The Colors of Fall

We went to Vermont over the weekend for some relaxation and leaf peeping. And peep we did. S and his family have had a place at Stratton Mountain for many years, so that was our destination, and because they have been going there for so long, S knew all the fun twisting turning back roads. I thought I might get whiplash from looking from side to side. With every curve in the road, we cam upon another breathtaking vista of fall's color pallet. Some of the roads we drove on, I swore were driveways, driveways to secret views of fire reds and warm oranges. S called it the "bowl of fruit loops effect" - I have never had fruit loops. Anyhow, the colors really were amazing. Mother Nature sure is SOME artist!

We pulled over to take this photo.

Along the way, we came across an old cemetery. Is it morbid to be so fascinated by the old tombstones? Many of those buried here were Revolutionary War soldiers, and the carvings were so ornate. IT was across the road from an old church that you would see in a post card.

This is the church with the foliage and the power lines...

The sky was so blue, it looked like a movie set..

Can you see the ornate carvings?

So after we were finished playing the old cemetery, We headed into Manchester, which, on a picture perfect October afternoon, was a mad house, packed to the gills with leaf peepers and shoppers. We stopped for lunch and got back on the road up to Stratton, about 30 minutes from Manchester.

Once up at the mountain, we unpacked and got back into the car to go into the Stratton Mountain Ski village. We came upon more people, but the pace was slower, there was live music on one of the "Streets" - the sun was shining and there was allot of laughter and happiness.

There is the clock tower.

At the actual mountain - where the skiing (not by me) goes on - there were gondola rides and a micro beer festival and more live music.

S's folks enjoying the sun and a beer.

After this, we went back to the house and cooked a yummy dinner of grilled salmon, brown rice and grilled zucchini - sorry there are no photos of that - was too busy cooking and eating.

I was so thankful to have a long weekend, after all the beauty and relaxation, I needed rest. :) But now, it is back to reality. Back to the everyday things like laundry and grocery shopping. It does, however, help to have a backup of nice memories to lean on. Much like a computer sometimes leans on its backed up files to work. The smell of the fresh fall air and the colors are floating around in my head.

Now I need to plan my next get-away...Any suggestions?