For the last several years Brede and I have attempted to catch the gorgeous New England fall foliage up in New Hampshire and Vermont (otherwise know as "leaf peeping" in New England vernacular). We've always timed our trips a bit too late missing the elusive "peak" color burst. Don't get me wrong, the tail end of color has still been absolutely beautiful but staring at mostly bare trees and gorgeous leaves on the ground we've always wondered what would it be like to catch everything turning at once?
This year we had two sets of grandparents visiting us in early October. Grandpa Bob and Nana Terri one weekend and Grandpa Mark the next weekend. It was the perfect excuse to set out once again on a "leaf peeping" adventure.
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| We bought this pin in a gift store in VT. It's a "leaf peeper" get it - ha, ha. It was just so stupid I couldn't resist |
We realized at our little Mazda 3 wasn't going to cut it with three adults and all the baby gear so we rented a Subaru Forester and packed it to the brim with luggage. Side note - one of the biggest surprises of parenthood is just how much "stuff" is required for baby. Iylah is 13lbs but her "stuff" probably weighs at least 50lbs and I'm not even kidding... The days of quick and easy packing are over (sigh)
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| The rental Subaru packed to the brim |
After a few hours of driving the countryside began to get pretty gorgeous. We passed through Franconia Notch in NH just as the sun was starting to set.
Shortly after Franconia notch we rounded the corner and came upon a hillside exploding with fall color. The hill was literally bright red from all of the turning Maple trees. At that moment I knew we'd finally found it - we had hit the peak! I was so excited that my exclamations of "wow - check out that hill side... ohhh...look over there...etc." actually woke Iylah up from her nap!
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| Yes, these hills are really that red (not just a camera setting) - check out the white 55mph sign against the hillside |
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| The hills ablaze - fall foliage against the setting sun |
We arrived at our final destination the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville, VT in the dark. It was so fun to wake up the next morning to such a beautiful new landscape. We'd hit a goldmine - it was classic Vermont: farm animals, a barn with grain silo, mooing cows and lush fields overlooking the fall foliage. We couldn't have asked for a prettier setting to spend the fall weekend.
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| Iylah and I out and about exploring |
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| Posing by the barn with Nana Terri and Grandpa Bob |
I was particularly excited to show Iylah all the farm animals on the Inn's property. We've been singing "Old MacDonald" song and I kind of feel like a fool when I make all the animal noises and Iylah has absolutely no idea what I'm talking about because she's never actually seen a horse, donkey, goat, pig, etc. These things exist... I swear!!
The barn had the cutest little donkey. Unfortunately, Iylah was not interested in the donkey or really any of the animals but Grandpa Bob had some fun giving the little donkey some lovin' pets
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| Scratch your little ears |
We spent the entire morning outside just exploring the Inn's spectacular grounds. Yes these photos are real. Vermont really does look like a Cabot cheese or Ben and Jerry's commercial.
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| Lush green pastures with cows. The cows were really loud and mooed all morning! |
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| Nana Terri & Grandpa Bob - walking the grounds and soaking up the fall... |
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| The hill across the road - part of the network of Northern Kingdom trails |
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| Self portrait of Brede and I on the star gazing hill |
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| Building where we stayed - isn't this cute? |
Not only were the pasture lands lush and green but the Vermont farm was brimming with flowers. Brede loves to take photographs of flowers so I'll leave you with a few pictures that he snapped on the Inn's grounds. Don't you think these almost look fake???
Happy fall foliage!!!
P.S. - Stay tuned. More spectacular fall photos of Vermont to come...
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