The Day I Officially Became a Leafer

After spending most of the day before traveling the northeastern coast, it was hard to believe that I had an even better day planned for seeing nature at its finest as I prepared to drive away from the coast and into the heart of the New Hampshire/Vermont areas - but that is exactly how it turned out.

I took an extremely scenic route from Bangor to Conway, NH, and it was an array of rolling hills and trees with their multi-colored leaves all along the way. Once I made it to Conway, it was just a matter of time before I reached the Kancamagus Scenic Highway. There were so many stops with creeks, scenic views, and everywhere I was able to see the early “changing of the leaves” that this area of the country has gained so much fame for. I definitely picked a great time to be traveling through this part of the U.S.

Among the many stops I made on this highway were the Albany Covered Bridge, Lower Falls Scenic Area, Rocky Gorge Scenic Area, Sabbaday Falls Picnic Area, and Sugar Hill Scenic Overlook. I was definitely not disappointed!

I was encouraged by a friend back home to check out the Flume Gorge, so I headed there in the early afternoon. It was the highlight of the day with more amazing views, waterfalls, large rock formations and even another covered bridge. Having put in a great walk for the day, I hopped back into the car and headed toward the next state - Vermont.

As previously mentioned, I managed to check out numerous Ivy League schools on this trip and my last stop in New Hampshire included Hanover, the home of Dartmouth College. I saw rowers in action on the Connecticut River, which serves as the border between the two states. Driving through Vermont was relatively brief but beautiful as I traveled through the Green Mountains and checked out the Shires of Vermont.

Before I knew it, I was back in New York but in the upstate part that is generally used to describe most of the state outside of the New York City area. I had just enough daylight to capture a few sites in the state’s capital, Albany, before heading to nearby Schenectady and the casino that was hosting me that evening.

By the end of this day, I was feeling the effects of having driven around or walked for most of this day. And since my lunch had been a really early one, I was tired and hungry when I arrived at my room for the night. I had a great steak dinner in the casino and then went straight back to my room - I knew I had another busy day coming up but I at least knew the drive time would be significantly less as I continued west to Buffalo.