Ecuador & Peru: Part 1

            I was going to wait to discuss my vacation until I had finished editing my photographs but if I did that, I’d never end up talking about the trip.  It’s quite sad how many photographs I take on vacation.  I’m still editing photographs from vacations we took five years ago.  So in the interest of memory’s sake I shall at least discuss the first few impressions of Ecuador that I had as a vegan.  You know, incase anyone of my readers here wants to go there some day.

            First of all, here is Ecuador:

            That may seem odd to those reading this if you’re not from the U.S. but it really is necessary.  Geography and Americans are like the continental drift:  as time goes on, the distance between the two groups grows.
            …Anything?  Come on, that’s a decent geology joke.  Anyway.
            I was quite apprehensive about our trip to Ecuador.  I had visions of the streets roaming with pickpockets, volcanoes spewing down in every town we stopped (it seemed like every travel book said some active volcano was right next to wherever we were staying), and having terrible food poisoning throughout the trip.  I must also point out that this didn’t happen just because we were going to South America, per say.  I also got nervous before our trips to Ireland, Costa Rica, and Germany.  Any destination far from home where I either don’t speak the native language fluently or where I expect culture clashes to occur can fill me with dread.

            Then you add in the fact that I’m vegan and I have to somehow convey this message whenever we eat out?  Checking out the Happy Cow site didn’t do much to calm my fears much either.  Even 1 review of, “I tried to tell them I’m vegan but I could definitely taste dairy cheese,” can be enough to fill me with panic.  I had taken Spanish for 2 years in high school and off-and-on while in college but even with a small refresher using Rosetta Stone, I still couldn’t remember every fruit and vegetable out there.  What if I thought a word that was in a dish was a vegetable but was really some sort of animal product?  Yeah.  Fun.

How I knew everything would be ok. Bumblebee was at the Quito airport!

            So, with all of this apprehension, we arrived safely in Quito after a long day of flying.  After walking through the airport and taking a taxi that seemed to zip in-and-out of lanes with a speed barely slow enough for the human brain to process, we were dropped off at our hotel in the heart of Quito.  Being almost ten o’clock, we didn’t feel like eating anything despite having nearly nothing of substance to eat all day.  Instead, we decided to just eat a snack bar and some homemade bread we had stuffed in our backpacks.

Quito!  From the slopes of Pichincha

            Because we were there for only a limited amount of time, and because we wanted to see as much of the country as possible, we crammed as many activities into one day that we could.  After hiking around the slopes of Pichincha volcano (exhausting, by the way, if you’re not acclimated to the heights. We went from about 10,000 ft. to about 13,000 ft.) and parts of the old town, we went for a late dinner at El Maple, which was about a ten-minute walk from our hostel.

            It was a bit difficult to find, however, since Happy Cow’s directions were both a bit off and vague.  I walked up and down the block it was supposedly on and tried to get directions from people inside a fast food joint (awkward much?  Being a vegan and going into a chicken fast food place for directions.).  That didn’t pan out.  I finally found someone inside an internet café that had heard of it and we were on our way!

            It was a cool little vegetarian restaurant with brightly lit rooms on the inside.  We had one room all to ourselves for most of our meal but that’s probably because we were eating after eight and most people in Ecuador seem to have dinner either earlier or later.  Either way, I was looking to devour some food.  Besides a very small breakfast in our hotel that morning, we hadn’t had much since.  Eating one or two meals a day would be a regular thing for us on our vacation.

Breakfast at 1 of our hostels.

            With the apprehensions I spoke of earlier running through my mind, I nervously ordered dinner for myself.  Thankfully, the meal turned out to be quite good!  For an appetizer we had ordered a plate of diced potatoes covered in some sort of sauce (sorry, my memory is fading) and for a main meal we each had a plate with rice, seitan ‘steak’, lentils, a plantain, and a tiny salad.  I was worried about the raw salad because everything I read said to avoid raw salads but I figured that was mainly aimed at people eating in omnivore restaurants, so I ate it anyway.  Besides, when you’re ravenous, you will eat anything.

            Even though the meal was delicious, it definitely wasn’t an American-sized meal.  Needless to say, I was still a bit hungry even after the meal but it probably would’ve been fine had I had more food throughout the day.  Thankfully, worrying about the raw salad was pointless because I had no trouble that night or for most of the three-week vacation.  I’m not sure if that is due to veganism or because I was just lucky but I’ll take it.

