Tuesday October 17 (New England Fall Foliage Tour)

I was up smartly today as I was being picked up at 8.40 am. It was a gorgeous day even if it was rather cool in the morning. This tour takes in a 200 mile loop travelling north, west, east and finally south. 

There were a couple of Aussies on the bus that was taking us to the Transportation Centre. As we headed out of Boston we saw the new New Balance HQ, it is shaped like a sneaker! 

The fall colours are beginning to appear just north of Boston and we saw some gorgeous colours as we travelled through the Concord and Lexington area where there are battlefield sites. 

This is the area where Paul Revere was caught and many writers live here including Louise M Alcott and Emerson. North of Concord we turned off onto 119 and passed a prison and prison farm. 

This is apple country as well as pumpkins and further north maple syrup, Cape Cod is all about Cranberries.

We passed some burning bushes, so called because of the bright red colour they take on for one month of the year. We travelled up the Nashoba Valley and passed Lake Nashoba.


We continued to see a mix of colours from green, through various shade of yellow and orange to a beautiful red. The red leaves indicate there is more sugar in the tree.

The colour was late starting this year due to a very warm autumn, a cold snap was all that was needed!

We stopped at Groton for coffee in a lovely little diner in what is very much a rural setting.

I had discovered that the two people sitting behind me were from Leeds (UK), a mother and daughter. We passed a few churches where the bell in the steeple was made by Paul Revere. The driver then tooted his horn at a house, his uncle lives there, lol

 We entered Willard Brook State Forest and stopped at Damon Pond, it was yet another beautiful setting. i got to chatting with a lady named Maureen from LA. 

We made a further two road side stops and during this time I met a couple from Northampton (UK) as well a lady and her daughter from Kent (UK). We then reached the state border of New Hampshire and stopped to record the event, lol, state number 32 ticked off!

At the next Lake stop, Maureen ran out of battery life on her cell phone so I need to send her a few photos form there on! 

We then stopped for lunch at the Woodbound Inn, it was included in the price. It was not too bad although the meat was a bit dry!

We followed some country roads into Jaffry and there were many scarecrows along both sides of the roads. School students make them and they are left out for about two weeks, they were quite a sight! 

It is called "Scarecrows on the Commons" and takes place every year. There was yet another Dunkin Donuts near were we stopped and apparently they were started in Quincy, Boston.

We made yet another lakeside stop, it was so very beautiful. The mix of the different colours creates a sight to behold and the trees that seem to have red leaves on the inside of green leaves are magnificent.

We were approaching the Monadnock mountains and at Peterborough stopped twice, once at lake and once in shopping area where a river was running along the rear of the car park where there were some great reflections in the water

We then drove up into the mountains passing even more pumpkin farms, we even saw some white pumpkins!! we stopped at our destination, Brookdale Fruit Farm and by this time really feeling tired! There was a lot fo produce inside but I only had a quick look round. I did go outside and take a photo of the Pumpkin Monster, lol. 

It was then time to head back to Boston, we were on 95 which was good for a while but traffic then backed up. The other side of the road was backed up with all the people who live in New Hampshire and work in Massachusetts on their way home.

We met some heavy traffic but still made good time and after a city tour dropping people off I was dropped at the last hotel, the nearest one to mine. The driver, Brian, was a very chatty guy who told us hie stories at least twice each, lol, he needs to learn that sometimes it is OK to be quiet! As we toured round I was quite surprised but pleased to see many solar panels in groups or just on their own.

I hailed a cab and told him the name of my hotel and he indicated to get in the back. It did not take me long to realise he was going the wrong way, as we passed a couple of the drop off hotels. When I asked him if why he was going to the Buckminster this way, he was not going there. he thought I said something else and did not double check with me. I told him I was not going to pay for this portion of the trip so he stopped and told me to get out. I was furious by this time as he should at least have taken me back where the trip started. I found another cab and he took me back, probably cost a bit more that it should have as I was further away!! I put in a call to the company and was given a name to ring in the morning.

This incident almost took the gloss off my trip but not quite, lol!

I had dinner in the hotel restaurant where I also tried the local cider, not too bad. I had the Haddock and chips, very well priced and a huge meal that I did not manage to finish! There were four Aussies in the bar and I stopped for a quick chat, we gave each other a hard time about the upcoming rugby test, lol!