Vermont

Monday, after Firefly, Matthew, Sarah and Aaron and I drove to Burlington to pick up the dogs. We boarded Mom-dog and Yukon at an unconventional kennel - When Mom-Dog saw the Mustang - She did a victory lap that would put Nascar to shame. Fast fast fast, like a greyhound, up the driveway... down the dirt road... around the house... yard.... mustang....

Matthew, Sarah, Aaron and I drove to Burlington - Located the most American campground you can possibly imagine. American flags, RVs, hamburgers, hot dogs, motorcycles, tons of small children cooking marshmellows. Aaron's request, we grabbed dinner at the Vermont Pub Brewery - Outdoor patio, dog friendly - Ate vegetarian food, while a funk band sang a bunch of ridiculous songs about being vegetarian... Walked through the village square, sang in the Battlefield park, danced in the amphitheatre to My Fair Lady...


Tuesday was the beach. We laid in the sand, let our bodies cook in the sun. Grabbed lunch and supplies at Burlington's CityMarket CoOp. Headed south into the Green Mountain National Forest - 400,000 acres of National Forest. Swam in a dozen rivers and waterfalls along the way, tried to teach Mom-dog to swim - Eventually, decided on a primitive campsite near Texas Falls - Set up camp next to a bubbling stream, found dry wood, cooked some dinner, shared stories until the AM.....

Stopped at an old corner store that has been around since the 1700's on Wednesday - Cute old lady made the most amazing soup I've ever eaten (sorry soup peddler, grandma wins this round, she has been making soup since the 1700s) - Four of us, sat in the grass, eating soup, trying to figure out which direction to head next. During that time, I told everyone about my 2nd cousin's Cheese farm in central Vermont.... They asked, "Can we go there?".... I told them, "I'm not sure. Let me see if I can get ahold of her." Facebook is an amazing thing! Becky told us to stop by whenever, we could camp on her land! Whoo! ..... On the way, we stopped off at the Bigtown Gallery which was showing Edward Koren's work. Arrived at Becky's house around 7pm... Haven't seen her in years. During that time, she moved from NY state to VT, opened a cheese/dairy farm called Blythdale Farm (if you see her cheese in a store, you should try it.. their Brie is particularly delicious!).. She has never been able to make it to any family get togethers because she has 90 cows to take care of.....  Field trip to cheese barn, learned a ton about cheese. Becky explained that they buy cow sperm from a sperm salesman and artificially inseminate all their cows. The sperm book is amazing!.... It's like Build-Your-Own-Cow... Buy semen that will make your cows taller, prettier, more colorful, better milk production, shorter legs, better hooves, longer ears...

Matt woke up at 6am to help milk cows. He was ALL excited to help out. Put on his boots, put on his crappy pants. He cleaned cow udders, piled hay, helped move a pregnant cow into the barn. We all ate breakfast together (banana pancakes!), Around Noon, we headed to my other cousin's farm. She raises Icelandic sheep (for wool, meat, cheese), pigs, chickens, goats - Her oldest son, Keilin is eight years old and he can spin wool into thread. He also knows about every single thing that happens on the farm. He was telling me that when one sheep breeds with another sheep in the same family, they end up looking like bobbleheads. "See that sheep over there with the silly head? The Dad bred with his sister and made a funny looking baby. Ha. Sheep are not very smart, you know."