Cloudland Road Update

Discuss Fall Foliage in Vermont, when to come, where to stay, where to take a tour etc. Note: You must be registered in order to post. If you have trouble registering, use the contact us form on Scenes of Vermont's home page.

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Aspen
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Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2005 12:01 am

Cloudland Road Update

Post: # 10079Post Aspen
Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:43 pm

Today, October 6th, hubby and I had a delightful drive along Cloudland Road in Pomfret nearby Woodstock. Cloudland is a beautiful drive, beautiful views of mountains and the colors are very nice. It was a partly sunny day with more clouds than sun. However, hubby got some awesome pictures of Sleepy Hallow. It's such a beautiful farm scene and my favorite. We also went to Jenn Farm following Kaplan's directions. Jenn Farm is also a very beautiful farm at the bottom of rolling hills
We ventured over to the Sugarbush Farm in Pomfret off Pastures Road to pick up their awesome maple syrup and cheese. Toured Sugarbush Farm, last year, and highly recommend visiting it to learn how maple syrup is processed. Last year, walked to see the maple trees. There is also an open Chapel in the woods. There are cows, goats and a cute calf which children enjoy feeding. There's a video that introduces people to the history of Sugarbush. Very interesting. We returned back through Cloudland Road to Quechee and it seems the hour of five is a lucky hour for us, first coming upon a mother moose and her baby at Pinkham Notch in New Hampshire and this evening at five we pulled into Quechee to a beautiful hot air balloon taking off in the parking lot behind the Simon Pearce restaurant.
Returned to Killington by way of Route 4 Colors from Quechee to Killington on Route 4 were beautiful. Colors at lower part of Killington are still very nice. The colors on the ski slope of Killington appear past peak.
Killington has really cute hay bale artwork in front of many of its businesses. Trying to figure out what to do tomorrow if the sky falls as the weather forecasters predict. There is a Norman Rockwell Museum down on Route 4 between Killington and Rutland for those who may be nearby and need something to do. We saw the Rockwell Museum in Arlington many years ago and enjoyed it.
Here's wishing everyone sunnier skies over Vermont!
Aspen


Andy
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Post: # 10086Post Andy
Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:50 am

What struck me, when I actually saw Sleepy Hollow was how different it is than how it "looks" in all the classic photos. The driveway looks like a road that continues on up hill to "somewhere." Actually, it doesn't. Those really colorful maples in the background are really some very small trees on a very open hillside. With the proper framing, you get the "classic" Kaplan type shot.

I agree about Cloudland Road. There is a reason for that name.
Andy

If it sounds too good to be true, its probably . . . .

wentworth
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Post: # 10156Post wentworth
Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:37 pm

yeah, we saw those hay bale artworks around killington also--Went to cloudland road over a week ago and loved it

Aspen
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Post: # 10369Post Aspen
Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:20 pm

In addition to beautiful Sleepy Hollow, Cloudland Road abounds with plenty of country pleasures. As we slowly moved along from Sleepy Hollow, my husband stopped the car and reversed. There were three pitch black cows right on the edge of the road under a shade tree observing us. Expressions on their cute black faces were like, "Hello, what you doing in our corner of the woods?" They were so close to the road and hidden that it was an amusing sight. I got out of car to take a picture of them. Lo and behold on a tree a few feet back down on the road from where I was standing were two dinner plate size mushrooms on trees. I'll not get into mushrooms again but they were so huge one just can't overlook them.
We leisurely, drove backroads over there with no real destination and came upon a farm with, what we called, longhorn cattle. Thought we were in Vermont; not Texas so surprised to see longhorns!! They were so thick with fluffy fur and so beautiful. On another hidden backroad were two cows. One was a white belted cow like those on the Diamond Heart farm. However, this cow was not dressed up for a photo op, he had dried mud all over his belly which spoiled his beautiful coat! Nevertheless, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so I thought it was beautiful even coated with mud and warranted having its picture taken. Seems this Foliage season, alot of folks on this forum have been moo-ved by cows and/or special farms!
Look forward to hearing what everyone will be raving about during the 2010 Fall Foliage season!
Aspen

Andy
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Post: # 10381Post Andy
Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:01 am

Aspen, in case you are interested, those belted cows are a Vermont breeds, known as the Randall Lineback Breed.
Andy

If it sounds too good to be true, its probably . . . .


Aspen
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Post: # 10392Post Aspen
Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:38 am

Thanks Andy for sharing the website. There's a wealth of information and history on that website so will bookmark it. Always room to learn more (things)
Aspen

Andy
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Post: # 10394Post Andy
Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:53 am

Aspen: If you didn't already know this, I am a lawyer -- we have to keep up the facade that we are "all knowing" :lol: Its pretty coincidental how I even knew about the Randall Linebacks. Earlier this summer, I blogged about the Vermont Dairy industry and just "happened" upon the information.
Andy

If it sounds too good to be true, its probably . . . .

MrBumps
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Post: # 10396Post MrBumps
Mon Oct 12, 2009 4:55 pm

The Randall Linebacks are beautiful cows. I was admiring some on some back road Saturday.

