1.  For your family friendly hikes and swims filled with beauty and adventure.

2.  For your underrated roadside barbecue joints.  Vermont, the South has nothing on you!

3.  For making me feel like Wordsworth ambling around the Lake District on golden summer days.  I’ll take Stephanie, Ami, Max, Theo, and Wes as hiking companions over Samuel Taylor Coleridge every time.

4.  For the the Vermont Coffee Company and “Simon’s Blend,” available only at the Simon Pierce Glass Factory in Quechee.  The good people of Vermont like their coffee strong and hardy.

5.  For your “American Made” consumer products such as Darn Tough Socks.  The rugged individuals of Vermont still make stuff and sell it in their cozy wood-planked general stores.

6.  For the lovely owners of the Quechee/Pine Valley KOA, and the Brattleboro North KOA for welcoming our family and helping us find our way to mountains, and rivers, and gorges oh my!

7.  For your towering pines and magical forests.

8. For your splendid and lush green quiet.

9. For your cool summer nights, perfect for campfires and restful slumbers.

10. For finally making me understand why we call it “New England.”