Events of Saturday, October 2, 2010 

          This morning, we woke up in our lovely campground in East Montpelier, showered, and then got ready to depart for another day full of adventure. Real adventure is not just seeing the destination; a lot of the time, it includes the path to the destination. Our first destination was the Bragg Family Farms, which is a sugar house and store. We watched a well-done video which detailed the sugaring process. In order to make PURE maple syrup, the farm family taps a group of maple trees, also known as a sugarbush. Either using spigots or more modern tubing, they drill a small hole in the trunk. All you PETM (People for the Ethical Treatment of Maples) would be glad to hear that the drilling does not hurt the tree. Next, tubes are connected or buckets are attached in order to collect the syrup. The farm is now prepared to wait until “sugaring days” come around. “Sugaring days” constitute of a cold night with temperatures around 10° or 20° and then a warm(er) day around 40°. On these days, a cold, clear sap runs from the spigot into the buckets or through tubes into a collection vat in the sugarhouse. Since this solution of sap is only about 3-4% sugar, an evaporator is used to boil off the water content until the syrup reaches the desired density, color, and has around 67% sugar. Since this process uses so much water, it takes 40 gallons of sap to get a mere gallon of Pure Vermont Maple Syrup.

          A note about the designation as “Pure Vermont Maple Syrup”: the state of Vermont is so strict about syrup production that laws regulate the grades, quality, and packaging. Vermont Maple Syrup has four grades: Fancy, Grade A Medium, Grade A Dark, and Grade B. Each has a distinct color and strength. Contrary to popular belief, they are all produced the same way. Then what makes them so distinct? The answer lies in the date of the collection. As a general rule, the later in the sugaring season (which runs from February to April), the darker the syrup and the stronger the maple flavor. And in my opinion, the darker, the better. Vermont regulations require a certain color and flavor for each grade. Also, in order to be labeled “Pure Vermont Maple Syrup”, it has to be checked against state regulations, which are the only of its type in the nation. Just like the Indiana law stating that nothing can impede the progress of the Notre Dame marching band, we found these Vermont laws a little odd.

          After enjoying samples of jams, jellies, spreads, maple cream, and all four grades of maple sugar at the shop, we decided to treat ourselves to the house specialty: Maple Creemees. It is a treat of soft-serve vanilla ice cream, brought from a dairy down the road, with lots of Grade B Pure Vermont Maple Syrup added. The result: a delicious maple ice cream enjoyed in all-natural Vermont wooden rocking chairs on the store’s porch. After devouring the savory treat, we headed off to Woodstock and our second sugarhouse: the Sugarbush Farm. In addition to a sugarhouse, they also make cheese. Sugarbush Farm has a unique cheese packaging method. They wrap the cheese in aluminum foil and then coat it with a layer of covered wax. To sell it, they cover it in cellophane and put a sticker. All these layers mean that it doesn’t have to be refrigerated until opening. Genius, right? We tried all of their 15 cheeses, including Vermont Light, Mountain Jack, white cheddar aged 6-94 months (5 different ages), cheddar with sage, smoked cheddar, smoked cheddar with salami, smoked cheddar with onion, mountain bleu, cheddar with horseradish, and cheddar with jalapeño. We found out an interesting fact: white cheddar is the natural cheddar. A cheesemaker in England, wanting to make his cheddar distinct, added grated carrots to make an orange color. Now, in most parts of the country, cheddar has been dyed orange because consumers just want it that way. We then sampled Sugarbush Farm’s four varieties of syrup. There was a slight difference because the syrup comes from different farms and different tree stands. So between two farms only 10 miles away, there could be a distinct flavor difference in the same grade of syrup.

          After half a billion more jam/jelly/spread samples in another room, we made our way over to the sugarhouse. Here, informative exhibits detail the complete syrup making process, most of which we already knew from the Bragg Family Farm. Since it was gorgeous, clear, sunny day, we decided to do the “maple walk”, where we walked through the maples from which sap is collected. We didn’t see all of the 6,000 trees they typically tap, but we saw some gorgeous foliage. One of our favorite things to do on a fall afternoon at home is to have a leaf fight. Here, there were a lot more leaves so it was a lot more fun.

          Next, we drove on toward the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Site. Again, it was the drive that was more interesting than the destination. We decided to do a little bit of touring with the little bit of Woodstock shown on a tourist map. That wasn’t enough. We were looking for a connection to River Rd, but ended up near a dead end. We saw a sign for road and decided that taking it would be easier than pulling a U-turn on a road 20 feet wide. We pulled in to the drive and followed it as it turned into a one lane road. At times, bushes, trees, and other obstacles narrowed the road for an 8-foot-wide RV to a skinny 6 feet. That was an adventure NOT worth repeating. We decided that there are three types of “scenic drives”. First are the ones marked on AAA maps as designated state scenic drives, which sometimes aren’t so scenic. At other times, we are just driving along an interstate or highway that isn’t designated a scenic drive, but it is so scenic, it should replace the designated ones. Thirdly, there are those roads that no one would ever know about that are absolutely rustic, lined with trees in an array of fall colors. These are definitely scenic, but sometimes aren’t supposed to be driven on by the normal public. OOPS! As we pulled out of the drive onto the main road, we saw a sign that read, KEEP OUT! Private Drive. Big oops. Oh well! We weren’t caught, so it’s OK. And road signs are just suggestions, right? We all had a good laugh about that one.

          Once we (finally) made it to the Historic Site, we decided to explore the area, since our scheduled tour of the mansion wasn’t until tomorrow. We went on a nice walk, saw manmade waterfalls, played some Frisbee, and then had a fantastic dinner. After dinner, we had another adventure on the drive to our destination, which was now a Wal-Mart in Lebanon, NH. We followed the GPS onto River Road (yes, the one that we were looking for earlier) down to a covered bridge that was supposed to get us to our destination faster. River Road is in desperate need of a makeover. They call it paved, but it is full of large dips, bumps, and holes and very narrow. There was barely room for one car, much less two going in opposite directions. So there we were, in the dark, with a sheer drop-off to the river a few inches away, trying to power the RV down the road. Not an easy driving experience! To add a little more stress to the situation, (in addition to deer lurking on the side of the road) the GPS wasn’t aware that we are an RV. As we approached one of Vermont’s famous covered bridges, Mom says, “Look kids! We’re going to go through a covered bridge. To which Dad responds, “STOP‼ Wait! What does that sign say?” Mom backs up so he can read it. Dad reads, “Clearance 10 ft.” Since the RV is 10’ 10”, we couldn’t go through. No wonder it looked too short! We backed up, turned BACK onto the not-so-great River Road, and then bumped, rattled, and shook our way down to a non-covered bridge, which we crossed with ease. Finally, we made it to the Lebanon Walmart and settled down for a nice restful night after a day full of adventure.