Camping in Vermont

Saturday morning we packed the car with camping gear and drove the three hours to Camp Joseph near Sharon, Vermont. The Church owns this piece of property for camping purposes which is near the birth site of Joseph Smith. While there aren't a lot of original artifacts, there is a large monument commemorating Joseph's life which stands nearly 39 feet high in remembrance of Joseph's 39 years of life. There is a peaceful visitor's center along with a few other items of interest in the area. Vermont was really beautiful.

After arriving at camp on Saturday morning, we waited to eat lunch with our ward members and then headed off to see other sites. We made it to the Ben & Jerry's original factory for a fun tour, free samples, and another ice cream treat at the end of our tour. I have always loved Cherry Garcia. It still tastes very good! It was a hot day, so the ice cream was a perfect treat.


We came back to camp just in time for dinner and for the activities that evening. We had dutch-oven lasagna and smores for dessert around the campfire. Our tent was situated on the grass near the large campfire, but others of our group set up their tents in the nearby wooded area. There were also small cabins available.

The girls had so much fun playing with the other kids there. During the campfire activities and after they had had their smores, they went off "looking" for bugs using our lanterns to see in the dark. The next morning I found their trail of marshmallows and white chocolate bars they had broken up under various trees around the campsite hoping to catch something interesting. Their plan worked! The ants were loving the sweet treats.

That night, the four of us squished into our three-man tent and had a very warm night's sleep. I will have to admit that I had a terrible time sleeping that night. But we woke up the next morning, and I was able to take a nice shower. I promise we were really camping!!

On Sunday we held Sacrament meeting in a nearby amphitheater in the woods and then started to pack and clean up camp. During this time, Lauren and her friend found some kind of rock that they broke into pieces and collected the "crystals" from inside the rock. They also thought it would be a good idea to earn some money... so they attempted to sell their crystals. It was a good Sunday activity.

On our way home, we drove to Sugarbush Farm. The farm produces pure maple syrup and makes 14 different types of cheese. It was fun to learn the maple syrup making process and to sample the cheese.

This is a strange poster, but we couldn't resist taking a photo.

Overall, we had a great trip. We loved sight-seeing in Vermont and had a true testimony-building experience visiting the birthplace of our first prophet.