Farmington Valley Greenway

My son and I have accomplished a significant biking goal – we made it into Massachusetts! As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have been riding the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in little sections of 3-5 miles each (the ten-mile roundtrip is a pretty good accomplishment for a 7-year-old on a single-speed bike!). Yesterday’s leg of the journey started at Rte 20 in Granby and extended some 4 miles into Southwick, MA.  This is that little puzzle-piece-tab of Massachusetts that extends into Connecticut, for reasons I’d love to know.

It was a gorgeous day. Here’s what I noticed on this trip: The landscape changes a lot in short distances. I mean, we often comment on how different New England is from Florida or Texas or other distant places.  But, I am amazed at how widely different the section of trail in Farmington is from the section in Granby, just 15 miles away, and not just because we humans have put more stuff up in Farmington. The trees feel different, the sun is filtered differently through them. We ride through swampy, boggy areas in both, but somehow they seem warmer and more inviting (if that’s possible) in the northern areas.  And then, when we crossed the line into Massachusetts, there was an even more significant change, almost offering an understanding of why these borders were originally set up.

Each bike ride now starts and finishes a little farther from home than the previous, and I’m looking forward to seeing even more new and more different.