Hiking Season is Upon Us…

…and I’m trying so hard to get into shape. Part of my exercise regimen is doing this once a week:

I get the little one in the pack and I attempt to walk a nature path or trail or two for an hour or two to get my strength up as well as my stamina. Hiking season is upon us and I want to try to get at least another 4K or two under my belt this summer. As a mom of a 5 year old and a 2.5 year though, who also works outside of the house full time, in all likelihood it’s going to have to include one or both of the kids, one of which will be on my back. Best to get started the training sooner rather than later. In the upcoming weeks, I will be upping spinning and running and some weight training which are wonderful cross training.

Yesterday, we went to Monson Village. The story behind Monson is absolutely fascinating. Monson was the first inland settlement in New England – and was settled in 1737 but then abandoned in 1770. Many of the foundations of the buildings still exist as do the main roads and the tremendous cleared field that must have comprised the center of town. One of the homes was reconstructed and is a museum that details the history of the town. The village was abandoned in 1770 because of skirmishes with the local Native American tribes and because the land was very unyielding, making it difficult to live. I can completely understand the inability of the settlers to not be able to grow food because the land was very rocky and would have taken a lot of time to make friendly to crops on a practical level. During the time period that the settlers were trying to make the land arable, they wold have been dependent upon other communities and the Native Americans, making them vulnerable to some degree. What was also really interesting was that a lot of the settlers left and then lived very lengthy lives, many dying only in their 80s and 90’s. It was really neat

On another note, our . More pics: