Monday, July 19, 2010
Vermont: Days 24-30
We were sad to leave Vermont because it was such a great week! Brent and I both agree that Vermont is our favorite New England state we have spent time in! First of all, it is just beautiful with green mountains, trees and farms everywhere. The biggest city in the whole state is only 40,000 people, so most towns are quite small with a great community feel. Vermont is also really into organic and local foods and all things "green," so we admired that about the state as well. Most restaurants would even tell you what farms the different foods came from...so cool.
On our way to Vermont, we stopped at the Flume Gorge in New Hampshire.
Brent and Harper admiring the pretty cascades
A family shot with Harper checking out the tall trees...so much to see!
There are lots of covered bridges in this region. This one is from 1886.
We once again stayed in a small rental apartment with a kitchen and washer and dryer, etc. The highlight of this one, though, was the hot tub outside. What a great way to finish off the evening once Harper was asleep!
Being a huge cheese lover, one of the things I was excited about Vermont was sampling their famous cheese! We stopped at the Cabot Annex where we got to try 25 different cheese samples for free...heaven!
And Ben and Jerry's is stationed in Vermont as well...can it get any better!? We took a tour of the factory and got to eat freshly made ice cream too, of course!
As I mentioned, Vermont is very picturesque and pastoral. Here are just a few of the many pretty country scenes and barns that we saw:
There was an old pre-Civil War covered bridge near our place with a rope that you could swing from into the river. Here is a guy about to jump in. Brent also took the plunge, but I don't have his leap captured on film.
Something I really enjoyed doing while in Vermont was picking fresh berries. This farm employed the honor system of picking up a carton for your berries and leaving your money in a box. It was great getting to pick out the biggest, ripest blueberries (organic, too), and the pint was only $3.50. If I lived here, I would do this all the time!
Harper helped Daddy find the best berries!
This one looks nice!
Blueberries became our go-to snack for the week (as well as Ben and Jerry's!).
The wood-burning oven at American Flatbread. This pizza place is housed on a working farm where you eat in a converted barn. And boy, was it good!
Harper chomping down on her first-ever scrumptious bite of pizza...she loved it!
Some of the pigs at American Flatbread
One night, I stayed in while Brent went to Burlington to watch Fool's Gold play live. It was nice to rejuvinate with my latest Gilmore Girls DVD and freshly painted nails. And Brent liked the night out too!
One of the big summer activities here are swimming holes. There are over 80 of them in this small state, and we checked out nearby Warren Falls for an afternoon. Harper's only experience in a river on this trip was in an upturned canoe, so she wasn't too sure about it. She warmed up quickly, though, and seemed to enjoy herself. And Brent got a thrill from jumping off of the various rock ledges.
Sitting in her own miniature waterfall
"Hey, rivers aren't so bad! This is fun, guys!"
Harper communing with nature under Mama's watchful eye
Brent jumping into the swimming hole! For a more complete experience, see the video at the end...
She wasn't quite ready to leave.
The Saturday farmer's market in town. Gathering place for locals and delicious fresh treats. We came home with dark chocolate cherry almond butter.
A nearby town had an arts festival that we checked out. It actually had lots of reasonably priced cute handmade arts and crafts. I'm enjoying mango juice here.
Lunch was a huge (literally) treat. We got to sample 10 gourmet burger sliders that were competing in the festival burger cook-off. Lots of interesting flavor combinations and a ton of fun to eat.
We ran into this communal impromptu art installation at a nearby swimming hole. People keep adding delicately balanced rock towers throughout this section of the river.
We took an evening hike to sunset ledge on the Long Trail. Still looking for that elusive moose, but no luck yet.
On our second to last night, a big thunderstorm took out power for the night. It got quite toasty without air conditioning or fans, and we were thankful to have our camping lantern! Brent and I began eating random things out of our fridge so they wouldn't spoil--nothing like a big glass of milk out of the blue! :) Nevertheless, we didn't let a poor night's sleep keep us from enjoying our final day's event in Vermont. We drove to a remote field in northeast Vermont where a very unusual circus was taking place. Using decorated school buses as backdrops (that I think they live in...seriously), the Bread and Puppet Theater performed their politically charged sattire through music and skits. The whole event had a hippie/commune/anti-establishment vibe. We sat on our picnic blanket and enjoyed the strange but captivating puppet event. Harper wondered where the elephants were though.
We're now in Montreal, Canada after an easy border crossing! Looking forward to the next four days exploring French Canada, and then we will be starting our journey back home!
--Erika
Brent taking the plunge...
Rock Jumping from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.
This latest discovery of Harper's cracks us up! She is such a character! :)
Harper's New Thing from Brent Hughes on Vimeo.
