{"id":750,"date":"2011-08-12T13:06:13","date_gmt":"2011-08-12T13:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=750"},"modified":"2011-08-12T13:06:13","modified_gmt":"2011-08-12T13:06:13","slug":"2011-vacation-day-thirteen-into-vermont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/2011\/08\/12\/2011-vacation-day-thirteen-into-vermont\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 Vacation: Day Thirteen: Into Vermont"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Leaving<\/a>
Leaving Franconia Notch area heading to Vermont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We left Lincoln, NH, after a huge breakfast involving blueberry pancakes and blueberry syrup. \u00a0The weather was sunny and warm, so the views were terrific.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Cabot Cheese visitor's center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our first stop was the factory tour for Cabot cheese. \u00a0The tour was minimalist, but we did get to see cheddar in the making and learn the difference between curds and whey. \u00a0Cabot is a farmers’ cooperative, so all the farmers who participate in the co-op get a share of the profits at the end of the year. \u00a0We also learned that more aging makes cheddar sharper. \u00a0Average, run-of-the-mill cheddar ages two to four months. \u00a0Extra sharp ages about twelve months. \u00a0Some of their more “select” cheese is actually aged in caves not far from the factory. \u00a0They had lots of cheeses to sample while awaiting the tour, and we walked away with quite a few blocks of the cheese.<\/p>\n

\"Apparently<\/a>
Apparently there are not very many residents of Vermont; note this license plate number!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We found this license plate very funny. \u00a0Look at the number: four! \u00a0Where have you ever seen a single-digit license plate?<\/p>\n

There are two competing stories of how Vermont got its name. \u00a0The first claims that a Dr. Peters, saw Mount Killington and christened the area “verd mont” in 1763. \u00a0The second lore traces the name to a letter from a Dr. Young to friends in which he calls the area Vermont in 1777. \u00a0It seems to me that both could be true.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Ben and Jerry's ice cream visitor's center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our next stop was the Ben and Jerry’s factory tour. \u00a0We enjoyed the stop, but frankly we’ve been on much better factory tours. \u00a0The introductory movie was more about Ben and Jerry’s commitment to left-leaning ideas than it was about how ice cream is made. \u00a0The Blue Bell tour in Texas was a better tutorial on the production process. \u00a0After a small sample of ice cream at the end of the tour, we got back on the road.<\/p>\n

\"Moss<\/a>
Moss Glen Falls, the most photographed falls in Vermont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Along route 100 and complete unmarked are the Moss Glen Falls. \u00a0We were looking for it but missed it the first time. \u00a0There was a pull off, but no marking whatsoever. \u00a0These are purported to be the “most photographed falls” in Vermont. \u00a0Given the single-digit license plate number and the fact that the falls are unmarked, I’m not sure what would constitute the “most photographed.” \u00a0In any event, the falls were quite spectacular and were in fact two sets of falls 50 feet apart from each other.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>
Texas Falls in Green Mountain National Forest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We took a detour off the scenic highway into the Green Mountain National Forest to see the Texas Falls. \u00a0When we first approached the falls, they were mostly hidden, so they didn’t look like much. \u00a0As we got closer, however, the crevasse cut through the rock seemed to open up, revealing their full extent.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Texas Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were standing on a walking bridge to take these pictures. \u00a0Interestingly, just on the down-stream side of the bridge, we could see the rock in the picture below. \u00a0Look how the falling water has cut this nearly circular path through the rock.<\/p>\n

\"See<\/a>
See how the falls have carved this rock!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vermont seems a lot more “blue,” leftist, Commie, and Hippie than I expected. \u00a0This is general impression based on the bumper stickers and signs I have seen hanging around. \u00a0I would have expected a place involved in so much hunting, fishing, and agriculture to be more conservative. \u00a0(On the other hand, New Hampshire seems more conservative than I expected.) \u00a0My buddy Mark, who grew up in Vermont, said it wasn’t like this in the past, but he seemed to validate my impression of the current state of affairs, commenting that Vermont is becoming a “welfare state.”<\/p>\n

We stayed for the night near Mount Killington. \u00a0This is a ski resort area, so in August, it seems pretty dead. \u00a0We ate dinner at an Irish pub and came back to the room to finish a game of Phase 10 that we started yesterday. \u00a0I won, which made Sam pout, since Phase 10 is her game.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow we’ll be doing a couple of hikes and then heading to Massachusetts, where we’ll be going to a Six Flags. \u00a0Our vacation is drawing to a close, which is sad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We left Lincoln, NH, after a huge breakfast involving blueberry pancakes and blueberry syrup. \u00a0The weather was sunny and warm, so the views were terrific. Our first stop was the factory tour for Cabot cheese. \u00a0The tour was minimalist, but we did get to see cheddar in the making and learn the difference between curds … Continue reading 2011 Vacation: Day Thirteen: Into Vermont<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}