Fall in New England

Everyone should make this trip at least once in a lifetime. There's nothing like seeing the turning leaves in the New England area.

We're back. Got home early last evening. We headed straight to Edmond to deliver Sierra's seventh-birthday gift. We had picked up a cute pair of pajamas and a polartech vest in New Hampshire for her. Today, October 14, is her seventh birthday, but we have an OU football game at 11:30 a.m. (kickoff time, which means we leave for the stadium about two hours prior). After the game, Paul heads for east TX for a four-day meeting in Linden. We knew we had no time today to go to Edmond.

Our trip was wonderful. We flew to Manchester NH on Sunday and drove north to the White Mountains to the Twin Mountain KOA. We had rented a Kottage, not a Kabin and not the K-Lodge. The Kottage has a small refrigerator and most important has an in-house bathroom, complete with shower. We took our bedding and towels and coffeepot and early the next morning made a trip to Wal-Mart to fill in what we needed and didn't want to buy beforehand. Made our little Kottage our home for five days. We built a campfire a couple of nights and sat out under the stars wrapped up in afghans and warming ourselves around the fire. FUN!

Tuesday we drove through New Hampshire, made a big circle around in an area we knew to be the prettiest. It's definitely a crap-shoot whether you hit the foliage just right or not. We were a tad disappointed because the leaves were just a little dull, not brilliant. The area had had an overabundance of rain, so one forecast was that this would be the best year in many. A different forecast was that there would be mold and the foliage would not be good. The yellows and golds were alive and brilliant, but the reds were already brown or a dull red. It was still beautiful and beat anything we would ever hope to see in our area.

Wednesday we drove over into Vermont and made a big circle through the Green Mountain area. It was cold and blustery and a true Autumn day. The foliage there was also beautiful and the further south we went, the prettier it got.

When we had called ahead and rented a car, Paul had asked for one with Sirius radio. When we picked up the car, they didn't have one the size we ordered with Sirius radio, so they upgraded us to a small SUV with a sunroof. Oh, the serendipities of life!! We kept the heater on our feet and kept the sunroof open for the cool air and the smells of autumn. Loved it! And, the SUV color was OU crimson red. Could it have been any better? ;-)

On Thursday we drove over into Maine and found the prettiest scenery of all. Last time we went into Maine there wasn't much there. This year the trees were magnificent. Maine has a lot of evergreens and those blended with all the colors made a spectacular view.

Tuesday while we were making our big circle through New Hampshire and were heading back to the KOA we got tied up in traffic and snailed through a couple of miles at zero miles an hour through the mountains. When we got up to what was causing the slow-down, it was very sobering to see a motorcycle in the middle of the road crushed to pieces. It was a two motorcycle and a one car accident. There was at least one casualty, perhaps two. New Hampshire doesn't have a helmet law, and a lot of cyclists don't wear helmets unless they have to. Being cycle riders, we observed the scene carefully and probably felt it a little more than a typical rubberneck. Very sobering. Took any irritation about the delay quickly away.

Friday the 13th we headed home. Took us all day. The view from the airplane was absolutely spectacular. Ranges of mountains full of color. Our flight path was over the northern USA and maybe part of Canada. Got to see our first snow on the ground. We now feel like we've ushered in 2006 autumn in fine fashion.

This is the first time I've been gone a full week from work since I started with Harcourt two years ago. I called in at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning and answered questions and got an update on what was happening. They did great without me and got quite caught up on things. What a relief. Yeah!! I've got a great team of ten who are now well trained and trustworthy and do a great job. Life is good!

That's our update on our fall trip. Tony, hope you had a great birthday and got our card. We're eager to hear about your trip to CA. Soon?

I fly to Austin Monday evening, but just for the day on Tuesday.
We're staying caught up via your blogs and e-mails. Keep 'em coming.
MB