Restaurante Manantial

            The next day was another day where we had one main meal but this time it was a late lunch at Restaurante Manantial, a vegetarian restaurant.  Again, the place was impossible to find because there was no sign outside to indicate where it was and the directions on Happy Cow were vague.  Again, we were hungry as hell when we showed up.  The portions for our meals were small but that was my fault.  I misunderstood the guy at the counter and asked to have the fixed menu for my wife and I.  The meal cost us about six dollars and while the food was good, it wasn’t enough for people who were starving.  And again, I ignored the warning about raw salad and ate some anyway.

            That night my stomach was just killing me.  I even passed fast food joints where I knew there wouldn’t be anything to eat with a look of longing.  We ended up ducking into a place called the Toronto Restaurant, a buffet place, because if I was going to resort to eating in an omnivore establishment, it was going to be in a Canadian-themed restaurant in Ecuador.  My wife didn’t partake but I devoured the hell out of a ton of potatoes, broccoli, rice – to name a few.  It was a pit stop made out of necessity rather than desire, really.  I was really nervous because it was our first stop into an omnivore restaurant and a buffet to boot.  My mind’s paranoia was screaming at me not to put anything on my plate but my stomach won out.  I’ll admit that I’m not really proud of this food stop.  Not because the food was bad but because after leaving, I felt like someone sneaking out of a one-night stand’s apartment with disheveled clothes at five in the morning.

            Overall, my initial fears around food were somewhat misplaced.  Up to this point I didn’t really have trouble communicating that we were vegan and didn’t eat certain foods.  I enjoyed Quito a lot more than I thought I would even though there were quite a lot of people.  The food for vegans and vegetarians is pretty decent and there are several vegetarian and vegan restaurants throughout the city.  If you ever make it there, you won’t go hungry.  Just make sure you don’t do it like I did and eat one or two meals a day (womp womp).

            One thing that made me a bit sad was the amount of street cart vendors that had piles of dead animals roasting on open grills.  The smells wafted through the air around these carts and there were quite a few people eating off of them.  It was a sad sight for a number of reasons, not least of which was the image of all the animals being raised for these food carts.  Plus, it just looked so incredibly unhealthy.  If even half of all the food carts that we saw in Ecuador and Peru started to operate in the States, every single one would probably be shut down for poor sanitation.

            South America also has a lot of stray dogs roaming the streets and every sad or sick or malnourished dog I saw, I could only think about our Collie.  I wish I could’ve taken care of each one of them.  I had to resist the urge to go pet every dog I saw.  My wife, on the other hand, picked and chose which dogs she would or wouldn’t pet, leaving me exasperated as I tried to urge her to back away.  I secretly was glad she ignored me to show the dogs a small sense of compassion.

            Other than that, however, it was a positive experience in Quito.  I would definitely go back.  I think this is as good a place as any to end things for part 1.  Perhaps I will pick it back up at some point in the future.  Until then, keep calm and vegan on!

If you want to learn more about El Maple, you can go HERE.  You can find them on a number of social media sites including Twitter at: @elmaple  (they have yet to tweet anything, however.)
If you want to learn more about Restaurante Manantial, you can go HERE.

The map of Ecuador was found using a Google search.

Listen Up, Publishers!

            Wow, has it been almost a month to the date since my last entry?  The time has just really flown by for me.  That’s mostly due to obsessively going over plans for our upcoming trip to Ecuador and Peru.  There’s a lot one has to do when you have 2 countries to traverse over 20 days and you have no idea on the reliability and timing of public transportation.  Sadly, a lot of time was wasted making myself paranoid with reading other travelers’ reviews.  (Note to self: never ever read people’s reviews.  Especially not from anyone who isn’t accustomed to roughing it in the slightest.)

This would've been useful this last month.

            It’s our first time visiting the two countries but we love to travel.  Life’s too short not to explore the world.  My wife’s more of the traveling gypsy spirit than I am, but I’m getting a lot better since we’ve been married.  Before I met her, I had only been to a few states here in the U.S.  Since we’ve been married, we’ve been to Europe, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica.  This will be our first time in South America.

            Since becoming vegetarian, however, we’ve only been to Costa Rica, England, and Germany.  I honestly thought being vegan in Costa Rica would be rough but it was quite easy.  You would think that for a place surrounded by water there wouldn’t be much in the way of vegan food but that turned out not to be true.  I’m hoping for more of the same in Ecuador and Peru (come on, HappyCow!).

