Just Call Me a Vermont Cheesehead!

We went for a beautiful drive along scenic Vermont highways to get to the Cabot Creamery, the Vermont company that makes great cheese...the tour was interesting and very inexpensive, (2.00 a person) but there wasn't much cheesemaking going on. they had one manufacturing line making low fat white cheddar. I thought it was interesting that they will not use any milk from local dairy farmers with any traces of antibiotic in the milk. They have to wait three days until antibiotics clear the cow's system before bringing milk to the plant. The guide talked as if antibiotics were only used to treat sick cows, and that may be true in Vermont, but you certainly hear about antibiotics being used routinely in raising beef and other animals. Who knows? Another interesting fact we learned was that regular cheddar is white. New Englanders eat their cheddar white, but other parts of the country want the cheese to be colored, so they use something to color the cheese orange/yellow. There were so many flavored cheeses to choose from, it was amazing! Chipotle cheddar, Tuscan cheddar, and many many others. (These were cheddars seasoned with spices) They had a ton of free samples which we gladly consumed and enjoyed, and of course, we bought more cheese than we really needed! While we were on our drive, we noticed not only the beautiful, photographic worthy landscapes, but that 99% of all roofs in this area are metal...(for ease of snow removal). On our way back, we stopped at a true Vermont General Store...a little bit of everything..including an old fashioned post office with old fashioned boxes. Back to the campground for relaxing and reading about Vermont, and learning about hiking trails and biking in the area. We were excited to learn of an 8 mile trail just behind our campground that was on an old rail bed. What they DIDN'T tell us was that it was an unmaintained trail and an old rail bed means rather large sized rocks. Our bike tires were not suited for this rough trail, so we decided to wait another day for a better trail. The weather is wonderful here...low 70's today, but I understand much of the midwest and east is cooling down as well....if for some reason, you don't hear from us for a day or two, don't worry! The wi-fi is a little iffy in the hills here, and our own air card signal is very weak. But for the most part, we will post something every day if we can!