One Year on the Road

Bragg&#039;s Sugar Farm &quot;sugar house&quot; and store.

The barn and canning area.

We parked up on the hill behind the store.

A great view of the farm below.

We watched the ponies in the pasture below.

And the goats.

We went down to the &quot;sugar house.&quot;

The &quot;evaporator.&quot;

It holds hundreds of gallons of sap.

The fire is stoked for days, until the sap evaporates to syrup.

Old-time spouts were hammered into trees.

Now plastic spouts are used.

And a gas drill.

Syrup jug.

So many buckets are used.

It takes a lot of wood to keep that evaporator fire burning.

A 4-foot tree log for every gallon of syrup produced.

Pails are just stored for now.

Pumpkins for sale.

Such a Vermont-like bird house.

I drove up a rode in the rain to find the maple grove.

Instead I found a field of cows.

They were very curious about me.

When I saw this, my beaucolic moment was over. Veal calves are kept chained and in boxes for all their short lives.

Exactly why I NEVER eat veal.

Back in Bessie, it was a cozy rainy day.

Gypsy was enjoying it.

The next morning we had pancakes with our Bragg&#039;s Farm syrup.

Then we drove to Cabot for a tour of the Cabot Creamery.

Giant silos are filled with milk.

No photos on the factory tour, so this is all I got.

It was a pretty drive, even in the rain.

The clouds were beginning to lift on the way back.

The colors were muted.

But still beautiful.

We stopped to check out this cute little campground.

The river was flooding after all the rain.

Bird nest in a barn window.

We brought Gypsy and Bailey souvenir toys from the creamery.

Later we went into Montpelier.

I love the details on this church steeple.

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Lots of steeples. Liked the shingles on this one.

Cupolas are common, too.

Garage door.

Fire hoiuse.

Court house.

And the Capitol.

The plastic spoons represented hungry Vermonters.

One in four Vermonters struggles with hunger.

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Elegrant Victorian.

Elaborate door frame.

Church door.

Diner and bookstore downtown.

Dogs aren&#039;t allowed in pubs.

The movie house we went to.

We had a dessert crepe here after the movie.

The next morning, Bailey wanted to meet our neighbors.

They just looked at each other for a long time.

The Bailey tried to get them to play.

She raced in circles, but the ponies just stood there.

Kate came out with apple pieces.

She fed the ponies, and Bailey, too.

Kiss for a pony.

Gypsy just watched from inside.

She didn&#039;t care to meet the ponies.

But she was ferocious when it came to catching flies.

When we left, we drove north through some beautiful country.

Old barn from 1883.

The sun was beginning to peek through.

And colors seemed brighter than the day before.

We put a bedspread on the dash to cut down on glare.

The White Mountain range in New Hampshire.

Rivers were so high.

We stopped at this rest stop in New Hampshire.

We took Bailey and Gypsy for a little hike.

Gypsy didn&#039;t like the cold wind.

But she wanted to walk a little.

It was nice to get some color shots NOT from a moving vehicle.

Maple and birch, my favorites.

The colors might not be in their peak.

But we still got to see a lot of beautiful fall color.