Recently I went on a family road trip to Vermont as part of Mom's mission to see every state in the U.S. Here's what I learned.
1. The skies are so dark!
Obviously I couldn't get a picture of this.
I thought I knew what dark skies were because I live in a small town, but being truly in the middle of nowhere, I saw night skies that didn't even look real. I thought all those photographs of night skies were things that only cameras could see, but I was seeing it with my own eyes. My sister and I went out to the campsite's lake in the middle of the night and lay on the dock for an hour just staring up at the sky.
2. Maple syrup is everywhere
Everywhere I went, there were bottles of maple syrup for sale. I knew Vermont was famous for its maple syrup but I didn't really appreciate that fact until I got there. And after I tried real maple syrup, I will no longer be satisfied with the store-bought kind that doesn't even have real maple syrup in it.
3. There are no cities
Pennsylvania may be mostly forest, but it still has many industrial areas as well as huge cities like Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburg. This is not the case in Vermont. The biggest city I saw was about the size of Allentown at most. The rest of the state was woods, farms, and the occasional small town.
4. No potholes
For some reason, even though I know Pennsylvania has the worst roads of any state, I'm still surprised when I go to another state and go miles without seeing a single pothole. At one point we saw a "Bump Ahead" sign and barely even noticed the bump it was warning us about.
5. Solar farms
It's jarring to see how many businesses are run on solar power, everything from the Ben and Jerry's factory to the small local farm. In Pennsylvania, wind power is the alternate fuel of choice and windmills can be seen in the distance in many places.
6. Almost no chain stores
Philadelphia has more people than the entire state of Vermont, so small mom and pop shops flourish. There aren't enough people in the state to support a superWalMart. It was refreshing after seeing nothing but chain stores the whole way there.
7. The cost of living
Vermont is a state inhabited mainly by wealthy people and it has been since its inception. As a result, houses there are extremely expensive and a lot of effort is put into preserving the natural beauty and aesthetic of the state. While I'd love to live there, I might have to wait till I win the lottery.
8. The confusing roads
It's impossible to find your way around Vermont without GPS. Of course, that's true of almost every new environment, but with its meandering and circuitous roads, Vermont is especially confusing. That, and the fact that there isn't much in the way of landmarks since so much of the state is forest.
9. So many artists
Including Norman Rockwell!
There are a few groups of people who live in Vermont: retirees, people who work from home, and artists. There are art museums and galleries in almost every decently large town, and even a few artist's retreats. And looking at the landscapes, I can see why.
10. The wildlife
Pennsylvania has a lot of wildlife but it usually stays well out of the way of humans. I've never heard an owl or seen a fox in the wild until I went to Vermont. I even saw peregrine falcons and a gaggle of baby turkeys! A bear ran across the road, and of course there were lots of deer. There were even loons in the lake at our campsite. I'm not sure why the wildlife here is less elusive, but it's amazing. (moose are the exception, despite our best efforts)