            The most frustrating thing in the planning stage before any of our trips as vegans, at least for me, is reading non-vegetarian/vegan travel books.  There are probably 3-4 vegetarian places listed in each travel book that we’ve checked out for everywhere we’ve been to and that’s a generous number.  I love the phrases in the travel books that describe the vegetarian restaurants, too.  “Hearty enough even for meat-eaters!” or “You won’t believe how filling it is even without meat!”

            Uuuuh, no d’uh.  How about animal-based restaurant reviews done by vegetarians?  “Odors from burning flesh that aren’t as noxious to stomach as you’d think!” or “Token salads that give you more than two cherry tomatoes!”  Or, if you’re at some rustic, outdoorsy BBQ joint, “As long as you can ignore the stuffed animal heads on the walls, your French fries and corn on the cob will be quite enjoyable!”  (Come to think of it, that’d be pretty amusing.  Why am I giving these ideas out for free?)

            This is even ignoring all the reviews of special events that you can see when you go to towns they list in the books or attractions you can see or places to stay.  It’s amazing how many animal-centric things you can pick out while reading something as innocuous as a travel book.  That’s not to say that I have to flip through pages of obnoxiously omnivore-based language.  It’s just interesting to see it from an “outsider’s” perspective.

            My main reason for this is that we need an actual vegetarian/vegan travel book for us worldly wanderers.  Now, there are a few decent to great sites and blogs and vlogs out there for us on the topic of vegan food abroad.  For example, Kristin Lajeunesse has been killing it with amazing pictures and stories based on her travels around the world.  Seriously, if you’re vegan and you love travel and different foods, check her site out HERE (how cool is her site’s name: Will Travel For Vegan Food?).  My wife and I were able to listen to her at a recent VeganMania event here in Chicago.

            There’s also a pretty cool site called Vegan Backpacker that is run by two Canadian vegans, John and Jill.  I’ve only recently stumbled upon it but they do seem to have a lot of cool tips for traveling as vegans abroad.  I even saw an entry about Peru, which I’ll be looking into before we leave.

            However, there is still no full-fledged Lonely Planet styled travel book.  Sure, there probably won’t be much money in it for the publishers but a vegan can dream, right?  There’s got to be a big enough niche market out there where this would be popular.  I find it hard to believe that even a small travel book couldn’t be published on the cheap and distributed to major markets or made available for purchase online.  After all, how annoying is it for vegans to have to either write down every important piece of information they see online or to have to carry an iPad around because there’s no book they can take with them?  I mean, to be quite honest, I never bring electronics with me anyway when I’m on vacation.  I have enough of electronics when I’m home and having a book with me is easier.  I’m not constantly worrying somebody is going to steal a book or I’m going to lose a book like I would if I had to bring along a laptop or a tablet or a smart phone.

            Am I missing a resource that’s out there that somebody can recommend?  Because if not, I guess I’ll just have to roll up my sleeves and write one myself (or go halvesies with another vegan writer… hint hint, internets!).

            Until that day comes, however, keep calm and vegan on!

You can find Kristin Lajeunesse online a number of ways – including Facebook – but one way is to follow her on Twitter at @KristinLaj

You can also find Vegan Backpacker on Twitter at @veganbackpacker

Restaurant Review: Healthy Sins Vegan Cafe & Naked Sprout Organics Market in Lockport

            Hello, one and all!  Sorry for yet another delay but since I’ve returned from my cousin’s wedding, I've been working constantly up until this last Friday.  10 days in a row sure can fly by when you’re not looking.

            Since I last left you, a lot has happened.  First of all, I booked a vacation for this fall to Ecuador and Peru!  It’s going to be amazing.  Or at least I hope it will be amazing!  It’s the first time my wife and I have been to either country but it’s part of our world domination tour.  We’ve been to Ireland (nearly all of it), Northern Ireland, London, Germany, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica (to name but a few) so far.  I’m really looking forward to finding new vegan places in each country and reporting back on them.

            You’d think that’d be all, but you’d be wrong.  We also booked our (last major) vacation for 2015.  Brussels, Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, various cities in Luxembourg, and wherever else we can manage to visit are all on the list.  This will mark the first time we’ve been to all of these places.  I told you: world domination tour.  I say it’s our last major vacation because after that, we might stick to small trips here and there.  We just wanted to go out with a bang.  It might seem a bit crazy but we generally live like misers for most of the year.  Plus, my wife never uses her vacation time so that helps to pay for our tickets.  I just didn’t want you all to think that the title of my blog was a bit misleading.  I still wear the same clothes I’ve had for over a decade.  See? Broke.  With that being said, I may be posting fewer restaurant reviews in an effort to save money.  SAD, I know.

