Fall color and thoughts of Nate

Another sunny, warm day makes it 3 in a row! Even better, the leaves are changing color almost before our eyes. Saturday I commented on the muted colors of the leaves. Yesterday we rode through higher elevations in the southern Green Mountains where many trees were completely bare of leaves.

Today - red! yellow! orange!

A day like today brings a smile to my face. Three days in a row, and all is right with the world.

Sunshine and bright blue skies.
Time to spend with Mike - work can wait another couple of days!
Curvy, hilly roads bordered with brightly colored forests and the views of mountains.
Changing seasons which remind me that every day is precious and meant to be savored.

We traveled on some of our son Nate's favorite roads today. He loves these quiet paved roads because of the hills and the lack of traffic - perfect both for riding his BMW or traveling by longboard. Nate's in Colorado and hasn't been home this summer, but today we imagine he's with us, enjoying flying along the back roads near home that we know so well.

Riding a motorcycle can be a quiet, solitary event. As Mike's pillion rider, it's an experience shared with a point toward a hawk circling on the updrafts or a quick hug to share the moment. My mind often wanders while we're out on the BMW, and this afternoon I was smiling thinking how much Nate loves Vermont.

Nate, this one's for you.

Ride into Massachusetts

Another sunny, warm day and the Patriots play the Jets at 4pm - let's go for a ride! You can ride along witih us!

We headed out on some of our favorite back roads, winding our way through Arlington and Shaftsbury to Bennington. There's always something new to see, even when we're on roads we've driven, bicycled, run, and ridden the BMW on hundreds of times.

Houses and cars are few and far between on these roads, which makes for fun riding. Once in Bennington, we took Route 9 west toward Woodford, where we joined a line of cars and motorcycles winding our way over the Green Mountains on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.

When we turned south onto Route 100, we left the tourists behind and once again had the road to ourselves. We love to see the Searsburg wind farm and today pulled over to the side of the road so we could get a better look.

Turning east, we ended up in North Adams, MA. Over the past few years this small city has reinvented itself from a GE mill town into more of an arts community, anchored by MASS MoCA contemporary arts center. It was a perfect time to stop for lunch and spend a few minutes looking around town.

Vermont Route 7 heading north rolls through beautiful countryside, which in early October means pumpkins and apples!

Dry leaves falling from the trees danced across the road in front of us, we spotted flocks of geese heading south, and searched the hillsides for spots of the bright red and yellow Fall leaves. We live in Manchester which promotes itself as the #1 Fall Foliage town in Vermont. After our rides this weekend, I have to agree!