Fall Colors

It's a good time of year to be traveling in the southeastern and midwestern states.  Although maybe not the best year for fall colors, we have had opportunities at various times to view some of nature's splendid displays.  The weather was overcast and rainy 2 or 3 days, but there were also days of crisp, cloudless mornings with deep blue skies and warm sunshine in the afternoons.  Today is one of those sunny days.

We are driving from Bedford, Pennsylvania, to Bowling Green, Ohio.  In our leisurely mode of travel we don't get a very early start in the mornings.  In the old days a trip of this distance might not have taken all day and we could have stopped somewhere along the way for a walk in the woods.  But as long as this day is going to be spent on the road, it's uplifting to see forested mountains and hillsides along the way displaying the bright orange, yellow and red fall colors.

The day before yesterday when we were still in Virginia we had the pleasure of sharing an outing with our friends, the Marshall's, at Prince William Forest Park.  It was cool and mostly overcast; a good day for hiking but hard to get any pictures that captured the true beauty of the autumn woods.

We drove 2 cars so that we could do a shuttle and then be able to trek further along the Occoquan River as it meanders through the park.  I have done quite a few hikes in this park over the years but never knew that there was a lake there.  We followed the South Ridge Trail, finding a spot in view of the lake where we ate lunch, before continuing the rest of the way to the parking lot where we had left a car.  A good time was had by all.