Some overall impressions from our trip...

[Rockwall Tim]

1. How blessed we were to have 4 straight sunny days! Of course, it was weird to experience 80 degree temps in October in Vermont.

2. I agree with others who've commented on the unpredictability of this year's foliage. Some traditionally good places were either past peak or almost totally green. The foliage in the southern half of the state seemed to explode overnight last Sunday. It was so good to see red trees after NOT seeing them last year.

3. We made a point to visit Wilmington, a town which took a major hit from the floods. Could not believe the job done by the workers to repair Route 9. It was amazing. On the front of the Wilmington Police Dep't. building, someone had taken a Sharpie and marked the height of the 1938 flood. Then, about 3 inches above that, they marked the 2011 flood. The marks were about 5 feet above the sidewalk level.

4. While there are well-known and popular foliage roads in Vermont, I never cease to be amazed at what can await a traveler who randomly takes a dirt-road detour just to see what might be found. It seems there is hidden treasure everywhere! It tends to add a frustration element to leaf-peeping. The amount of daylight available means that if you loiter too long somewhere, you'll find yourself in the dark long before seeing everything you wanted to see that day. I would find a gem of a back road that had back roads branching from it that demanded checking out...only to shrug and leave the exploring for another day, another year. Vermont, a small state, will nevertheless always have plenty of places just waiting for the curious to explore.

5. While my wife and sister-in-law shopped in the general stores, I amused myself by chatting with other men in the same "predicament" (having been deserted by our wives). It's always fun to find out where they are from and how many times they've been to Vermont. In Weston's Vermont Country Store, I had a fascinating conversation with a gentleman in his 80's who was a retired surgeon from California. He met his wife when she was a patient at a Burlington hospital. Across the street at the Weston Village Store, I met a family from England. I've decided among all the people who travel to Vermont for the foliage, there is not a single scoundrel. They are all salt-of-the-earth folk who are friendly, polite, and trustworthy.

[Rockwall Tim]

Carol: I went to your website and am in total awe of your photography talent. My hobby is aviation photography...and if I can get one-tenth as good as you with my hobby, I'll be extremely satisfied! What masterful work!

[pwt54]

This old picture-taker was so impressed with your photos I decided to use my canon rebel to take photos of Stowe last week. The first few photos looked terrible. I checked my settings and they were all screwed up. It seems that the camera gnomes had snuck into my house while I was in Florida and changed all the setting. I wonder if decon makes gnome traps ? After I changed the setting my photos looked better. But boy am I rusty.

[ctyanky]

Tim: I enjoyed your personal reflections. I meet a lot of Texans in Vermont and they thoroughly love Vermont. I think Texans are some of Vermont's biggest cheerleaders. They seem so warm and friendly when I have met them there and they can't stop praising the beauty of the state and its people.

It's been just under one week that I returned but it seems like longer. I have to keep looking at my photos and Vermont "goodies" scattered about the house and photos of those on the forum to remind myself of the splendor I enjoyed this season of the foliage and the friends I have up there.

I'm fortunate to live just under two hours away and I can get up there anytime I want. But foliage season is special and it is so short. I hope to get up there during stick season if not sooner, and again in winter, to refresh my soul!!!!