The Quest for Color

OK...I am finally posting a recap of this last weekend. It has taken some time to go through all of the pictures that we took on our weekend quest. Our expedition began in Virginia, continued through the Western Maryland towns of Cumberland and Frostburg, then into West Virginia, and returned again to Virginia through Shenandoah National Park. We traveled by car, train, and foot in search of the brilliant colors of fall. The leaves were still predominantly green, but we were searching for the elusive yellows and reds of autumn. I found some leaves with great coloration while we were waiting to board the train so I picked several and made a rose for Jill out of them. I think she was pretty impressed that I could make a fairly decent representation of a rose bud from autumn leaves. We rode the Scenic Railroad from Cumberland, MD to Frostburg, MD through some very pretty mountain passes. The train has open compartments between the cars that you are able to stand in and get the full experience (and better pictures than through the dirty windows). The amount of suet that rained on us from the locomotive was pretty impressive. We kept having to brush ourselves off after each time that we poked out heads out the door for a look. There is also a biking/walking trail that stretches from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. The path links the Allegheny Trail with the C&O Canal Tow Path Trail by following the Scenic Railroad train tracks. We had a nice lunch in Frostburg at a little cafe during our hour and a half layover. Then we boarded the train again back to Cumberland. The town of Cumberland has a lot of charm with all of its churches and downtown shopping district. We walked around town as the sun was setting, looking at all the little shops; from the windows. It was early in the evening but everything except the restaurants and the dollar store were closed. We found a building in town that I think is experiencing some strong steeple envy. Or maybe they are building their own version of the stairway to heaven. Here are the rest of the pictures we took of the train ride and Cumberland. We took the scenic way home through West Virginia and ended up at Shenandoah park which was quite busy. We waited in line at the park entrance for about 20 minutes. I guess a lot people had the same idea of trying to see the fall leaves on the skyline drive. It was a pretty clear day so it was nice to be able to look out over the countryside. My car started acting-up so we left the park at Thorton's Gap and headed to Sperryville. Here are the rest of the pictures of the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. On a whim we went to the trailhead of White Oak Falls and ended up hiking to the lower falls. I love that trail. If you get a chance, you should definitely head out to the hills to see the colors. The next couple of weeks should be great. Here are some more pictures from the White Oak Falls trail in Shenandoah National Park. Unfortunately my car was still mis-firing on the way home so it spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the shop. Hopefully it will be all fixed tomorrow (Wed).