In the Land of Cheese - Cabot, VT

Early risers. Anne never was and I got over it. This day, however, we had things to do. Cabot Creamery was in the crosshairs. Got up at 6:30AM. Anne headed across the road to feed the neighbor's cats before we hit the road. 



I got an emergency call from Anne that the pipes in the neighbor's basement had sprung a leak ... and there was already 4 inches of water pooling and salmon were starting to spawn. I donned my emergency gear and rushed over. I assessed the situation in a glance and narrowed the options to three: 1. Stock the basement with landlocked salmon 2. Stand on the basement floor for about 15 more minutes and the water level should be waist deep and I die a horrible death when the power shorts out and I am electrocuted 3. Call a plumber! Given that I didn't even know how to cut off the pump, I chose the plumber.  Got lucky. He came right away and in 1 1/2 hours, the leak was repaired and we were on our way. Had Anne not heard the leak when she did, more than likely the pump would have burned up or the well run dry. The planets and stars were definitely in alignment for us today. Or were they?

It was pouring rain by the time we left. We headed for the Cabot Creamery in Cabot VT. 2 1/2 hours later we arrived and got these cool wristbands that we will never take off.

The Cabot Tour was no floor show in Vegas, but interesting. I  especially enjoyed  the part where I ate about two pounds of samples. Being a senior citizen, I sensed the opportunity to eat the equivalent of a meal at the sample table and thus save on the cost of lunch. Since there was a senior discount on the entry fee, I did not wrap any samples in a tissue and put them in my pocket for later.

Although Anne had been a bit grumpy to start the adventure, what with the upheaval, she was UTTERLY fascinated with the tour ... she actually MOOed when I asked her to in this picture.

Adventure days are somewhat like going to a restaurant. You ultimately are there for the entre ... in this case, the Cabot Creamery. The meal typically includes an appetizer and maybe dessert. And inevitably  somebody orders at least item from the a la carte menu. Today's a la carte find was this sculpture at a Tennessee Walker Horse Farm along the way.  

We continued on our way,  headed for Stillwater State Park in the Groton Forest.  Couldn't wait for our picnic lunch. I had packed the cooler with the makings for special sandwiches ... except I forgot the tomato ... and the sauce for the shrimp ... and the bread. We drove around and found the local bakery ... but they had sold the last loaf of bread ... soooo, it was on to the Groton General Store.

 I assume that there is not a significant Indian population in the area. In the circles we travel, this general store decoration is generally frowned upon these days. My sensibilities were slightly bruised, but the store did have bread ... and I was hungry.

Oops, it turned out that Stillwater State Park (where we hoped to picnic) was camping only ... and so was nearby Rinker's Pond. It didn't seem to matter that I had driven three hours to get here. Androids, gotta love 'em. Finally, got a tip on how to get to the edge of the lake, avoiding the main entry points and the park rangers, ... if I would promise not to put my potentially milfoil-laden kayak into the water. All we had to do was to shove a few baby ducks around to make room for us at a pullover on the edge of the park. Picnic at 4:00 PM. Anne seemed to be starved.

I fished a bit from shore just to say I had. Across the lake, a line of boulders creased the surface of the water, announcing to the trained eye the location of monster bass of the lake ... the one I would never catch ... the one just out of casting range of the shore. 


Our bellies full ... an accomplishment in and of itself ... we headed to Artesano in Groton to sample mead wine (made with honey).

We were still within the boundaries of Groton State Forest.  We passed a trailhead for Owl's Head Scenic Overlook and decided a short hike would be a nice change of pace. It was a short hike, but perhaps a bit steeper than we had anticipated ... especially in our street shoes. On the way up, I found a good spot to leave one of my Talking Heads. Eventually, we made it to the top. The view of Kettle Pond was worth all the pain and made us deeply ashamed of the things we had said to one another. We both knew that the wine tasting would help us to forget all of the unpleasantness anyway.





We had a great time at Artesano. It was a small set-up but seemed to run pretty efficiently. I had tasted mead beer before, but had not realized that there was such a thing as mead wine.












The wine tasting made us hungry again. So does the sun shining, the clock ticking, water dripping, and cats purring. Fortunately, the wine shop was also an ice cream shop (a natural pair). We had the Funny Monkey which was banana ice cream with swirls of Fat Toad Caramel Sauce... and it was great. I wonder if they have considered a mead wine ice cream float? I would be willing to give it a try. 

I love this sign in the ice cream shop window. The remainder of the adventure was just the long drive home. If I had just had a CD in the car by the Man in Black ... it would have been the perfect ending to a perfectly flawless day.