“Remoted” – Day 482 (Sunday)

It can be fun to do something a little off the beaten path, so today, Mom and I drove west down route 2 or as the voice in the Jeep Navigation system says, “Are Tee Two.” Every route is an “Are Tee,” and the highway exits are all the old ones before the new numbering system. Some of the calibration is off, including when it cues the turn onto the Lowell Connector Access ramp “in 150 feet” when already at the actual ramp. It also cues the turn onto the University Bridge a few hundred feet before the bridge, which would be a disastrous turn into the river. Waze is more accurate with both the new exit numbers and the distance to execute turns.

There is an update to the navigation system (of course there is) and it costs $149 (of course it does), but the update date is 2020, and my concern is that the new Massachusetts exit numbers still won’t be in it, so what would be the real benefit? According to the Mass DOT site, the exit renumbering project began in Fall 2020, so it feels iffy. Waze is free and already has the updated exit numbers, and that is why I’ve been trying to get the cable to hook the phone up to the media USB port so that Waze can play through the car’s system. It seems like a no-brainer – a cable costing less than $10 or a $149 update that may not have the latest information. Hmmmmm.

Along the path - Bridge of Flowers.

The quirks of the Jeep navigation were nearly imperceptible on the drive west, but it’s because we were on “Are Tee” 2 pretty much the entire time. Our first destination on the adventure was Shelburne Falls and the Bridge of Flowers. I heard of this attraction several years ago, but this was the first time there. It’s pretty cool – a walking path lined on both sides with flowers of all varieties, labeled with ID signs. There were so many flowers we had never seen before. 

We popped into an antique shop, then continued the journey to our next adventurous site – Yankee Candle Village in Deerfield. Mom has been there before, but it was my first visit to the “flagship store” billed as a “must visit in Massachusetts” and “one of New England’s most popular attractions” by the tripsavvy-cot-com website. Wow. I wouldn’t go that far, but now that I’ve been there, I never need to go back, so there is that, thank you very much.

The Bavarian section was dark and creepy and felt like someone forgot part of the store opening procedures and missed turning on a section of lights. The “General Store” felt like a less crowded Cracker Barrel gift shop. Another section had some beautifully patterned housewares, but after seeing a soup bowl tagged at $64 and a coffee mug at $42 that was enough of that.

At one end of the 
Bridge of Flowers.

Out of all the many nonsensical-named scents like “Midsummer’s Night” and “Pink Sand” there was not one item in my favorite freshener scent – peppermint. I used to love the Pine Tree peppermint air fresheners – they were red and white stripe and smelled wonderfully invigorating and one day they all just disappeared and I have been in mourning ever since. And what the heck do Midsummer’s Night and Pink Sand smell like anyway? I tried to open a jar candle to find out, but it wasn’t opening easily and I gave up. 

Of all the men being dragged through Yankee Candle, and there were many, I couldn’t help but wonder how many were there willingly, how many who looked like they were enjoying carrying the basket were really just good actors, and how many were annoyed that the Powder Hollow Brewery feature was not open.

The traffic wasn’t bad, Bridge of Flowers was beautiful, and Yankee Candle did not overwhelm with fragrance and aggravate my sinuses like the stink shops at the malls. Bonus – now I can say I’ve been there. There was some rain, but not until we were making our way out of Deerfield. Overall, it was a great day.