In the hilltowns...

On Saturday, we took a ride to Cummington, MA for the Hilltown Spring Festival. Dennis had heard it mentioned on the news that morning, so he took us on a surprise ride. It was a gorgeous day - bright blue sky, low 70's, and just mile after mile of beautiful scenery.


As we arrived at the Festival, we reminded each other about a similar fair we went to last year, also in the hilltowns of Massachusetts. Let's just say we stuck out like sore thumbs. This time, not quite so bad, although if I had known where we were going, I might have chosen a different shirt for Matthew....

It ended up being quite an interesting mix of farmers and hippies, so we kinda fell somewhere in the middle. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself....

We got to see lots of different animals, which was great. Matthew got to check out a few, up close and personal...

He also got to go on his very first pony ride. I wasn't sure how he'd react, but he actually did fine. He was a bit distracted, and didn't want to hold on to the horn of the saddle. He was more interested in touching the pony's mane. We went round and round a few times, and he could barely take his eyes off the creature beneath him.

We definitely saw some things we'd never seen before.......a composting toilet, a bearded lady (and not like in a side show tent for people to check her out - just saw her doing a demonstration with her horse), and this....

Sadly, we didn't have a chance to play, since apparently the pigeons had just done their business right before we got to the table. Next year we'll know to time our visit so we get in on the action.