Vermont...

I took some good pictures and I saw a very nice grocery store... other than that... meh.

I will photo dump first and then ramble afterwards, that way those who just wanna see pictures can do that first.

But wait, there's more

IS there more?? No sorry that's most of my favorites

Photo enthusiast if you're not here for the blog post right now:

Have the day you deserve <3

For those who like to listen to me ramble:

Vermont.

I had a pretty okay time :]

I went to a wonderous store called Shaw's and it was like, Wegmans, Aldi, and Target at the same time.

Now, a little preface, I am a Certified Grocery Store Enthusiast. I LOVE grocery stores. There's something about them that's so much more fascinating than like, the mall and clothing stores. Don't get me wrong I like observing stores in any manner, but grocery stores are just a different type of fun for me /pos

[Dear future me, make post about Why I Enjoy Stores, Link it here]

I was fascinated by so many things in Shaw's the layout wasn't quite anything I'd seen before. It had elements of familiarity: The medication being near the pharmacy, the body care being somewhere adjacent to that, they even had their pharmacy in almost the same spot as the Wegman's I'm used to. However, why were their frozens and their body care so close to each other??? Then I turn the corner and I'm in candles?? And why are the candles so close to baby stuff I don't think baby stuff and then immediately candles?? Adjacent from this there was a built in table with the clearance and bargain bin items. The built in... structure was just, there.

The friend I was with didn't really let me like, take it in like I wanted to. She said she's a grocery store enthusiast too but we rushed around a lot so we didn't get to see everything thoroughly. I think I'm an enthusiast in a much more autistic way than her. Anyway.

Regional differences

(This was one of the highlights of the trip for me, this has become an in-depth Shaw's review, as someone whose been there one (1) time)

They had a lot of stuff that we don't have. Including these Vegan empanadas, that I REALLY WANTED, but we didn't have a cooler so they would've spoiled on the way home :( I did however get a bag of popcorn that was super cheap and HUGE. I'm still eating it and this trip was almost 2 weeks ago. I also tried macadamia milk, I'm a FAN. It's good on it's own like sunflower milk, but it's also good with cereal!! And unlike almond milk and cow milk it doesn't have enzymes that make my tummy hurt!! It was very good with chocolate syrup but I had to use a LOT.

I wanted a lot of things, but I usually walk over clearance sections and try to convince myself I need something, so I did my best to not splurge. I only got a few things, I wanted a candle but they didn't have any that didn't smell like ass except one, and my friend didn't like it, so I put it back because I thought maybe I just like it because I really want a candle. I have footage of us smelling the candles that I can't wait to edit up.

I didn't record all of Shaw's because I didn't wanna be that guy.... Y'know? Fruity looking alt person in public with a camera being a menace to society? A teenager or young adult with a camera bothering people...

Even though I would never bother people in public for anything too fucking bad. Maybe ask their opinion on a candle? But, I know there's people in here who are just on a 9pm cereal run. They're grabbing snacks for work tomorrow, they're grabbing soup for a sick kid, they're living their lives y'know? And now people near constantly have to worry about being recorded and posted without consent by a teenager with a camera (or anyone with a camera really) but I don't wanna make them worry about that... Like, I just wanna record me for my memories, but I'm fully aware that me having this big ass camera will put people on edge and make them uncomfortable. They're trying not to get in the shot, they don't want their face shown and they don't know that I'll blur it later. It's a lot to be somewhere and then just see somebody recording.

I think those tiktokers and youtubers that make clickbait videos for little kids kinda made me horribly humiliated to ever be seen with a camera. It's a rant for another day.

Regardless, I got a little footage in Shaw's and I hope to be back soon.

Another regional place I went in was Bliss Bee

Bliss Bee

I'll definitely be back for you soon if you're ethically run.

It was amazing. Somewhere between like, Panera, Wendy's, or Chickfila, with elements of a sit-down restaurant like Applebee's, PF Chang's, or Carrabba's. It felt very elegant yet hip to be a restaurant without waiters and the need to "be sat" Hell I ordered my food on a screen. It was full of teenagers obviously, but they seemed to be a fun bunch. Cracking jokes and being silly. I just got a burger and fries but they were astonishing. Like when I saw the screen I expected fast food, then the menu was like, real food prices. I spent 42 dollars on me and my friend... And God Would I Do It Again.

That food was so fucking good.

