Letter 31: Vermont I—Foliage
Tuesday, September 29 we moved into Vermont about 10 days before peak foliage. We camped in Quechee State Park just inside Vermont. It was a beautiful day until after setting up camp when it started to rain, so we rested until late afternoon. We walked to the
Quechee Gorge where we looked down from a bridge to see the water and the foliage. Walking back to the car we stopped in one of the stores with a
burning bush in full color in front.Wednesday, September 30, before moving camp we went to the Sugarbush Farm to watch them package cheese. They cut it in
designated pound slabs, wrap in foil,
triple dip them in wax, and label for purchasing. We tasted several of their
fourteen varieties and all four grades of maple syrup produced on this farm.We both enjoyed sampling a
few of their many products. They do have online shipping and a catalog so if you are interested go to www.sugarbushfarm.com You won’t be disappointed. We visited their
sugar house and saw where they
evaporate the syrup from the sap.Then we moved about 50 miles north, between St Johnsbury and Barre, VT. We have a nice level spot backed up to
two beautiful trees.Then we proceeded to backtrack to take pictures. This area has peaked in color. We saw a scene Muddie might have used in her
fall picture. She painted it four times and we still have the 
4th one. There were
two little lakes side by side with
color all around. It was nice to see the colors
reflected in the water.The little roads seem to have the best close up pictures,
so we took several scouting
for the best shots. Red, orange and yellow are all Maple trees. Olivia liked the
red’s the best.Friday, October 2 we started the day by going to the Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom Annual Fall Foliage Festival in Barnet Center.
Pancakes, Vermont Maple Syrup, Orange Juice, Coffee and desert was on the
menu in this small villa
ge. This festival had been going on every day of this week, each day in a different town or village. We wished we had been here earlier to go to some of the other activities. St Johnsbury, Walden, Cabot, Plainfield, Peacham, Barnet and Groton were the participating communities. At least in Barnet we were told that the various churches, volunteer fire dept and Historical Society shared the profits of the day by way of hours of the volunteers working for each entity. When we left Barnet Center we drove into St Johnsbury via several small roads,
viewing the
foliage and
turkeys as we went.
Pretty streams, and a
round barn caught our eye.Maple Grove Farms Factory tours
were next on the agenda where we saw lots of maple products including the maple Santa Claus’s being prepared for this season. The tasting room offered samples of the maple candy and it was delicious. Maple Grove Farms had sweet beginnings over 90 years ago when they started making maple confections on the family farm. They are the largest packer of Pure Maple Syrup in the USA and the largest manufacturer of Maple Candies in the world, And the best selling line of Specialty Dressings in the USA and we already knew about the Raspberry dressing. We decided Maple Syrup was a
favorite and indulged the budget to take some home.Back to seeing the beautiful scenery we stopped at a pullout near Danville to view the
New Hampshire White Mountains and could see fresh snow above timberline. At West Danville
we took the
West Shore Drive and saw many
pretty trees around Joe’s Lake.
Homes and
groves all
showed their colors.One of many Vermont’s covered bridges was this one over what we call
a “tank”. The sign said dangerously deep water.
Vermont mountains were in the background.Saturday, October 3, can you imagine it’s October! Again we started with a
Lumberjack breakfast at the United Methodist Church in Groton, with the continuation of the NE Kingdom of Vermont’s Fall Foliage Festival. Even the soccer team was helping this morning. They served pancakes, sausage, hashbrowns, maple syrup, and PIE!Full to the brim we toured the little town,
stopping at all their festival and farmer’s market booths. The volunteer fire department seemed to have the best fund raising deal going as this was the only road in town and a federal highway, so they were stopping all the traffic for donations to a charitable cause.Next for this day’s tour was the
“Rock of Ages” granite quarries and their headquarters. The Hope Cemetery is where many of their Italian sculptors are buried and we saw many elaborate markers for them. There was a
car,
an airplane,
a thinking man, and even a
woman nursing her husband. These were just a few of the unusual tombstones.Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour was our next destination where we learned how two childhood friends, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield turned a $5.00 Penn State correspondence course on ice cream making into a global ice cream phenomenon. We were treated with a
free sample at the end of the tour. We sampled Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream and decided the
Flavor Graveyard was it’s destination. We enjoyed reading the
epitaphs on these tombstones. Such as.jpg)
Bovinity Divinity when it kicked the bucket!As we ate our ice cream, we shared our table with a wonderful young couple (Urbina) and their three year old daughter. Soon we learned they were from Dallas. He is an SMU graduate and an IBM employee. Ten years ago they were transferred here from Dallas and just love it in Vermont. I ask him about the changes from and area with 6 million people to a state with less than 700,000 people. They said the contrast was seen immediately—they had to slow their pace and they loved it.
We couldn’t leave this area without visiting the
Von Trapp Lodge near Stowe, VT. When the family of singers retired from touring they bought this farm in 1941 on top of a mountain, reminiscent of their native Austria, and built a large home. It became a place for them to invite friends to come for a vacation and evolved into a place for all to visit. There are still four Von Trapp children living and two of the grandchildren lead tours. Unfortunately we were too late in the day to see them. This is certainly a beautiful place and we recommend it as a place to visit, for a few minutes or for days. Today it is a
large
complex of the Lodge with 80 rooms, private homes, condos and cabins.Sunday, October 4 on the way to church on Hwy 232 we could see
yellow way into the forests. This road was definitely at or near peak. We worshiped at the
United Methodist Church of Groton where they fed us the day before.
Fred visited with a retired local couple after church. He informed Fred they had “left the grid” 20 years ago. I discovered this meant they had removed their electric meter and relied upon solar, propane and wood to operate their house. I judge they weren’t forced by financial reasons to do this, but opted to do so because this way they could show their independence like most Vermont people.
From Groton we drove to Danville and their
activity on the commons. Every charity was represented as well as many food and craft venders. The aroma and music was in the air. From there we again drove the little roads seeing
foliage and clouds reflected in a lake and
pretty lanes lined with color.Are you ready to move to Vermont? Is it your kind of place? Well, bring money! Some property value information from the Woodstock/Pomfret area may be typical of many areas of the state. In Pomfret a two acre building lot might be valued from $90,000 to $250,000. A large farm might be valued at $2,000/acre for woodland or $8,000/acre for cultivated land. 10 to 75 acre “farms” with a renovated older house are in high demand and sell for 1-5 million dollars. A ‘working mans” 3 bedroom ranch might sell for $280,000—$350,000. 2 bedroom apartments rent for $1,000/month.
We love to hear if you have been to any of these spots or wish to see. For comments on our rambling or just to say hello, contact us at:
Olivia@bobheck.com or fredharrington@yahoo.com
