Pretending To Be Adventure Boy: A Trip in a Blizzard (Part I)

Getting going to beat the snow

When it comes to braving extreme weather, I start thinking in a voice not so different from my grandmother: “There’s a storm coming? Snow? Wind? A blizzard? Why would you leave the house, Bubelah?”

So, should Lani and I drive across the state to the Berkshires on a day when there was a big ol’ blizzard warning? At least two different times—night before and morning of—we nearly said no. But it was 9 a.m. and the snow was just falling lightly. The main event wasn’t due until midday. We decided to act like hardy New Englanders (even though we’re really wimpy New Englanders) and get on the road. The grandmother part of me insisted that we pack plenty of food and add a snow shovel to our luggage, just in case.

The result: We zipped out of Boston and outran the storm for a good part of the day.

Yes, it's the Very Hungry Caterpilla

We showed up at a museum in Amherst full of art from children's picture books just as the place opened. Started by Eric Carle, creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the place also houses whimsical works from masters like Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) and William Steig (the original author of the Shrek story, which inspired the movie). Maybe a half-dozen other people were there. No one to hear our giggling, especially when we stopped for the photo op by the 8-foot-long caterpillar. Then, as a few flakes began appearing, we stopped at a yarn store (Webs) well-known to the online knitting crowd. Lani was in heaven while I went to grab some lunch.

By mid-afternoon, as we headed on the hour-and-a-half stretch toward North Adams, it was time for a little anxiety. The end of our drive covered 35 miles through mountains on the Mohawk Trail. Snow blew across the two-lane road as I drove our little Subaru past a smattering of closed summertime snack restaurants and knickknack places. The last bit, through a state forest, included a steep, unplowed decline with a harrowing hairpin turn.

Our reward: As the sun went down, the blizzard got much worse. But, for the most part, we weren’t in it. We had already pulled into Porches Inn, a half retro, half granny chic place that takes up a cluster of old Victorian row houses. Across the way is the brick mill complex that houses Mass MoCa (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art).

Taking a walk with the snow blowing sideways

Grabbing a swank dinner involved a practically blind stroll through snow blowing sideways. But by then, we didn’t care. No more driving needed—just a hearty meal inside the Mass MoCa complex and a return to our cozy room with a DVD to watch.

A few lessons from the day:

• It’s good for the wimpies (us) to take a turn being adventurous types (not us) every once in a while.
• There’s nothing like trudging through a good blizzard to make me forget about whatever other worries I have going on.
• Pushing boundaries in one area definitely puts me in more of a frame of mind to push them somewhere else (say, in my professional life).
• I’m still a weather wuss.