It was like a real burger. It felt and tasted like an actual burger. Not drive thru food. I expected really expensive drive thru food but it was phenomenal. I assume since they only have two (2) locations and they carry a pretty penny for the staff to menu ratio, they pay good. They closed at a decent time, 9pm I think, let those kids have lives and shit. I am a FAN of bliss bee... or at least I am currently, knowing nothing about the owners or the political standings of people who run the joint. I've been there once if they're trumpie assholes please cut me some slack.

I enjoyed my time regardless.

Other than hearing sex through the wall at the hotel

I have a few other big memories.

And I'll try to keep it short so I don't make two different two thousand word posts back to back. (Dear me, it's 2105 words, better luck next time)

The worlds largest filing cabinet.

Felt like I was at the center of the universe. I gazed up at the stack, yet since the top cabinets were painted a dark color they seemed to stretch up into the night sky. A purposeful choice on someone's part no doubt. The stickers climbing the stack told a million stories. Starting from it cinder block base and climbing up, feathering out the higher they got. I imagined friends here seeing who can jump and stick a sticker the highest. I see tall people picking up short people to help them get their stickers higher, from friend picking up friend to parent picking up child. I dwell in the moment. For just a second.

Taking in the subtle breeze. The stars dotted in the night sky, only slightly diluted by light pollution. The automated voice stating WAIT. on the corner of the street in a tone that always feels a little too pushy for my liking. I see the light bouncing off of the corners of the stack as a cars round the corner. The drivers mouth being open in confusion in reaction to seeing what has to look like a rabbitoid cryptid gazing up at the words tallest filing cabinet.

I felt as though in that second, with the autumn air nipping at my fingertips, that I was one with the universe.

Then I declared "I'm cold!!" and booked it back to the car.

The Trails

The trails were beautiful. A wonderful place to just walk and talk about life. Trailing will always be one of my favorite activities but that's just because I got that dawg in me. It was all breathtaking and I got gorgeous photos and very silly videos. However that part, I'll keep those memories to myself, for there are no words that can describe how being deep in the woods touches my soul. The beauty of nature I've found can never be described by my mouth. Only witnessed by my eyes and memorialized by my brain.

However on the way back I thought we were about to be kidnapped by the F*e

To preface I am the "I'm not touching because I don't wanna piss anything off" kinda nonbeliever in things. I guess I sorta believe in the power of energy, and if everyone is afraid of something in a specific religion or region or group, I might just y'know steer clear of 'em. Just in case.

An anxious life as one would presume.

So us being in the middle of a forest in a place I'm not familiar with, and my friend randomly bringing up F*e was uhhhh, SCARY. Like HEY SHH NO DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT HERE PLEASE. We changed the subject after I explained to her why I wanted to change the subject because when I asked she wanted me to explain why I asked. Then later a lot of weird things happened.

We walked a very long way into this forest. About an hour and a half into the trail. Then suddenly I look to my left and I don't see ground. I see down.

It's a cliffs edge. Not three feet from my left is straight down. I'm so serious my heart dropped out of my ass. There was no fence. No boarder, no sign. Nothing. I have no fear of heights. Falling however? Deathly afraid. I was on the verge of a panic just trying to tell her, that I needed to turn around or I was gonna piss myself. I tried to get a picture of it but my hands were shaking too much. After this, that's when the thing happened.

I was talking and walking and I guess really not paying attention and I took a "wrong turn." Now listen to me when I say I don't remember that path being there the first time. I swear I do not remember ever passing this on the way in. We were walking and the path was just, calling me. It was encapsulating my mind. My mouth kept speaking but my consciousness was just in awe of how beautiful it was. The bright yellows of the path and the whites of the tree bark just began to almost glow and sing to me. Not actually but like visually.

Then she stopped me.

I paused. The sort of wonderous sight stopped glowing. It felt like she'd snatched me back to reality after I started going into the light. We turned around and I was just like "... Oh fuck"

Then as we were walking back I started hearing giggling behind us. Soft, high pitched, giggling. I was TERRIFIED. The walk back was nowhere near the length that it took in there half because I was booking it away from those voices.

My thought process was "I'm hallucinating... no it's definitely the F*e... or is it both oh god-" It was nuts. I survived it. I don't know if it was real or not. However I survived.

I turned back once and just saw small legs. The second time I saw two blond haired figures. I was sure, certain even, that it was getting me and I was got. I was practically running with how fast I trudged.

It ended up just being a troop of girl scouts I think LOL.

Anyway what's most of my trip to Vermont. The good parts anyway.

Thanks for reading

Have the day you deserve <3