Road to Nowhere

 Yesterday was a beautiful day in central Mass. One of the first signs that this long cold winter may finally be over. I had spring fever and wanted to do absolutely anything that involved being outdoors. A friend of mine had posted some photos on Facebook the day before of a waterfall, so I thought that would be a fun adventure. I looked up a listing of waterfalls online and found one with a good rating that wasn't terribly far away. So we drove off in search of Royalston Falls.

 There is no exact address for the falls so I was reading directions off of the website instead of using a GPS. The closer we got the more confusing the directions got to us, as we are not familiar with the area. I decided to try using my gps in hopes that it would at least get us heading in the right direction.

 We drove down several long and winding back roads through the country side. Most of the homes we passed were small farms. I guess when you live that far from civilization you need to be somewhat self sustainable. One farm in particular really stands out in my mind. There were goats and sheep grazing in pens that were visible from the road. Lying in the middle of the field was a beautiful dog, a Great Pyranees. Being a dog groomer, I love all dogs, however, I find this breed to be particularly striking. They are loveable and gentle giants. The scene instantly reminded me of one of my favorite cartoons with Sam the large white sheepdog and a wolf named Ralph. If we could have stopped and spent the afternoon playing with the dog that would have been a perfect day for me.

 I may have been enjoying the cartoon playing in my brain and the imaginary play date I was having with that dog, but it soon became clear my gps was taking us in the wrong direction. I suppose I shouldn't blame the GPS, it's more likely that I just always manage to use it wrong. Jay did his best to look up directions and backtrack and find the falls. After a lot of driving around that ended with a trek down a dirt road which eventually turned out to be impassable, it became clear we had been defeated. Tails tucked between our legs we turned back. I'm sure when or if we decide to try finding it again it will be right there in front of us, but it just wasn't going to happen this day.

 Driving around for hours had us feeling worn down and hungry. A quick check on our phones found us The Gardner Ale House near by. I thought it was a cute place. The menu was mainly traditional pub style food. The cheeseburger I had was nothing spectacular, however the potato skins we ordered for an appetizer were clearly homemade and very good in comparison to the microwaved version you get in chain restaurants. We both ordered a Chair City Pale Ale. After all, we were in "The Chair City" and I always like to try a new beer. I would certainly stop in again if we were ever in the area. I'd like to go back later at night. I find it hard to appreciate the pub atmosphere during the day.

So we didn't find what we set out in search of, but it is the searching that is half of the fun right? We will be back Royalston Falls and we will find you!

-Meaghan

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