Leaf Peeping

It is called “leaf peeping” – the term for people viewing and photographing fall foliage that changes colors with the seasons, especially in New England. Last fall, my husband and I did just that – we became leaf peepers. Turns out, there is quite an industry for tracking and anticipating the best time of the year to view the beautiful fall colors in the northeastern United States. We learned that statistically, the best time of the year is between the last week of September and the first two weeks of October, sooner in the higher latitudes and later in the lower.

Aged farmhouse against fall colors

 

Our itinerary was to fly to Boston for a few days of sightseeing, drive north through New Hampshire and stay in Vermont for the better part of a week, and then drive back to Boston to fly home to the San Francisco Bay Area. We were motivated by early American history, architecture, and the legendary fall colors. Plus, I was on a quest to discover the family farm, where my grandparents, Lionel and Nina, spent three years in the early 1900s. They packed up and left their home in Rialto, California and ran the farm when two of grandpa’s younger brothers volunteered for World War I. According to my grandparents, these were some of the happiest years of their lives. They were their own bosses, and could sleep as late as they wanted (which was probably 6:00 AM)! I wanted to find out more about the area, the farm, and some of my relatives still living in the area.

Copse of trees with fence

I don’t know what the odds were, but we saw the leaves at their peak – especially in Vermont. The hills really do look like a tapestry of gold, red, orange, bronze, and green. The weather was warm and temperate during the day, and had a nice, crisp chill at night. Perfect conditions for beautiful leaves and the sport of leaf peeping.



Tapestry of color along historic Vermont 100