My favorite mountain to climb is Camel's Hump. It is awesome year around with a 360° clear view from the top. Most of the state is rural. Outdoorsy possibilities are endless.

Oh no way! Is that a spot you can get to easily/legally?

I love it here. You get all 4 seasons, although this winter is wimpy. You also get at least one bonus season: mud season. This is the one thing I don't like about Vermont. It is a period between the first thaw and late spring when everything is muddy. Can't hike, can't mountain bike, skiing is pretty much done, and the dirt roads are treacherous.

That being said, there are endless things to do here. Just about every outdoor activity you can think of (even surfing, sort of). Very few chain restaurants or stores, but most of the local options will will make it hard for you to go back to chains. Vermont is a great hub for adventures too. Adirondacks are about an hour west and the White Mountains are about an hour and a half East. From Burlington, you are about 90 minutes from Montreal, about 3 hours from Albany, and about 4 hours from Boston.

There are some pretty awesome sign-in bonuses at UVMMC and you might qualify for a $7500 credit from the state.

Is that at the Shelburne Museum?

Lol same

It is a real bummer. My family got out fall jackets today because winter coats were too hot.

I heard one yowling for the first time last spring. Had no idea what it was and I was alone in the middle of nowhere. Super cool looking back at it now. Thought I pissed off a wendigo or something at the time.

That hasn't been my experience. Rural America tends to follow on set of hyper partisan politics while urban Erica follows another. Then again, I haven't been everywhere.

Fishers because everyone I know calls them "murder weasels". Never heard of them until moved here. Have one that prowls the ravine behind our house. Love their ghostly yowls and they definitely do kill everything.

That attitude is going to be hard to find anywhere with our current mega polarized politics across the country.

The population is right, but we need different demographics. Vermont has the oldest population on average in the whole country. I'm sure lot of the old folks did their part to make Vermont into what it is today, but we really need young families, young workers, and young perspectives to thrive in the future.

My wife and I feel the same way when we go back to southern Michigan. It starts getting depressing when we hit metro Toronto or western NY on our way back.

Oh I totally agree

It sounds like it is still an order of magnitude more than was I paid 15 years ago

:(

That is so depressing. Can't imagine what it will be like for my toddler someday.

That's criminal

Shit, I paid $6000/yr for my engineering degree in 2008. That was at a state college in Michigan.

How much is a full-time semester at UVM now? I am really out of touch.

Whoa wait a minute. Per year or per semester?

You aren't crazy. I moved here from another state and have noticed the same. Vermont uses some crappy road paint.

If it were made easier to build, who would build? Are their local builders capable of big housing projects? We we just going to end up with big expensive McMansions made by Toll Bros?

The XC trails at Von Trapp Family Lodge rock.

This is normal. I'm originally from Michigan and have had some gloriously shitty shitboxes that would probably have immolated when they crossed the VT border. Vehicle inspections are new to me too. What you are describing seems par for the course.

I don't think scarf cutting a beer can with two hose clamps is an acceptable exhaust repair in Vermont btw.