Tossing Around Ideas for VT Fall Foliage Meetup - 10/4/12!!!

[ctyanky]

Hi everyone! It's around this time of year I begin planning our annual Vermont Fall Foliage Meetup/Reunion. Last year unfortunately fizzled.... Oh well. As I have said before, there's always next year!

So, I have a GREAT idea! This year the Peacham Fall Foliage Festival is being held about a week later than usual, Thursday, October 4, 2012. I've missed this event for many years either through late timing of my VT fall vacation or as in the last two years, DRIVING RAIN STORMS! Here is the link which describes the events for the day:

http://www.peacham.net/fallfoliageindex.php

Carol said "I'm in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" So, I have my first participant!!!!!

We could meet in the graveyard, yes - sounds strange, but the parking up there is easy, plus the view at the rear of the graveyard is breathtaking! You can come in through Groton or by way of route 2 to Macks Mountain Road. In 2009, I took Al Utzig to the graveyard, and he took a beautiful photo of a row of maples at the edge of the graveyard which is now in his very excellent website. The historic stones have some old inscriptions on them which are quite interesting. I think this would be a perfect place to start! (Not end up.... ) For those of us arriving early, 9:30 a.m., we will go to the craft fair, farmer's market and library book sale. All of which are highly recommended. The town of Peacham is picture-perfect and will not disappoint! We would have lunch at the elementary school and it is supposedly excellent!

From there, we will do our usual back roads drive with bm, our VT moderator, and Phil, the King of the Back Roads, at the healm. In 2009, bm took me (with Al in tow somewhere behind us ) through some amazing back roads in Peacham, Danville and Barnet.

Here is the link from bm from 2009:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2135

For those of you who don't have time to scan the link the roads that were of the "WOW WOW WOW" type were:

Harvey's Mountain Overlook - Barnet Center Road
Cloud Brook Road
Garland Hill Road
Swett Road
Trestle Road
and more!

There is a scenic that is worth photographing in Peacham of the church steeple in town but I think Andy has the directions in his pdf. That would be a nice place to start the back roads tour.

I hope you all can come to our annual Vermont Fall Foliage Meetup/Reunion. It's great to meet old and new forum members and the day would be full of fun and adventure with Phil at the helm! I welcome all thoughts and recommendations over the coming months and summer and if there is enough interest, I will make this a sticky!

SAVE THE DATE - 2012 ANNUAL SCENES OF VERMONT FALL FOLIAGE REUNION/MEETUP - PEACHAM, VT - 10/4/2012!!!!

[ctyanky]

Hi mmvt: Hope you can make it. If not, we'll see you in Killington whenever it works best for you! Carol said she would come down to Killington with her hubby as well! But I know you would go crazy with your camera on some of the back roads that bm took us on in the post above!

Plus we can stop at the Creamery in Danville for dessert. The maple cream pie is AMAZING!

[WXMAN76]

Hello All,

Well nice to see a meet in the middle of the week. That works best for me. I never foliage peek on the weekend. Too many pesky tourists, and cameras have yet to come equipped with people filters. I just hope meeting in the cemetery isn't a GRAVE omen. Although at the end of the day at least we know we can REST IN PEACE. Just be sure to get there early, I hear the lines are long. People are DYING to get in there!

What a weird winter. Looks like first week in march may be kind of wintery then the warmth returns. Kind of concerned, with warm dry ground it could turn the summer hot and dry. with below normal snowpack may not be good for trees. Will have to wait and see! Maple syruping down here isn't as good as usual, too early and too warm.

[ctyanky]

MMVT: I would NEVER miss an opportunity for another feast at your Vermont house! Last fall was totally amazing! You both outdid yourselves. That pulled pork hit the spot and there was so much food! I know Phil keeps talking about that fine day. It was unfortunate that the day was not great weather-wise for the Killington lift ride, but I'm sure it will be fine this year.

WXMAN: We can always count on you for your great sense of humor! I hope you can meet up with us in Peacham. It's always nice to meet new members who contribute regularly to this foliage forum. We also love your weather expertise!

Everyone: It looks like a series of meetups in VT is in the works!

On Saturday, September 29th, some of us are planning to meet in Burke for their 25th anniversary of their fall foliage festival. I've never been and Carol said I would love it so off I go! Phil will meet me there and bm will go too. Just recently, maybe this summer, they started offering ski lift rides up the mountain and I'm very excited to mark off another lift ride in Vermont. Before the foliage season commences, I will update the sticky for all the gondola, tram and lift rides offered during the foliage season and add Burke Mountain to the list.

Here are the two links, I hope you all can join us for this festival and ride up the mountain, there is also an auto road but I don't want to do that again; it was too scary for me two years ago! Of course, Phil was driving and I assume he was taking some liberty in trying to scare the living daylights out of me!

http://www.burkevermont.com/fall-foliage-festival.php
http://www.skiburke.com/the-mountain/su ... ift-rides/

[deaner1971]

I love the idea of getting together with all of you. Unfortunately, my work is very much linked to fiscal quarters so the first few days of October are a bit of an issue. Add to that, the fact that my anniversary is October 1st and I'll face both career and personal perils with trying to sneak off that particular weekend. Poor planning on my part with choosing both a career and a wedding date that conflict with my pursuit of New England arborial glories.

