Happy Holidays...

We want to wish all of our family and friends (and blog followers) a safe and happy holiday season.

Wrapping up Fall...

Winding our way through Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, we ended our tour of New England in New York visiting Todd's Aunts on Staten Island.  With free electric, cable TV and hot showers, their driveway was one of our favorite camping spots this Fall (not to mention the great company and conversation!).   We even took in a Broadway show "On the Town", with Todd's Aunt Lou.



Shonah playing in the leaves in Bennington, Vermont (a la senior picture)



Shonah's leaf angel in Bennington, Vermont



While visiting Boston, we attended the annual "Head of the Charles Regatta" in Cambridge (Harvard), Massachusetts where more than 11,000 rowers of all ages compete over a two day period 



Boston Commons, the main park in downtown Boston, hosts an annual pumpkin festival where carved pumpkins are lit and displayed on the pond



The Boston Commons Frog Pond with hundreds of floating pumpkins



The infamous Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts



A replica of the Mayflower in Plymouth, Massachusetts

 

From a distance, it is difficult to believe these are all Grey Seals at the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts

 

As you get closer, you can start to see the individual Grey Seals in the colony resting on the beach



This Grey Seal was enjoying the water's edge



We looked, but couldn't find any live crabs along the beach since the Sea Gulls were so efficient at snatching them up, beating them against the rocks and ripping them to pieces



The Nauset Beach lighthouse in Eastham, Massachusetts, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore 



Shonah enjoying a walk along the Atlantic Coast of the Cape Cod National Seashore



We often think of family while travelling...



We often think of family while travelling...

The Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, Rhode Island.  We never knew that the pilgrims actually landed in Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod before settling in Plymouth, Massachusetts



The WaterFire festival takes place 10 times during the year in Providence, Rhode Island



One hundred bon fires are lit along the rivers through downtown and stoked for all to enjoy throughout the evening with live music, food, souvenirs, and street performers



Luminaries in the trees of Providence, Rhode Island during the WaterFire festival



Shonah receiving his fortune from a street performing "statue"



Shonah and Todd enjoying the views from the Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island



Another jumping picture for our friends Scott and Heather



The skyline of New York City with the recently finished One World Trade Center becoming the tallest building in North America



A visit to New York would not be complete without a picture of the Statue of Liberty



Our favorite part of Manhattan was the High Line pedestrian walk way, an elevated railway that has been converted into a two mile oasis of barrier free walking with beautiful vistas above the city streets 



The High Line provides stunning views of some of New York's new architecture



...and some of New York's classic architecture such as the Empire State Building 



Todd, Aunt Lou and Shonah attempting a jumping picture while walking the High Line in New York City



New York City at night from the Staten Island Ferry



A little early for the Christmas Tree, but skaters were still enjoying the ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza, New York

Todd, Aunt Lou, Aunt Lynn and Shonah

For the next couple of months, we'll be residing with family and friends in the Midwest, before heading off to Florida in January for some sun and surf.

Why do leaves change color?

From the US Forest Service website:

How does autumn color happen?
For years, scientists have worked to understand the changes that happen to trees and shrubs in the autumn. Although we don't know all the details, we do know enough to explain the basics and help you to enjoy more fully Nature's multicolored autumn farewell. Three factors influence autumn leaf color-leaf pigments, length of night, and weather, but not quite in the way we think. The timing of color change and leaf fall are primarily regulated by the calendar, that is, the increasing length of night. None of the other environmental influences-temperature, rainfall, food supply, and so on-are as unvarying as the steadily increasing length of night during autumn. As days grow shorter, and nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes in the leaf begin to paint the landscape with Nature's autumn palette.

Where do autumn colors come from?
A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved in autumn color.

Chlorophyll, which gives leaves their basic green color. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to manufacture sugars for their food. Trees in the temperate zones store these sugars for their winter dormant period. Carotenoids, which produce yellow, orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas. Anthocyanins, which give color to such familiar things as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. They are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells.

During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down and leaves appear green. As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanins that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.

