Today I went to Southern Vermont with my parents. I would have preferred to have gone alone, so I could carefully study out the area at my own pace, but this trip was free and I didn't really have a car that was running well enough to make it there. I went Bennington, Walton, Southington, to name a few.

So what did I see? What did I hear? I saw and heard many things some that may or may not have been truly representative of the state. For one, I was mostly out in forest country, with a few farms and overpriced pretentious homes stuck in-between. There was a certain pride to the area, but at the same time, it was obvious that many of the places I saw where pandering to the tourists.

I knew that many of the places that my parents would take me would be rich tourist places, as they like to shop. I like to explore forests and farmlands, and while I saw much of the prior, I saw little of the later in Vermont with few exceptions. It turns out that much of Southern Vermont is wild forest. I knew that from my prior experience camping in the Green Mountain National Forest, but also contrasted that with the different route we were taking today.

Route 7 was as desolate I had known it in the past. There was much forest around, with some marshes interspersed. Mountains raced up all around. In someway it reminded me a lot of the Adirondack Northway. The few houses I saw around where truly working class, and there were at least one small working dairy farm visible from the superhighway. Poverty was all around.

Climbing the steep Route 100 near Bromley, I was amazed at the views in the valley towards Southington. The skies where yellow-to-dark blue, with the typical November clear-but-cloudy weather around. The mountains reached up and touched the sky in such a beautiful way that I will never forget. The road was twisty and steep, but beautiful.

The villages where uniquely New England. Many of the houses were old and unimproved, and tacky vinyl siding was far apart and rarely seen. To a large degree, this area was devoid of the eye sores I've come to know in Western Albany County. We passed a few industrial sites on the way, and one transfer station that apparently had a construction debris open dump, but little else to make the eye sore.

One thing that was disconcerning was the high propotion of out-of-state plates to Vermont plates. The average Vermonter car on the road was quite clearly more warnout then that of out-of-staters. Certainly not all Vermonters drove warn out pickup trucks, but that seemed to be fairly stereotypical of the area around. That said, some Vermonters drove very nice trucks, and others cars.

My parents stopped at many stores. I looked at many of them, noticing the often tacky things that they contained. Some of it was legitimate rural products, more was silly tourist products. By shopping at these places, you not only support the local culture, but demean it by saying the rural life is little more then simple artwork and products made by simple people. Protecting artisans and supporting local culture is desirable.At the same time are we preverting it more then protecting it?

I disagree with my parents when it comes to reasons and places to explore in Vermont. I would have preferred to spend more time on photographing and exploring certain areas around Vermont, but I still enjoyed myself emensely. It was beautiful out there, and I got to see more of a state that I truly liked.