It's time to get packed again!

When I was a child growing up in sunny Florida, my mother had a family calendar hung on the back of the kitchen door. I could hardly wait for her to turn the page to October each year because the photograph on the top of that page of the calendar was always spectacular. The October photograph featured trees bathed in colors of orange, red, brown and green. It looked to me like an artist had spilled his paints all over the typically-green trees in the photo. As I grew older I learned that those pictures were of sites in far-away places like Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, or Massachusetts. I wanted more than anything to see those sights with my own eyes, but it was not until I was grown, had raised a family, and left our youngest child at college that Olen and I were able to take that delightful fall trip.

I am not ashamed to admit that this year will make our ninth trip to New England in the fall. We don’t go there to visit relatives. We don’t go to accomplish any great feats, or to expand our minds with new sights. We go to celebrate the fall, which in my opinion is the most beautiful season of the year. There is something so special about driving down a country road under a canopy of red and yellow leaves with the early-morning dew still sparkling in the sunlight.
Over the years we have taken all the photographs…hiked all the “easy” hikes…gone to all of the “must-see” spots. But each trip gives us some special memory…some special event or sight we had missed in the past... some reason to return once again.

I know I sound like I am making excuses, and I am probably doing just that. However, we leave Sunday afternoon (Oct. 5) and are as excited about this trip as we were on our first trip to the area in 1994. We are going with our dear friends, Donna Jo and Jack. They have been with us to this area in the fall several times, and in the past we have shared this experience with others we love: E.R. and Lucy, Olen’s parents, our children and grandchildren.

This journey is for relaxation and pure pleasure, so blog entrees may be sporadic at best.

Our plans are to stay one week in the Berkshire area of Massachusetts, taking day-trips to whatever area suits our fancy on each particular day. Then we will spend another week in an area near Stowe, Vermont and take day-trips in that area. It won’t be as exciting a trip as Israel or Greece, but if you want to read along you are welcome to do so. Mainly, the reason we plan to blog this trip is to stay in touch with our family and let our children know how we are spending their inheritance!

So, wheels up Sunday afternoon! I am checking all of the fall foliage reports from the New England area, and it looks like we may have timed our trip perfectly. Pray for a safe and relaxing trip.