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After several days in Reading, many
of the Hittys felt that they were ready to head back to Camp Ash Grove,
although they all agreed that they had had a wonderful time. "It's so much more campy than
I expected!" said one little Hitty, and wondered why all the
others laughed. "Really, I mean it! I saw rabbits and chipmunks
and squirrels and groundhogs and mosquitos! But it's not country like
Camp Ash Grove!" The other Hittys agreed. They had enjoyed the
trip to the train station, the visit to the Reading Library, talking
to the Cole family cats, and the Peach Tree Picnic, but it was time
to head to 'camp home,' where there was never any traffic or neighbors.
"But what is the Big Camp Secret?!"
demanded Hitty Margeurite, "It's the END of the Reading trip,
and we still don't know! Hitty Henrietta and Mrs. Plum pretended not to hear.
Everyone chattered happily as they
gathered together in the travel bags-- a heavy wicker suitcase and
a few heavy bags. They had to sit quietly until they were out of the
city, since it was harder for Sara or Julie to drive in the heavy
traffic near Boston with Hittys chattering and crawling all over in
the car, but once they were headed West the Hittys were allowed to
climb out and look out the windows. It was a hot, sunny day, and the
Berkshire Mountains were bright with early summer green as Mrs. Plum
the Larger, (the Cole's plum-colored station wagon, named after the
original Mrs. Plum), headed into Western Massachusetts. "But what's the Big Camp Secret!?"
The girls were starting to get REALLY impatient by lunchtime. "The
Reading trip is over!" "Well," laughed Mrs. Poppy,
"The Reading trip isn't really over until we leave Massachusetts!
But I'm sure we'll find out soon enough!" "But we're almost OUT of Massachusetts!" protested the girls, to no avail. When they were on the road again,
they began to pester again, but the counselors just laughed and told
them to 'watch the road.' Just a few miles before they would have
entered New York, they pulled off Interstate-90! It was a good thing
the traffic was light, because the campers' excitement simply could
not be contained as they saw the very first sign pointing to….
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