I wake up this morning craving a cup of Joe, instead of my usual tea, and decide to walk on over to the little convenience store close to where I'm camping; and there it is...that tie-dye shirt!  Now, I'm not a superstitious person, but I do believe in the power of positive thinking and choose to see this as a great sign.


I'm off the Supercharger grid once more, following the recommendations from http://www.yankeefoliage.com/peak-foliage-forecast-map/ which has lured me to the State of Vermont. 

Pic taken of area behind my campsite

Breathtaking!

I have nothing in particular planned for today, but after seeing the rows of maple syrup across from the Keurig, I'm curious about the "manufacturing" process of this amber colored liquid and call upon Kitt to find me a "sugar house".   She locates Hidden Springs Maple.

After watching a short informational video, I learn it takes ~43 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup. 



I then get invited down to the storage and bottling room to see the 4 different grades of maple syrup: Fancy Grade, Grade A Medium, Grade A Dark, and Grade B.  Each of the grades refers to the intensity of color and flavor, not the quality.

After sampling all 4 grades, I make my purchases and head down the road.



I barely get Kitt planing before I see Green Mountain Orchards off to the right, a U-pick apple orchard.  I stop and pick every kind of apple they have












and wash it all down with a tie-dye of golds, oranges and reds.  An end to a perfect day.