First fall visit to Vermont

“How beautiful things can get better when let go” is all this gorgeous phase of nature – fall teaches. It amuses us so much we travel so close to it and appreciate its heart filled with pain and showering love all over with vibrant colors at the same time. So sad way to depict fall right. I know. So gloomy that I couldn’t think of other quotes between road trips and fall. Anyways we all know FALL is the most beautiful season of all time for road trips with great temperatures around, beautiful backgrounds for all profile pics, and Instagram collection. This year it just got better for us with East Coast. Here we go for our first fall trip to Vermont.

It’s a Saturday early morning when the Sun still shines below the clouds, my Mazda zoomed onto I76 for the long journey ahead. Pick friends, Skip NY weekend morning traffic, catch 4 state parks and reach before Vermont’s thrilling ropeway closes at 5 PM.

But there is always a twist.

After a very vague plan as always, we drove thru George Washington bridge where google maps suggested exiting from the lower level when we are on the upper level for obvious views of the Hudson River and so we have to take the road not taken already along the river which is surely a great start. Roads are just so beautiful as they can get in fall and we can’t wait to see the views in Up-North. Hudson couldn’t give us better views unless we are on Palisades interstate parkway with all fall colors lined up laying us a pleasant road experience.

A quick stop near Ross Dock Picnic Area, a must-visit view-point of Hudson even before friend checked in FB, of course, beating NY traffic and encountered a group of Desi families enjoying their Indian breakfast in woods just like back in India. What a pleasant sight to watch and ya miss those good old days where we have all the freedom to stop in fields beside the road, have lunch and enjoy agriculture showers. Ok, Gotcha. Off-topic. Some other time.

So much to cover ahead, time for an offbeat driver to take over. In no time, we feel hungry and it’s time for him to show his skills to almost get us killed by taking a steep exit, of course, the navigator plays a part. The Shops at Nanuet is great vintage stuff. And with all the options before us, wait for Qdoba to open at 11 only because its Tortilla soup tastes like Indian Sambar.  Yes, we can never get enough of Desi food and of course, Qdoba tastes great. And who would not have another photo session just because we are in a food spot right?

Back on road.

Full-on speed. Fall colors all along. Sterling Forest State Park and Kaaterskill Wild Forest are already lovely with the sun enhancing the fall color beauty. Roadside rocks, tall pine trees, and nonetheless roads themselves make the road trips an amazing experience. Sure not without a  zoom-zoom car, boom-boom music, and jimpak-chapak friends.

Next stop Albany to cross our paths with a friend’s car – Acura from Brooklyn for lunch and where could that be for hungry lions with vegetarian options. Bombay Kitchen. Buffet. Meh. What else one can expect in the heart of Albany for Indian food.

Lastly, who would move without a snap after we have a Canon T5 with a tripod and a GoPro?

Vermont. Vermont. Vermonteeeey. Ya, that’s going to be our next stop. Manchester in particular. Traveling in pairs is sure a wonderful thing. Chasing. Passing. Teasing. And we are already in Manchester.

Green Mountain National Forest is splendid with all its high-rise rocky mountains exposing with its fall color beauty and it would have been a heck-of-a-experience only if we wouldn’t miss Mount Equinox Skyline Drive by 5 min. Must experience drive is closed at 16:30 due to early sunset.

As they are clouds already, there is no point proceeding to Mt.Mansfield further up in Vermont as fall colors without sun are the same as ‘life without love’. Could there be a better comparison? Will leave that for now.

After all, we couldn’t miss night fun with friends which is the zenith of trips. So Acura been to pick very important stuff of night while Mazda hit a cool bar near Madison, NH going after actual so-called, stuff and definitely Pizza. The best thing to stop at village bars, people are pretty cool, they have time to talk real stuff. We learn about each other. We share views on Donald Trump’s immigration. Tick-Tock. Off to our chalet.

Eidelweiss village.

Beautiful chalet under a bright full moon. Thank you, Airbnb. Very well maintained and only the next day morning we know how beautiful the fall colors surrounded it and who wouldn’t want a patio with a lake view. Right? Okay. Party time now. Bang night and *censored* only because after-math talks remembers none.

Good Morning. Oops. Sun is almost halfway already. Late start. Acura left us for a little walk around. The only way to make other friends kick them out of their bed. And in no time, Mazda is on track. Guy stuff. Bed to Bolt in 6 minutes.

Drive to Diana’s Baths thru White Mountain National Forest is absolutely stunning. Fall colors are simply outstanding. Yellow. Red. Green. Orange. Pink. White and so many. Little curved lane covered in yellow. A small creek with yellow leaves floating all over under a traditional rail bridge. Such are the scenes that comfort us when we relish the prettiness of nature and assist us to travel close to nature and self. We just need to live in the moment. OK, I am back from my third level of inception. Drive sure took long with classic music. ‘telusa manasa’ pitching from Bose and of course tons of photos, one each- same spot.

A 1.5-mile trek to waterfalls is definitely long enough for our muscular bodies and it’s all worth it. The trail is perfectly covered in appreciable colors and finally waterfalls, ya ok I wouldn’t call falls but worth a few pics with all little streams over rocks.

Tired already. Where is our food? Lobster Trap it is. Yummy-Yummy. Up north has amazing seafood. An Italian seafood platter is a right choice.  Lobsters, mussels, and scallops. Clean sweep really. Common get one more platter. 25 minutes wait time. The sure thing is who wouldn’t wait when there is cute Isabella jazzing around.

Tough times ahead. The moment you chew gum, it’s the end of the trip. Goodbyes. Ya ok goodbye pic and Acura howled.

Mazda has a long journey ahead.

But before that why wouldn’t we cover another state – Maine when it is just 16 miles away, ya just don’t travel thru, gotta DO stuff where people hear turrrrrrr in Portland. 3 AM and off to Boston. 2-hour sleep and another wonderful “Experience” ahead.

Before you jump to my next “Experience” and of course share this post, please enjoy this little slide show straight from iSANs Canon for the candids from Vermont and New Hampshire :

Well. Good Bye Glorious Fall!

Here are some of our other trips you might enjoy:

Our best road trip in the loneliest road and northernmost highway of USA:

If you are planning a trip across the Atlantic, Paris would be the right choice.

Or even check out The Great Pyramids from wherever you are:

Cheers and Stay Safe!