Day Trip to the Poconos

Saturday we set off for a leisurely day trip to the Poconos. I have been moaning lately about not seeing mountains for sometime. You know that the highest point in Sussex County is 44 feet and that is a landfill. I was in need of some altitude and wanted to see mountains in fall color. It is about three hours from here to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. That's on a good day with no traffic. But we made to see hills and leaves after four hours or so.

Before embarking on this little trip I checked to see when the leaves would be at the best color point. We had planned to go a week ago and indications were that "peak color" would be this past weekend. It seems that the extended drought has impacted all things in the region including the "peak color." There was also an unexpected warmer than normal period earlier this month which obviously had some impact. So, we were too early for "peak color," but only by a couple of days or so.

The last time we were in this area was 23 or 24 years ago. At the time I remember being very concerned about acid rain and I kept looking for signs of it. There were signs but not what I was expecting. There were areas where trees were dying but not to the extent I had envisioned. Instead I was overwhelmed by the hills and hills of trees. It was then that I resolved we should return someday in the fall to see the leaves as they are changing.

That's what we saw this past weekend -- hills and hills of trees that were changing colors as the season wears on. Perhaps if I were more of an artist I would have realized that the colors we see are really influenced by the light of the day. Saturday was partly cloudy and at one moment I would see a beautiful hillside in reds and golds and then in the next moment I would see the same hillside in shades of green.

The next time we visit, and we will for sure, we will make it a two or three day trip so that we can enjoy some of the recreational areas like the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. The day was much too short to get it all in. We kept looking for look-outs and vistas to view but on these busy roads there were none to be seen. So, we must go back and see more. We will catch the colors in morning, midday, afternoon and early evening light.

We did stop for a "linner" (late lunch/early dinner) of tappas in Stroudsburg. The place was was called Everybody's Cafe and it was very good. The picture below was taken just outside their door.

All in all it was a good day.