New England - Day 6

Color, color, color. We have had such a colorful day. Someone said that the state of New York was pretty, that Vermont was even better and today in New Hampshire was best of all. Even the ranger at one of our stops on the Kancamaugus Trail said we had picked a good week to look at the leaves. We had some drizzle, but they have told us over and over again that colors are brighter on cloudy days. Someone said they always thought the New England fall pictures were painted. "I'll believe them now," she said. Another lady has tried for 31 years to get her husband to take her to Duluth for the fall colors. She said, "He's off the hook now." There were the dark green of the pines, the lighter green of trees that hadn't quite started to turn, and then the greater percentage that had turned were in all shades of yellow, orange, red and even a raspberry color.

Other highlights were the Old Brick Store, oldest continuously-operating general store in America with a covered bridge behind it that dates back to 1823 and Castle in the Clouds overlooking Winipisaukee, largest lake in the state with hundreds of islands. One of the men, in the home construction business, was startled to see the advanced plumbing that had been put into the house in 1912. The needle showers were especially interesting.

Today we have traveled from a high elevation of 3,000 feet on the Kancamaugus Trail to sea level tonight, as our hotel is right on the Atlantic Ocean in York Beach, Maine. - Laurel Johnson, Tour Director