Erica: Leaving the Adirondack’s was sad and we didn’t want to go. Before we left we stopped at Origin Coffee in Saranac Lake to read for a bit. On the road, we had never seen views like that before. Tall, rocky Mountains surrounding miles of deep blue lakes millions of trees and greenery that didn’t stop. The towns were far and few in between with only a main road connecting to all the essential general stores and kitschy antique shops; we pointed out every single one of them. The air was crisp as we cruised through the towns towards I-87 south, where the next part of our journey would begin. Watching the mountains get smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror, we continued on but not without commenting on how much we wished we could go back. But alas, the Berkshire’s were calling. With a race against the rain we were hoping not to lose, we persevered and embraced our road trip with the new Harry Styles album, our favorite songs, our favorite memories of our trip so far, and what we want to do with the rest of it.
15 minutes from Pittsfield, and we stumbled across the quirkiest and interesting thrift store and immediately pulled over. We got out of the car and into the heat to stretch our achy limbs. As soon as we pulled in, a motorcycle and another car also pulled into the lot and joined us on our way in. Inside smelt like dust and was littered from floor to ceiling with refurbished goodies. Emo music was playing over the store and we walked around hoping something would catch out our eye. We left shortly after at the same time as others without any treasures but hope for what was next to come.
Pulling up in Pittsfield was disappointing as the town wasn’t as cute as Saranac Lake and lacked the same views we so desperately wished for. But we moved on and came up to the hotel where we were excited to put our stuff down and grab dinner. Hungry and tired, we discovered that there was no parking at the hotel as the garage was under renovation and grumpily tried to find parking.
Dylan: We scrambled to find a good spot to eat. I was too proud to ask the hotel for advice so we consulted google. We ended up at this casual restaurant called The Roasted Garlic. They gave us free drinks for following them on Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook. (Erica had to make a TikTok account just for the occasion!) Much of our trip was still uncharted at this point, so we started researching activities in the Berkshires. We found that in addition to climbing Greylock Mountain we could also hike another popular trail in the area, Monument Mountain. It started to pour, which made us feel better about our decision to eat inside. Not the most exciting day- but it was a pretty cozy travel day!
Dylan Hirsh 