            Anyway!  Now that you’re all caught up, let’s get to the heart of the entry.  I wanted to get to a restaurant we went to in Lockport, IL a short while back.  I just never got around to mentioning it thanks to all the craziness going on in my world.  It’s a shame because the restaurant in question is quite good and worth the trip if you’re even remotely close-by.  You see, we went to Healthy Sins Vegan Café for a raw lunch.

            I’ve never been to Lockport despite the fact that I’ve lived about 45 minutes away for most of my life.  I wish I had visited it sooner because it looks like nothing has changed since the 1930s.  You half-expect Bonnie and Clyde to run out of a bank at any moment.

I found the speakeasy!

            It’s got a small but cool main street and you can walk along the Illinois and Michigan Canal that runs next to their main street.  It makes for a peaceful Saturday if you’re looking to get away.

            The restaurant itself was very cool and unexpected given the 1930s vibe from the town.  The restaurant has artwork hanging up along the walls and the tables themselves are in the shape of leaves.  I’ve felt that the one problem with raw restaurants tends to be that the meals look smaller than you would want for the price you pay for them.  Don’t get me wrong – I love raw restaurants and Chicago has/had a few that are quite good.  But, as the Broke Vegan, it’s not a type of restaurant I’d go to each week.

            That being said, this restaurant’s portions were decent.  I did spend quite a bit but that’s mainly because I wanted to make sure I had enough variety to give a decent review.  We ordered two appetizers, two main meals, and two desserts for about $60.  By comparison, we ate at the Loving Heart (see the review further down the blog) for about $25-30 and ate like kings.  If we were just going there any other normal day we probably would’ve only spent about $45 or so.  That being said, we went for lunch and were full for most of the day.

            Our first appetizer was an order of bagel bites.  The ‘bagels’ were dehydrated bread slices (probably made of a combination of flax and some sort of seeds if I had to guess).  There were six slices and each slice had its own topping.  There was a pesto, a pumpkin seed cheese, a taco ‘meat’, an egg salad, a tuna, and a ‘sloppy joe’ topping.  I would have to say that my favorites were probably the taco meat, the egg salad, and the sloppy joe.  I loved the variety and the unique ways they were able to create raw, vegan toppings.

            The second appetizer was an order of nachos that featured dehydrated chips.  The dish came with taco meat, guacamole, salsa and onions, and sour cream drizzled over it all.  These. Were. Fantastic.  The menu says it’s a meal in itself and that’s no joke.  We probably could’ve just had the two appetizers and two desserts and been content.

            My wife ordered the pizza after much debate and was really impressed with it.  It looked delicious and I probably would order that the next time we went.  The waitress had recommended it to her and said it was a popular choice.  So if you’re new to the raw scene and don’t know what to get you might want to check that out.

            I ordered the sloppy joe’s because I grew up addicted to sloppy joe sandwiches and whenever I see a sloppy joe option on a menu, I have to give it a shot.  It wasn’t too bad but not my favorite raw dish.  I was originally going to go with a raw pasta dish and probably should’ve because I think after eating all that other raw taco meat, I was on raw vegan meat overload.  It was an interesting take and I dig their attempt at it but by the end of the meal I was about ready to explode.  The dish also came with a small side salad and a small fruit salad.

Why can't I eat the picture?!?

            The dessert I had was a raw apple pie, which – and I cannot stress this enough – was amazing!  It tasted like it was cooked and was probably one of the best raw desserts I’ve had (not counting homemade).  That was worth the trip to Lockport alone.  Just look at the picture!  I’m drooling even now.

            All in all, I would definitely return here and I recommend it to anyone who wants good food and is looking for a little indulgence (as far as spending a little cash goes).  The staff was super friendly and the décor and vibe were cool.

Just down the street is Naked Sprout Organics Market, which makes its own juices and smoothies.  I would also recommend stopping inside to grab a drink before you head back home.  I had an oatmeal cinnamon smoothie, which might sound odd but was pretty good!  It had a bit too much nutmeg for my liking but was tasty none-the-less.  My wife, however, had the strawberry-lemon cheesecake smoothie and – hot damn – it was so, so, so good!  It was like I was really drinking a mashed up cheesecake.

