Making more memories

 September 17, 2024

Smoke Rise CG site 34

Brandon, Vermont

Everyday adds a bit more to the northern fall look as the colorful leaves begin to fall, covering the green grass.

 

Add in the morning chilly temperatures and you definitely get a feel of a northern fall here in Brandon, Vermont.  Dad was surprised to discover that the elevation here is only 470 feet.

Breakfast today was outstanding according to the two-legged.  They traveled to a sugar shack on the outskirts of Rutland.

The service was WONDERFUL as the waitress went out of her way, opening a jug of Amber Maple Syrup to compare with the Dark (robust) Maple Syrup on the table.

Breakfast choices included buckwheat pancakes for Dad,

cinnamon spiced pancakes for Pam and

maple cream cheese stuffed French toast for Momma.  I'm sure I'll be seeing a copycat recipe of that dish on our dining table.  Momma said it was wonderful, but the waitress shared that her favorite is the days when they add a raspberry cream cheese stuffed French toast to the menu.   Oh my, that sure sounds awesome to me!!

Now, I want you to conjure up a picture of the next stop in your mind.  They headed a bit further south to the Crowley Cheese Factory in Mount Holly.  

Does the picture you created look anything like this?

It sure didn't match what Momma and Dad were expecting.  

They do make cheese, but only one batch a day.

They fill the vat around 9 am bringing and holding the milk to a temperature of 90 degrees.  After hours of intermittent stirring, a curd is formed by about 1pm, which is dumped into another pan and pressed into bulk cheese.  Interesting stop, but not the large scale factory that had been envisioned when they envisioned Crowley Cheese Factory.

Momma thought Mount Holly sounded like a charming community so they programmed the GPS for the center of town and found....a town hall, volunteer fire house and a school.  Taadaa.  That's all folks.  Not even a general store, quaint craft shop or even an antique shop.   

The deer were out and about today on the less traveled country roads where the corn fields are plentiful.

Momma even managed to capture a couple of pictures.

  So we can add more deer to our growing list of animals: fat squirrels, ground hogs, chipmunks, raccoon (but they were dead on the highway) and according to the campground owner, if we had arrived earlier in the summer, we could have seen a bear around the dumpster.  

I'm not sure a bear would make a good playmate for me.

I'm Chloe