Following the Fall

The view from Mt Philo Road

We are at the end of the Fall now. This weekend the trees that shone red last week have faded to a burnished gold.

Yet the views are still lovely, and the small towns nestling in the mountains, still celebrate this season.

Wherever we go, beautiful churches stand amongst the golden trees.

this is the Congregational Church at Charlotte

And this is the view of Lake Champlain from the church

One of our best discoveries of being here has been geocaching (thank you, Susanmarie and Sofia!). It is a great way to get the family out into places you might not find by yourself. Ask my girls if they would like to spend two hours hiking, climbing up muddy slopes and burrowing in the undergrowth, and they'd act like you'd asked them to eat poisonous spiders. Ask them if they'd like to go geocaching and they're already pulling on their boots or walking shoes before you finish the sentence.

These are the Shelburne Falls. What makes them stunning is that the river bed is a single piece of rock, worn by the water.

Then we head off through the forest in search of our first treasure

There's always the excitement of what you might find. We always try to leave something with a kiwi flavour

 

Then off into deep woods to find a second treasure.

Finding treasure, no matter how small, always feels like a celebration.

Speaking of celebrations, we are gearing up for Halloween. The girls are planning at least a full week of Halloween activities (including a trip to a Haunted Wood!). Here is a sneak preview of one costume....

But there has been one note of sadness: today we said farewell to Grandma and Grandad as they set off on the long trip home.

Safe travels - we will miss you! Thank you for taking this long journey to visit us. We hope you will carry home happy memories of Fall in Vermont. And you left at the right time - the temperatures are dropping tonight.