July 29th Busy day trip today-

Today was a splice job-  

Started out by heading to the North Attleboro Fish Hatchery in North Attleboro of course-  Got a sort of Blue Goose stamp there, and a nice tour of the facilities from a very nice associate, who's husband was a Marine, and they had moved there from Beaufort SC!

This hatchery is under a bit of severe budget cuts, it used to have a big salmon program, plus a large shad program-  they also had a fair sized program for trout, brook and lake.

Next, I stopped in at a bookstore that had just opened and had been featured in the Boston Globe.  Not a big deal, so I moved on.

Then, up to two college campuses, Wellesley and Brandeis.  Got a pin from Wellesley, and the bookstore was closed at Brandeis. 

Wasn't aware that Brandeis has a big Jewish presence.  

Believe Wellesley is one of the more expensive colleges in the US.  Certainly had a lot of construction going on.  

Next, a few miles over to Sudbury Mass, to the Great Meadows NWR, which is the regional office for 8 other NWR's in Massachusetts.  I went expecting to find the 8 blue goose stamps, but they only had the one, plus no store.   Turns out I need to go to Assabet River NWR, but its only open Fri-Sun.  Seems like the fish and wildlife service is getting pushed around by budget cuts.  The did have lots of nice shiny new rolling stock, but no people.  

Then a dash into Metro Boston to Longfellow House/ George Washington Headquarters NP to secure a couple of the missing stamps from this location.  Originally, they were not out, but the helpful volunteer found them, all 8 of them!  Now I am clearly in second place in NPTC for the state of Massachusetts.  Got 125/150.  

Then, a trip to Wal Mart, per Bette's list.  I managed to guess wrong as to which one, because from where I was in Cambridge, I needed to go through Downtown Boston on I-90 and I-93, and there was an accident on I-90, and the traffic was butt ugly-  Lost maybe 20 minutes.  Good shopping visit to Wal Mart, then on home by 4.  

Tally for the day:
Miles:  167
NPS stamps today 8
Blue Goose stamps today: 2
Pins today: 2  
Steps taken today:  7,028  3.06 miles 
National Parks today 1 revisit
Baseball Parks today  a drive by for Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox.
New Plates today:  4, including Aruba!

Tomorrow looks like a rest and catch up day-  One thing is becoming apparent, planning 6 days of touring in a week is too much!