The backroads of Massachusetts possess a timeless quality, even more so when the Memorial Day weekend means that centuries old structures are dressed up with bunting and every Main Street is lined with flags.

I've spent most of my life in places where the turn of the century is considered old. My relationship with colonial architecture is limited to grade school field-trips where my greatest concern was how many penny candies I could purchase from the olde-timey general store before having to get back on the bus.

But here is the real thing—historic buildings line narrow roads and ancient dry-stacked walls wander an irregular zigzag as they recede into dense forest. These aren't tourist attractions, they're people's homes and businesses, blending past and present seamlessly.

The campgrounds that we call home most nights possess their own timeless quality. Current events have no bearing on our daily decisions and chores—which owe more to weather forecasting than news of the day. Likewise, time is no longer the tyrant it once was. We eat when hungry, sleep when tired and make every effort to be off the road before dark.

This laissez-faire attitude towards the clock has been helped considerably by ongoing time-zone confusion (what time is it here?) and the fact that our wall-mounted analog clock ticked its last tock about three weeks ago. We've set it to 5:15, so it's always time to go back to bed or quit working for the day.

Stay: Located less then an hour from Boston, just over the border from New Hampshire and a stone's throw from towns that ooze historic charm, the Lorraine Park Campground at Massachusett's Harold Parker State Forest offers wooded tranquility, a wonderful lakeside hiking trail and easy access to the city.

Explore: We arrived in Keene, NH via the town's 23 mile Ashuelot Rail Trail and found perfection—at least from the perspective of sweaty, hungry, culture-starved wanderers. Within a few short blocks, we encountered a pretty good consignment shop, several restaurants of tempting quality, knitting, gear, music, craft and gourmet shops—plus a theater touting an upcoming Lucinda Williams show and a just-missed David Sedaris reading.