The End of Fall

Since I spent the month of September moving, I missed out on the important fact that September is the prime time for fall foliage here in the Colorado Springs area. After we settled in to our new place, I excitedly began to research and plan my birthday fall foliage drive. Sadly, all I discovered was that we were passed the prime. In fact, many tourist spots already closed down by early October.

It was then that I realized yes, the trees were already shedding rapidly. The bright red, yellow and orange trees that line our street were just bare one day. I decided to make it my mission to spend the next week or so exploring with Connor and attempting to see the last of fall.

 Sad, sad bare trees. :(

 But Connor loved playing in the leaves on the ground!

So, visiting this nature center was a bust. Everything looked dead and dry and bare. I was bummed! So, onto the next place...

Cheyenne Canyon. This was a little better, although it quickly rises in elevation and you find yourself in all the evergreen trees. We explored a bit and did see some pretty fall foliage still clinging to the trees.

On another day, we went back to our old favorite nature center on Fountain Creek. It was really cold that day. In fact, it started to snow as we drove home! The nature center guide told us there were still a few trees in fall bloom, so we hiked the mile around the pond and creek to check things out.

Once again, the huge piles of crunchy leaves on the ground were a big hit with Connor! I'm glad he enjoyed that so much.

 Sneaking up on deer in the woods! This area is where the deer usually hang out. Since it was so cold, there were hardly any other people at the park that day and it was very still and quiet. We saw a couple of deer in the woods and tried to get a closer look without scaring them off.

This sign was new. Funny, but sad...what is wrong with people? There are a million trash cans everywhere. Or you can just be smart and quit smoking!

As it started to snow on us after this excursion, I conceded defeat. I really did miss most of fall, my favorite season. To add insult to injury, we are most likely going to be in Texas next fall, so I really missed things for good here in Colorado. What a bummer!

People are predicting a "harsh winter" here. Whatever that means! It's November and we haven't gotten any more snow yet. Still, I don't think we'll mind a heavier snowy winter...for what will surely be our last winter here. We want to take Connor sledding and ice skating. So, now I am looking forward to winter snow.