Pictures!

Pictures we couldn't load the last time because the internet was too slow : )

Cheese room at Shelburne Farms.

We love donkeys! They're such cute little fuzzy heads!

These sandwiches were amazing!  Thick slices of local meats with yummy veggies, Vermont apple slices, and Vermont sharp cheddar of course!

The corner of one wing of the dairy barn at Shelburne!

The great Vermont Corn Maze!  It took us about an hour to get through.  I thought it would be harder, but it was still fun!

Our trip to the Ben and Jerry's Factory yielded some yummy ice cream!

Stopping by a lake in New Hampshire on "Moose Alley" highway 3.  We didn't see any moose though : (

Happy Fall everybody!

Northbound: Vermont

 Oh, and we also learned New York has the largest state park in the whole country: the Adirondack Mountains!  Weird, huh?

When we first crossed over the border into Vermont, the first thing we did was visit Shelburne Farms.  What a gorgeous place—once, it was owned and operated by a doctor who married into the Vanderbilt Family and wanted to create a working dairy farm Vanderbilt style.  The dairy barn was as nice as a mansion, and there were acres of beautiful woodlands and meadows we walked around.  It is now a non-profit used for agro-tourism, teaching kids and adults about farms, agriculture, cheese making, and animals. Megan got to milk a cow for the first time and got to pet many farm animals she’d never gotten a chance to!

The trails all over the farm were beautiful. We even found a lone apple tree with a few good apples on the ground that ended up as a good snack!

 We had our first taste of Vermont white cheddar at Shelburne, and it was yummy. 

 While color was really pretty in Vermont, we really hit the peak about a half week late, and many leaves were already fallen off the trees.  It made for great hikes though, crunching through leaves is pretty great. That was mostly because it was so darn cold already.  About 35 degrees at night!

     The first night I (Peter) got the car stuck in mud trying to get close to our lean-to shelter we stayed at.  Here’s how it went:

Megan: Don’t drive on that grass, it’s raining and there’s a hill!

Me: Nah, it’s fine.  I’ll just whip around to get it closer.

Megan: We’re close enough.

Me: It’ll be fine.

VRRRRRR.  (Tires squealing) !*#&@&@.

Husbands, listen to your wives. J  The next morning, I was able to get out after working at it for a while.

But the rest of Vermont made up for that unfortunate incident.  We visited Cabot Creamery (cheese, more cheese, and cheese heaven!), Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream (sooo good—we saw many flavors we haven’t tried yet) and beautiful vistas of the Green Mountains and Vermont farmland.  Enjoy the pictures!

We also had a blast at the Great Vermont Corn Maze which we were able to navigate in just under an hour! A nice way to be lost for a while!

Thoughts

Wow. I can't believe how long we have been at this. We are on our 5th week! It seems like forever but then it also seems like we could just keep going on. Nothing like a road trip to bring out some of the best and worst things in people and places, but I knew this would be such a great learning experience from God. Peter and I feel so close, just really best friends experiencing life together. We had such a great experience last night. While winding down from another busy day in Vermont we took a look up in the sky while at our campsite and were blown away by the beauty and brightness of the stars. Being so far out away from towns really makes a huge difference.

We took out our sleeping bags and just sat quietly in reflection and companionable silence for a while . . . and then of course I starting asking questions about stars, planets and thoughts of our trip and Peter being the dear he is obliged me with answers. Camping really is the best way to be: wake up with the light, take things slow, enjoy the simple things like camp fires and good beer, and going to bed when it's dark. Although I enjoy TV, movies, my nice kitchen and cute house and normal conveniences, I'd like to find a way to incorporate the camping type of lifestyle in our lives when we get back home more often. We all should.

When was the last time you enjoyed the stars, a sunrise or sunset, or just drove on a road with no where in mind to go?

I'll add pictures and our great activities we did in Vermont at a later time as I'm tired from all our driving and travels and we're off to Acadia tomorrow for lots of hiking, kayaking, and eating :)

Blessings!

Beautiful stars, obviously not a picture taken by me :)