We don't get a lot of Autumn here in Bakersfield. At 7:30 on a sunny Saturday morning, it's 62 degrees outside, with a predicted high of 86. The leaves on our trees are stubbornly green, and will stay that way for another month or longer.
If we want to see fall colors, we have to search them out. And since travel is one of my favorite things, I have some fabulous fall pics to share from previous journies.
This one is me, at Avila Barn in San Luis Obispo, CA. You can tell it's an old picture ... I'm young, I'm thin, I have a tan, and I have shoulder length red hair. It's been at least 6 or 8 years since any of those terms described me.
In 2002, I spoke at a literacy conference in Trumbull County, Ohio, and I stayed in a lovely country inn in Amish country. The scenery was stunning everywhere I looked, but all of the local people kept telling me I had missed the best leaves and colors.
This tree is in front of my hotel, the Red Maple Inn, in Burton, OH. It's located in Geauga County, the fourth largest Amish community in the world.
My friend Cheryl was kind enough to drive me around to see the sites and to visit the villages and small towns, including Middlefield and Mesopotamia. The Amish farmland was beautiful and I was suprised to see that many of the fenceposts along the pastures were topped with pumpkins.
More surprising, still, was the fact that many non-Amish families still had their carved Jack O' Lanterns on their front porches, nearly a month after Halloween. Cheryl explained to me that the cold autumn air kept them fresh, and that most homes kept them on display until they froze. Here in my warm part of California, Jack O' Lanterns begin to mold within 2 to 3 days of being carved, so they have to be thrown out right away.
This is the End Of The Commons General Store, in Mesopotamia, OH, established in 1840. It serves the local Amish community, as well as the non-Amish and many tourists. I bought a lot of local goodies here.
This is the back lawn at the hotel, and the buildings are an Amish home. My view faced east, and the sunrises were spectacular through the morning mist. This is the view from my balcony.
Right next door to the hotel is the Century Village Museum, one of those parks filled with historic buildings and artifacts. The cabin, below, was inside the park, right over the fence from the "front yard" of the hotel.
