Boston.  Although Tom and I have done parts of the Freedom Trail in the past, we had not been to Boston for a long time and the friends we have been traveling with had never done it. …

Read more

Salem, Massachusetts

After leaving Franconia Notch State Park, we headed for the beaches and history of Massachusetts.  Our first stop was Salem, famous for the witch trials and Nathaniel Hawthorne. When I think of the witch trials of Salem, I used to wonder how people could give in to mass hysteria like that.  Are there really people …

Read more

Cannon Campground

While Tom and I were in Franconia Notch we stayed at Cannon Campground.  As I mentioned yesterday, in the Grand Canyon of New Hampshire post, there are two campgrounds in the state park.  Lafayette Campground has lots of sites, but Tom and I never would have fit in any of them and there were no …

Read more

Hope

One of the most beloved verses in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 13:13:  “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  We talk a lot about faith and love, but sometimes I think we forget hope.  Love may be the greatest thing, but hope is very important …

Read more