Aspen: I believe the "Texas Long Horns" you saw were actually Scottish Highlanders. Many people are rasing them in Vermont now because they are a very hardy breed. I actually helped a farmer chase two young ones back into their pasture last weekend on Trapp Hill Road in Stowe. It was just after sunrise, and there was a lot of fog around, so I stayed and photographed them for a bit.

The youngster sitting below doesn't have it's horns yet. Both sexes have horns. I liked how the adult seemed to be standing guard while the youngster rested.

Image

ctyanky
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Post: # 10399Post ctyanky
Mon Oct 12, 2009 5:23 pm

Mr. Bumps! Awesome shot! That belongs in a magazine!

It looks like Scottish Highlanders' Brigadoon Heaven :!: :!: :!:

Loved that to pieces!
CT - Board Admin and Moderator for Scenes of Vermont
**************
Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot

Aspen
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Post: # 10406Post Aspen
Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:28 pm

Mr. Bumps, what an adorable picture! That's what those longhorns looked like! Thanks for sharing that they are Scottish Highlanders!
I am no expert on a cow but I know a beautiful one when I see it. The white belted cows and those Scottish Highlanders are really sights to behold....your picture speaks for itself! So, folks if you visit Vermont, take time to gaze over at some cows. You will learn like I learned a cow is not a cow, they have their own personalities, stories and names (breeds)!
Hats off to all those wonderful Vermont farmers! With the website Andy shared on this thread, it conveyed raising cattle is a never ending job! To maintain such a beautiful farm is really a labor of love!
Aspen

4sneau
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Cloudland Road and cows

Post: # 10411Post 4sneau
Tue Oct 13, 2009 6:10 am

Andy, I had never heard of those Randall Lineback cows before. Very interesting! I am going to have to keep my eyes open for them. I wonder if I've ever seen them, yet never noticed their specific markings.
There is another kind of cow that is truly belted all of the way around the middle: the Belted Galloway. I used to call them bumblebee cows, and I've heard others refer to them as police car cows. I have never seen any of those on Cloudland Road, although they could have been hiding behind an apple tree. My favorite cows, the Jerseys, do abound in that area. I love their eyes!

MrBumps
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Post: # 10413Post MrBumps
Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:07 am

There are Belted Galloways (another Scottish Hardy Breed)in Vermont, as well as Dutch Belted (smaller and smoother coat than Belted Galloways. They are often referred to as "oreo cows" The Randall Linebackers are grayish, with a black, or blueish markings on the body, and of course, the line down their back. They are a very "different" looking cow for sure.

Andy
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Post: # 10421Post Andy
Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:42 am

Back "in the day," The Jersey Breed was more common in the Southeastern States, partly because they tolerated the warm, humid weather better. They--and the Guernsey Breed--always had a higher butterfat content than the "chocolate milk" cows (as a very young kid, someone told me the Holsteins produced chocolate milk). They both are smaller (Jerseys more so than Guernsey) and produced less lbs of milk per cow -- the "tradeoff." Their fat was also more "yellow" so they are not as good for beef.

My Uncle had one of the few remaining Registered Guernsey Herds back in the 60' and 70's. Today, they they have all chocolate cows. I suppose that -- even though there is still a premium paid for butterfat -- that in our current no/low transfats mode, that is not as important anymore.

There is one other "utility" of the Jersey Breed which is very important to my Uncle's Brother (actually, his son, now is the owner of that Centennial Farm in Bakersfield, VT) -- their small size. The are the only cows that "fit" in the old original post & beam barn that is still being used by them. I always appreciated their smaller size as they were just easier to deal with in general.
Andy

If it sounds too good to be true, its probably . . . .

Aspen
Posts: 282
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2005 12:01 am

Diamond Heart white belted cattle

Post: # 10428Post Aspen
Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:52 pm

The information shared about different cattle in Vermont is interesting.
We drove by the Diamond Heart farm in Irasburg, Vermont. The white belted cattle were in the pasture and a few of them grazing up near the road. We got a close up look of them. I was awestruck with how they looked "painted" Their belts/bands were so identical. There were black and white cows and brown and white ones. From seeing them and surfing online for pictures of the different breeds mentioned on this thread, they resemble the Belted Galloway (police car cows or oreo cows) but not the Randall Linebakers. This website http://whitebelted.com/index.html has pictures of the cattle we saw on the Diamond Heart farm. The website also refers to Vermont's Paul Daniels and California's Dick Gray and Dick's sons as having American white belted dairy cattle. It also explains that the American White Belted Dairy Cattle Association and the Dutchbelted Cattle Association are not the same but share a common goal of preserving the white belted cattle. I believe the American and Dutch breeds are similar yet differ. The Diamond Heart cattle's belts/bands are so set in the middle. Some of the other pictures of other belted breeds, the bands are closer to udder (moved back)
Andy, must have been so sad when your childhood belief crumbled when you learned chocolate milk did not come from holsteins! Oh, the brief joys of innocence!
Vermont is a wonderful educational place for family vacations. There are so many different kinds of farms to see and experience. The working farms as well as demonstrations at some farms provide more than a book can! "Tell me, I forget, show me, I remember!"
Aspen


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