A great trip out West

At some point I will be caught up and start writing about the present, but I still feel I need to share a few memories from past year. We usually do a little family trip to a B&B or a camping trip every year, and this October we went to the Berkshires of Massachusetts where none of us had been before. By the B&B owner Diane I was informed that we were only at the Berkshire foothills - but to me it sort of counted anyway. The little village was called Conway and we couldn't have been more lucky with the main attraction - fall foliage.

We went to a butterfly conservatory in South Deerfield called Magic Wings. It was a fantastic place and we spent half our day just there inside the tropical enclosure or outside in the garden. If it had been in Boston it had costed a fortune to get in, and it would have been completely packed.
We saw some stunning creatures fluttering about in there, but it was rather difficult to photograph them - eventually I just pointed randomly at a bunch of them hoping that something would stick. Some of them were nice to sit still for a pose:

This one is called Rice paper.

Male Cairns Birdwing - where it originates I'm not sure.

This giant was almost too unreal: and see the parrot in the background!

 And this became my friend.

Outside was another attraction.

Some old rail road cars on a forgotten trail. We went to explore - there is a train fanatic among us.

Next to the tracks were an old sunny ditch, with Elderberries and Sumacs, Goldenrods, Asters, gorgeous red Dogwoods. The colors of this day are so vivid in my mind - it was absolutely perfect.

 

 

I counted many of these - hardened and empty since long.

An old barn on the neighboring field

 

The tracks, screws, nuts, and bolts were examined as well.

 

On the other side of the ditch were some fields and then the rolling hills.

The cars had Oriental Bittersweet growing on them. I thought that if I came back next year, maybe I wouldn't be able to see them anymore under the scraggly vines.

 

But as of now they looked beautiful.