Certain colors are characteristic of particular species. Oaks turn red, brown, or russet; hickories, golden bronze; aspen and yellow-poplar, golden yellow; dogwood, purplish red; beech, light tan; and sourwood and black tupelo, crimson. Maples differ species by species-red maple turns brilliant scarlet; sugar maple, orange-red; and black maple, glowing yellow. Striped maple becomes almost colorless. Leaves of some species such as the elms simply shrivel up and fall, exhibiting little color other than drab brown.

The timing of the color change also varies by species. Sourwood in southern forests can become vividly colorful in late summer while all other species are still vigorously green. Oaks put on their colors long after other species have already shed their leaves. These differences in timing among species seem to be genetically inherited, for a particular species at the same latitude will show the same coloration in the cool temperatures of high mountain elevations at about the same time as it does in warmer lowlands.

How does weather affect autumn color?

The amount and brilliance of the colors that develop in any particular autumn season are related to weather conditions that occur before and during the time the chlorophyll in the leaves is dwindling. Temperature and moisture are the main influences.

A succession of warm, sunny days and cool, crisp but not freezing nights seems to bring about the most spectacular color displays. During these days, lots of sugars are produced in the leaf but the cool nights and the gradual closing of veins going into the leaf prevent these sugars from moving out. These conditions-lots of sugar and lots of light-spur production of the brilliant anthocyanin pigments, which tint reds, purples, and crimson. Because carotenoids are always present in leaves, the yellow and gold colors remain fairly constant from year to year.

What triggers leaf fall?

In early autumn, in response to the shortening days and declining intensity of sunlight, leaves begin the processes leading up to their fall. The veins that carry fluids into and out of the leaf gradually close off as a layer of cells forms at the base of each leaf. These clogged veins trap sugars in the leaf and promote production of anthocyanins. Once this separation layer is complete and the connecting tissues are sealed off, the leaf is ready to fall.

What does all this do for the tree?

Winter is a certainty that all vegetation in the temperate zones must face each year. Perennial plants, including trees, must have some sort of protection to survive freezing temperatures and other harsh wintertime influences. Stems, twigs, and buds are equipped to survive extreme cold so that they can reawaken when spring heralds the start of another growing season. Tender leaf tissues, however, would freeze in winter, so plants must either toughen up and protect their leaves or dispose of them.

The evergreens-pines, spruces, cedars, firs, and so on-are able to survive winter because they have toughened up. Their needle-like or scale-like foliage is covered with a heavy wax coating and the fluid inside their cells contains substances that resist freezing. Thus the foliage of evergreens can safely withstand all but the severest winter conditions, such as those in the Arctic. Evergreen needles survive for some years but eventually fall because of old age.

The leaves of broadleaved plants, on the other hand, are tender and vulnerable to damage. These leaves are typically broad and thin and are not protected by any thick coverings. The fluid in cells of these leaves is usually a thin, watery sap that freezes readily. This means that the cells could not survive winter where temperatures fall below freezing. Tissues unable to overwinter must be sealed off and shed to ensure the plant's continued survival. Thus leaf fall precedes each winter in the temperate zones.



Our EarthRoamer traveling the back roads of Vermont



The view through our windshield in Vermont



Camping in the Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont



Shonah atop one of many waterfalls during our hike in the Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont

 

Shonah crossing the brook in Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont



Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont



Taftsville Covered Bridge in Woodstock, Vermont



Quechee, Vermont is known for their annual hot air balloon festival.  While we weren't there for the festival, locals still take to the skies most weekends in the Fall.



Of the 3 balloons launching on this day, this was our favorite



Now that's a big flame...



Ready for launch...



Of course they had to check out the EarthRoamer from above...



Can you imagine the views?



The Quechee Gorge in Quechee, Vermont is known as the "Grand Canyon of New England"



The view behind the Killington Grand Hotel in Killington, Vermont



The view from the top of the Killington Ski Resort



Todd getting in some mountain biking in Killington, Vermont