Berkshires

In the charity auction our ward held last Christmas, my good friend Sue was part of a group who won a weekend in the Berkshires. Lucky for me, everyone but her has moved away during the last year and I was able to go instead. Sue, Jessica and I left late on Friday night (to avoid traffic), me struggling to stay awake. We met another carful who had left earlier. We slept in the cutest girl's room, decorated pink courtesy of Pottery Barn. Saturday morning we walked down to a little farm and picked apples and raspberries. The weather was gorgeous, a lucky thing in October. The farm is nestled at the bottom of a little mountain. The leaves appeared to be on fire, all yellow, orange and red.
After some lunch, we drove to an overlook where we could see more beautiful changing leaves across the whole valley. Glorious. I just love fall. On the drive up, we had to keep stopping (and taking pictures out of the sun roof) because the tree-lined road was breathtaking.We raced home and tried to climb the hill above the house to a tower in time to watch the sunset. We made a good effort, but there was not enough time. Most of us turned back as it kept getting darker, but we were able to watch from the deck. Sue headed up after the rest of us and didn't come back for a long time. We started to get worried because we hadn't seen her on the way down at all and sent out search parties. It ended up that a neighbor had told her an easier way to get there, but it was a little farther away so took longer. We were just grateful that she was safe. We enjoyed chicken-shish-kabobs for dinner and delicious apple crisp from apples we picked.After dinner we played a little ping pong and watched Mickey Blue Eyes (funny, funny movie) before going to sleep. The next morning I awoke to this scene:We went to church and relaxed a little at the house. I was able to practice playing the piano all weekend, which was fun and good. The girls went on a walk to a waterfall, then followed the river to a reservoir (which was not so impressive as it was dry). The fall colors reflected in the water and the air was crisp and clean. I just enjoyed soaking in the sunshine. That evening we had spaghetti and green beans for dinner, then Jessica and I drove home. (Sue stayed another night with people who actually got Columbus day off work.) It was such a relaxing weekend, just what I needed. I enjoyed the company of new friends and absorbed the beauty of fall.