Irving Berlin was a great American musical composer. He was born in Russia but came to the states at age 5. He achieved immortality in his field by composing many well known musical pieces, some of which were soundtracks for very successful movies and shows.  He lived to be 101 years old. We should all be so fortunate to have half of the success that he had... and good measure of the longevity he enjoyed. 

Although not planned this way, our start and end points of this day coincidentally reminded me of him. Hats off to Maestro Berlin! This trip was our masterpiece, in a manner of speaking.

We had a beautiful ride today through Western and Central Massachusetts. The weather was great. The several towns along the way were quaint and unique in their own rights. Their names were familiar but I had not seen them as up close and personal before. They were, Orange, Athol, Petersham, Barre, Princeton, Hubbardston, Clinton, Sterling, and Berlin.

Upon leaving Princeton, we had a downward grade of nearly 3 miles, a sign that we had left the mountains behind and were headed for the coast.

 Clinton was significant because President Jimmy Carter had stayed there with a resident family and had also attended a local town meeting. 

Carter was president from 1977-1981, so that event was not too far removed from the time we did our bicycle tour and passed through Clinton, Massachusetts. 

The Wachusett Reservoir and Dam are in Clinton. We happened to pass by and take in the beauty (see photo in previous chapter). The reservoir supplies fresh water to several neighboring towns around Clinton.

We made it to Berlin by 6:00 PM. There, we had an invitation to stay at the home of some of Paul's relatives. His Uncle Ted, Aunt Rita, and their family welcomed us into their home. After a wonderful dinner and some good conversation, we all went into the living room to chat further. For some unexplained reason, fatigue came over me and I fell asleep earlier than I normally do. Perhaps it was all for the best. Paul got to spend some time with his relations and I was well rested for our last day of this tour. His kin folk were great to us, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them, and was deeply grateful for their hospitality.