            I promise not to be gone for as long as I have been for my next entry.  I have a few things lined up to talk about.  Hope everyone is well!  Until next time, keep calm and vegan on!

You can check out Healthy Sins Vegan Café HERE.  They are located at 928 S. State Street, Lockport, IL, 60441.

You can check out Naked Sprout Organics Market HERE.

Woodstock Farm Sanctuary

           I’ve been meaning to post this from day 1 of this blog but it’s taken me forever to edit all of the pictures I took while at the sanctuary.  Now, you may be wondering to yourself, “Self, why is this mildly attractive, but poor excuse for a writer, writing about a farm?  That has nothing to do with being vegan or broke.”  And I’d say to you, “MILDLY attractive? …Good point.”  But why write about Woodstock Farm Sanctuary?  Because, if you care at all about animals in general or farm animals that are subjected to routine abuse, torture, and murder specifically, then you need to know about Woodstock Farm Sanctuary.  If you went vegetarian or vegan for animal welfare reasons, then you need to know about Woodstock Farm Sanctuary.

If you don’t know about the important work that Woodstock Farm Sanctuary does, then you really need to get caught up!  Jenny Brown and her husband, Doug Abel, started the sanctuary, just a bit outside of the main town center (yes – that Woodstock), roughly a decade ago.  Let me tell you from personal experience that the scenery is wonderful.  I had a hard time picturing a farm sanctuary in New York for some reason.  Perhaps that’s because when I think of NY, I can only picture New York City.  I just assume the whole state is the city.  Kidding.  Kind of.

            Jenny, Doug, and their interns and staff go about caring for and rescuing – when possible – almost any farm animal they can take in.  These are animals that come from a whole host of heartbreaking conditions such as being rescued from factory farms or from religious ceremonies that require animal sacrifice.  The animals on their farm – who would otherwise meet a grim and nightmarish end – get to live out the rest of their lives in peace and surrounded by love (given in huge heaps by both the staff and visitors).

            The farm is spread out on a lovely piece of land with mountains rising in the background and surrounded by trees.  Besides their own home on the premises, they have a handful of barns, a small animal hospital, a guest B&B, and a visitor center.

"Hey, I'm walkin' here!"  Typical New Yorker!

            They first began rescuing chickens and a rooster but grew into a sanctuary that also includes goats, rabbits, pigs, sheep, cows, ducks, and even a mule named Diane (rescued from a long life being forced to work at the Grand Canyon).  Sure, a mule might not be a typical ‘farm’ animal but once you meet her, you are glad she’s there.  There is also the odd cat and dog roaming the land and love to say hello when you visit.

Pogo the cat searching for attention

            My wife and I first visited Woodstock Farm Sanctuary last September when we went on an anniversary road trip through Toronto, Montreal, and New York.  We weren’t originally going to make Woodstock a stop but I knew my wife really loved the work they were doing there and enjoyed Jenny Brown’s book, so I figured we’d make a detour home through NY state.  I really hadn’t had much experience or knowledge about the farm or those running it other than what my wife had told me about Jenny and her book (The Lucky Ones – check it out!) that she had received on her birthday.  Jenny’s story alone is amazing and worth reading about!  Basically, I knew what they did but it wasn’t like I was following everything they did.  FYI, I have since changed my ways.

            Before we even stopped at Woodstock, we actually met Doug at the Toronto Vegetarian Fest just a week or so prior.  After chatting with him, we were even more pumped to visit the farm.

            They are only open on Saturdays and Sundays for visitors and so we arrived bright and early on Saturday.  We wanted to get their right when they opened up so we could avoid any large crowds that might show up.  We did have the place to ourselves for the first few minutes besides a small family, which was perfect.  Plus, we wanted to make sure we had enough time to say hello to all of the animals living on the farm.  It was a brisk fall day on the farm, which was slightly frustrating because I would go from being too warm with a hoodie on to being too cold without one.  Otherwise, with the sun out we really couldn’t complain.

Tim the turkey - who seems to seek out cameras!

            Upon entering the main sanctuary area we were greeted almost immediately with the local residents.  We saw a cute and friendly turkey walking around without a care in the world.  After we made our way to the visitor center to pay for admission to the farm (which included the tour for free), we were able to walk around the area until the tour started.  We walked around the main barn just next to the visitor center and spent time saying hello to Diane the mule and a few of the goats that were chilling just outside the barn.

