Walden

Last Saturday I went to Walden Pond to celebrate the arrival of spring in New England. The temperatures were in the 80s both Saturday and Sunday, which made this Texas girl feel much more at home. I didn't know what to expect at Walden Pond, but I ended up walking all the way around the pond during my time there. Some parts of the walk were incredibly peaceful, while others were marred by larger parties talking loudly amongst themselves. Other than those interruptions, the only bad part of the day was fighting off the bugs around the pond. Bugs love me, of course, so now I have small bumps all over the back of my hands.

After finishing my walk around the pond, I drove in to Concord to find a place to eat. I ended up finding a place that had cheese quesadillas, and they were surprisingly good. I also looked around some of the shops downtown but didn't buy anything. The bookstore there is really great, though. Before leaving, I bought myself a chocolate chip cookie and a fountain Dr. Pepper — yum!

The day ended with an interesting trip home, even with my GPS unit to guide me. I pressed the "home" button on the unit and thought I was set to make it back to Natick. The GPS led me a different way back than I had come out to Concord, but I assumed it was just taking me on smoother, better roads. I didn't realize I was truly lost until I was on a road that said I was 18 miles from Worcester. Whoops! Luckily the diversion led me to stop at a little grocery store where I bought some cider donuts for breakfast the next morning. After leaving the store, I plugged in my home address and managed to make it home in one piece. Nothing wrong with exploring, right? (I wonder what Thoreau would say about that diversion . . .)