Covered Bridges

There are several covered bridges within a few miles of Saint-Gaudens, so while we were in the area, we hit them up. 

This bridge spans the Connecticut River, connecting the towns of Cornish, New Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont.

Love this sign!

The Cornish-Windsor Bridge is the longest wooden covered bridge in the United States and the longest two-span covered bridge in the world.

Blow-Me-Down Bridge

The Blow-Me-Down Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It spans a deep gorge on the Blow-Me-Down Brook.

Blacksmith Shop Bridge

The Blacksmith Shop Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The bridge was used by only one family and given its name because of its close proximity to a local blacksmith shop that once stood in an area know as Slab City.

Dingleton Hill Bridge

The Dingleton Hill Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by James Tasker who is known to have built at least eleven bridges in the area (including Blacksmith Shop Bridge and Blow-Me-Down Bridge).

2011: Year in Review

2011 was another milestone year for our family!  The girls enjoyed all sorts of milestones (reading, lost teeth, swimming, new schools, etc.!), Lee enjoyed great success in powerlifting - including national rankings - and I ran my first marathon.  We had wonderful family times together, from watching movies to our first trip to Disney.  As Emily said so well: "Our family is RICH!  Rich with trips, experiences, hikes and fun!"  Our 2012 calendar is already filling up with interesting events and we hope that it is as fun and exciting as 2011.  Happy New Year!!

Covered Bridges

I really love covered bridges and there are tons of them in Vermont.  In the Woodstock area alone, there are seven covered bridges.  My family only had enough patience to visit three of them, and considering how unbelievably bad the roads were, I can't really blame them.

Taftsville Covered Bridge

Inside the Taftsville Covered Bridge. 

Taftsville Covered Bridge 

Middle Covered Bridge 

Lincoln Covered Bridge

Kedron Sugar Makers

After visiting Sugarbush, we headed to Kedron Sugar Makers in South Woodstock.  From what we could tell, Kedron is only open one weekend a year.  It's sugar house was smaller and visitors were crammed in, listening to the employees talk about how the syrup is made.  Although it was a completely different experience, we are definitely Kedron fans because of the sugar ice.  While were in the sugar house, we got the chance to taste sugar ice, which was ground up ice with warm maple syrup on it - so delicious!

  

The Sugar House. 

I love this sign. 

 

This place was way more steamy - this was one of the only clear shots of the inside that I got. 

 

Eating sugar ice.

Sugarbush Farm

Last weekend, we traveled to Vermont for Maple Sugar Open House weekend.  Pure maple syrup is a much loved commodity in our house so we thought that it would be interesting (for all of us) to see how it is made.  We first visited Sugarbush Farm, in Woodstock.  Unlike a lot of the sugar houses that were open over the weekend, Sugarbush Farm is always open, so it had great demonstrations and incredibly informative employees.  Sugarbush makes both cheese and maple syrup.  We got to try several different types of cheeses, as well as the four different types of syrup.  I never actually realized that there was such a difference in maple syrup and as a family, we all settled on what we liked best.  After our tasting, we headed down to the sugar house to watch how they make the syrup.  Did you know that it takes 40 gallons of sugar water (the stuff that comes from the tree) to make one gallon of maple syrup?  The process is fascinating.  After spending some quality time in the sugar house, we headed back up to the store and buy some syrup, cheese, and a warming pitcher.

All of the different types of cheeses, dipped in wax. 

Mmmmmm...... 

Trying different types of maple syrup. 

The different cheese (we tried most of them).

Tapping the trees the old fashioned way. 

The Sugar House. 

Inside of the Sugar House.

 There was a lot of smoke (from the fire) and steam (from the boiling process).

Maple syrup!! 

Watching the maple syrup pour out. 

Kegs (sort of) of maple syrup. 

The girls. 

Of course Elizabeth (AGD) came along for the adventure.  Elizabeth got comments everywhere we went. 

The different types of maple syrup.