I have been combining anniversaries and Vermont by bringing along Mrs. Even Dean but she won't travel with the new little one about (not that I blame her).

I am sure that the calendar will better align one year soon.

[WXMAN76]

burke is a quiet and picturesque place. Color advances a good week ahead of St. J. Let's not hope the Burke is a HOLLOW victory this year. The general store is a place of beaty. You can often find real GENERALS for sale there. Many people often enjoy the cow plop bingo, an old fun game. Many people refer to the game as CRAPPY, Hopefully we don;'t end up with a constipated cow becuase then, SHE COULDN"T GIVE A S*&T who wins. Perhaps you can enjoy the view from Burke MTN.
Problem is the trip is all DOWNHILL from there.

My Spies up north tell me that the last weekend in September and first week in October the moose will be going on vacation. I Hear they have a resort on Moose MTN in Hanover NH! LOL

[ctyanky]

Even Dean: I'm sure one year you will be able to meet up with us foliage fanatics! No doubt, traveling with an infant and toddler is difficult. I hope we get to meet you and Mrs. Even Dean some autumn in Vermont! Maybe you can try to join us this summer for one of our pre-season meetups!

MMVT and WXMAN: Moose you say? What's that? I've turned my quest to Big Foot. Probably will see him before a moose ever crosses my path.....

CAROL: Just want to make sure you are still meeting us in Peacham on Thursday, October 4th for the third meetup? We'll probably be in Killington before that for the 2nd meetup.

Geezum! Any thoughts for a 4th???

[Utah Baker]

Sounds like a blast, i would love to meet up with ya'll, but we'll have to wait and see. Right now I'm biting my nails over what airline prices might be this year, yikes. I would be very sad to miss my trip to Vermont two years in a row!

[deaner1971]

I am thinking I need to spare some time for a summer trip one of these years. There are more hatches going off on the Battenkill then and it has been forever since I photographed green Green Mountains.

Only downside: morning light is even earlier!

[ctyanky]

EVEN DEAN: Summer is great time in Vermont. We've had several meetups for SOV members and it is sooooo beautiful in the mountains. Maybe by summer, the baby will be easy enough to tote around in a back pack!

One summer, ixl (Charles) took us on a blueberry picking safari in southern VT at the end of a day trip and it was wonderful. A fun thing to do with the family for sure. The lakes and reservoirs are gorgeous up there! Beforehand, we took the Mt. Snow gondola up and the views of Somerset Reservoir were incredible. Afterwords, we had a picnic off of Kelly Stand Road at Grout Pond.

Another time we took the Mt. Equinox toll road (way scary) and we all hiked to the overlook. Lots of flies though.

Just thinking of all of our past adventures in summer, makes me want to skip spring and mud season! Although, sugaring is taking place now and soon we'll be up for the festivals, and the mud.....

[pwt54]

I haven't bothered to plan my foliage tours because Ctyanky has already done that for me. Last week was Bike Week and Spring Break, so between the loud bikes and colorful 'Beach Wildlife" I haven't been able to concentrate on anything. 2 weeks from today I will be heading home with way too many seashells. After 2 weeks of recovery time, I can start thinking about fall foliage.

[Susan2004]

Too early for us again, sorry. We won't arrive until the 5th, and probably not be up for doing much of anything until the 6th. Maybe someday we'll time it right.

[Andy]

WXMAN: "cameras have yet to come equipped with people filters" - You need to get a copy of Photoshop CS5, or CS6 Beta -- you just lasso those folks and "content-aware" 'em out!

Dean: Its Vermont and its Photography! You just have to get your priorities sorted out . My anniversary (28 years this year) is Oct 6 (funny, its that same day every year, too). I have called my wife from Vermont at least 3 times in the last decade to wish her a happy anniversary. Wouldn't work if I did it EVERY year, but wives can be very forgiving. But probably not the first year of the little one .

MMVT: I have, unfortunately, committed to being a "local guide" for a pro photographer who is doing a workshop in the Michigan U.P. for the first week of October. But from what I hear about you guys' culinary talents, I am TEMPTED to renege and come to VT, just for the get-together. Maybe a rain check?

UTAH: I have good news for you. JETBLUE has a new "Discount flying program." Its a little confusing at first, but what you do is book a flight where Burlington is about 1/2 way between, then you just sit back and wait for either the pilot, the co-pilot, or one of the flight attendants to have a breakdown. They then land in BVT, AND, as an added bonus, give you credit for 2 x the flight cost!

PHIL: What is it about those bicycles that make so much noise??

[Utah Baker]

Andy, Thanks, but no thanks! You know I have a son named Andy and he has the same "wicked" sense of humor. I am kicking myself for not jumping on a flight Delta had a couple of weeks ago to Manchester,NH, for 325. It now up around 600! But I haven't given up yet. Hope springs eternal, right?

[ctyanky]

Hi everyone: We are still planning on meeting in Peacham for their Fall Foliage Festival on 10/4/12. I'm pretty excited as I am either driving up to VT to get there in a deluge of rain and decided to forego the event, or it is the end of September and I have missed it by a day or too. So let's hope for good weather and a great time meeting old and new SOV Forum members.

Mark your calendars! We're getting close!