Back by Popular Demand...Reporting from Vermont!

This blog came with much more responsibility than I was aware of...after completely neglecting it post-road trip, I began receiving several inquiries from our families as to what happened to Pictures with Hansel. The pressure has gradually been building from both sides, but the final straw was when my mom actually wrote on my Facebook wall to request the return of the blog. I didn't even know she knew how to do that on Facebook, so the least I can do is acquiesce to her request!

Anyways, we're about to leave Vermont. We've been staying here while I work at the Vermont Summer Festival, a six week long horse show in Manchester, VT. One of the best parts of Billy being able to work from anywhere is that he could come with me. He was gone for one week (for the Tech Starts Patriot Boot Camp conference...more on that later!) and I ended up going into work early and leaving late and watching an unhealthy amount of Law and Order episodes.

It was an easy drive up here, and Billy naturally found a scenic route to take that was a great alternative to the interstate! It was like being back in West Virginia...the mountains here are huge and the town of Manchester is nestled down in a valley with the mountains surrounding it. It makes for a gorgeous backdrop for the horse show:

 

And all of the mountains means a ton of outdoorsy adventures were waiting for us! We took the first week to settle in. This show was a lot more low-key and laid-back than the show in Florida, and everyone that works there was really welcoming and friendly! I've really enjoyed being able to be a little more creative with some human interest stories and also having more autonomy over the writing and coverage that I do. I have learned a ton being here and being able to write more. 

I feel like I have a much better feel for the riders/horses/big names on the circuit than I did when I arrived in Florida essentially clueless of the hunter show circuit world. I also got to try my hand at covering some grand prix classes (biggest jumps, pro riders, lots of prize money) and my first week at the show I got to interview Olympic gold medalist Peter Wylde!

Not to brag, but I also made it onto the Tredstep Ireland Facebook page...

 Anyways, enough about the show! Beyond exploring the outlets (of which there are many!) our first adventure was the weekly party put on by the horse show. The Bromley Ski Resort also has a summer "Adventure Park" that has a zipline, alpine slides, and a lot of other fun rides! They were all open for free (or heavily discounted) for the party and we got a yummy catered dinner...yay for free things from the show!

View down from the ski lift

 We took the ski lift to first try our hand at the alpine slides. We were enjoying the view (see above) until we realized we were being eaten alive by bugs. This was our first, but certainly not last, experience being attacked by the oddly ferocious bugs of Vermont.

Alpine slides!

The only way to recover from such an attack, naturally, was to enjoy a cold beer and get some courage to take on the zipline. We didn't realize how high it was until we spotted the GIGANTIC tower next to the alpine slide entrance, so we decided to psych ourselves up before making the next trip up the mountain. I'll let this photo montage do the talking:
 

Liquid courage!

Well this looks higher than I imagined it being...

Maybe this was not a great idea.

Fortunately, once you got to this point, there wasn't really any going back. Also keeping us there was the fact that a bunch of ditsy teenage girls were also scared but intent on going. I was not about to chicken out in front of them. Plus, they loaded you into these basket harness type things that had you smushed up against a gate that opened against your will. I imagine it's kind of what a racehorse feels like in a starting gate. They pop open and then you go hurtling down the mountain! It was great!

Post-zipline adrenaline rush

 As you can see from my face above (which is about on par with the face I made when I fed a giraffe...so obviously I'm ecstatic), the zipline turned out to be an awesome idea and another instance of me being happy I didn't chicken out.

Not that I have ever done a short post, but I'll stop here before this one gets out of control. There's plenty more to come, and I promise I'll actually keep up with it until we're all caught up. We've got an even bigger adventure to come after Vermont.... :)