Diane the mule and totally friendly! She enjoys a good back scratch.

            Soon after we arrived, our tour guide showed up to lead several of us around the grounds.  What I wasn’t expecting was Jenny Brown herself to be leading the tour – a totally cool surprise!  Throughout the walk, Jenny talked to us about the various animals living on the farm and the stories of how they came to be there.  You can really tell the love she has for each and every one of those animals and it’s really quite infectious.  If you told me I’d have an emotional bond to chickens ten years ago, I probably would’ve scoffed.  But you can’t help but think about what it would be like if you were in the situations many of those animals had been in and on a lot of those animals, you see the physical scars left by their former captive lives.

I was quite jealous this guy was getting a nap.

            With each stop on the tour, besides getting to pet and sometimes feed the animals, Jenny also talked about the typical conditions each type of animal would face on normal farms.  It was sobering and just helped to reinforce our decision to go vegan.  If you aren’t vegetarian or vegan before going in, by the time you leave, you might be heavily leaning that way (at the VERY least).  Otherwise, I don’t know what else would convince you that going meat-free is the way to be.

            Along the way we were able to rub the bellies of pigs as they napped, fed a few adorable cows fruit (nothing quite like getting saliva all over your hand!), and watched Scott Sticker, the shelter’s manager, get swarmed and playfully knocked back as he attempted to feed the goats.

"You gonna feed me or what?"

Dylan the cow munching on some fruit.

The second attempt, after Scott, for snacks.

            It seemed as if every stop introduced a cuter animal than the last.

Maribeth - the cutest calf you'll ever meet!

            Once the tour was sadly over, we were able to chat with Jenny and other tour group members by the visitor center.  Despite being busy she still gave time to talk to those interested in carrying on the conversation; although, I’m sure she really needed to refuel after that tour!  After we gushed about how much we loved the farm and the work they did, she smiled and gave a friendly, “Well, come on back and volunteer!”

Jenny Brown & me

            Oh, trust us, we will!  We saw her about a month later at the Chicago Vegan Mania and anyone who can get a chance to hear her talk, go do so!  The work they’re doing to help the lives of farm animals is important and needs more support.  If you get the chance, I highly urge you to volunteer some time at the farm.  Not only would you be having fun getting to work with such sweet and amazing beings but you’ll also get the satisfaction in knowing that you’re actively doing something to benefit animals that had only previously known pain and fear.  Or, at the very least, stay at the wonderful B&B and get a great vegan breakfast after listening to the farm (and wild) animals throughout the night and into the morning.  While the sanctuary is only open on the weekends for most visitors, the B&B is open year-round.  Also, since the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary is funded not only through their on-site visitor store and the admission fees but also donations online, I would also ask that if you can afford even a dollar to give they’re worthy of your hard-earned cash.  The money not only goes toward the animals and their care, which can include food, medicine, and shelter, but also toward trying to rescue and find homes for other animals in need.

I believe what he's trying to say is, "Come on by and visit!"

            I also realize that the title of my blog is titled the broke vegan and a trip to New York may not seem like something a broke person might do.  That may be true but if you get the chance, I strongly urge you to visit.  It’s an experience that will stick with you and it really helped refuel our vegan activism batteries, so to speak.  We saved up for our trip and made it happen and the detour didn’t add much to the cost of our vacation.  The stop in Woodstock itself was relatively affordable (including food, lodging, gas, and souvenirs).  If two broke vegans can do it, you can, too!

            Words cannot do the fun we had justice.  We had an amazing time on our vacation and saw a lot of phenomenal things but Woodstock Farm Sanctuary was probably the most fun I had on the whole trip.  I am definitely going to go back!  What about you all?  Has anyone been there?  What are your thoughts?  Any memorable moments that stood out for you?

            Until next time, keep calm and vegan on!

Dylan is totally keeping calm and vegan on!

You can follow Woodstock Farm Sanctuary online on a number of places including Facebook and Twitter.  You can donate and learn all about the people, the animals, and the work they do on their main website HERE.  You can also follow them on Twitter at @WoodstockFarm

EDIT UPDATE:  The story about Diane's past was apparently incorrect.  Woodstock has informed me that she was actually a plow mule for a bit of time in Idaho and came eastward to New York through several horse traders before finding a home at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary.