Leaves and Lighthouses

It's fall in Maine, and we were on the hunt for fall foliage. Here they call it "leaf peeping". Sounds odd to me, but who am I to argue with New Englanders? So, instead of having a Peeping Tom, we had a Peeping Don along with us.

The sad thing is that Don is color blind, so all the Maple trees that are turning a beautiful crimson red look like dead trees with brown leaves to him. I am trying to soak all the colors in, taking all sorts of pictures so I can remember this for years to come.

We drove up to Millinocket, which is about an hour north of Bangor. One of the stops had this pair of Adirondack chairs facing the river. Wouldn't it be great if we could just transport this scene to Phoenix, where it is still over 100 degrees right now?

Don kept wondering why, if we were looking for fall color, why was I asking him to find spots that had water (rivers, lakes, ponds, etc). I found exactly what I was looking for! Beautiful trees that are turning colors and the reflections of them in the water. Perfect! Don't ask me where this was at, since we drove back roads that twisted and turned. All I can tell you is that it is near Millinocket.
A Maple tree spreads it's branches over the fast moving stream.
These trees lined the country road, showing off their fall colors. No cactus in sight!
On Sunday we did our turn around, heading south to Portland, Maine (not Oregon). There were lighthouses in the area that Jerry wanted to track down. It was a bit nippy as we drove around the Portland Bay and Cape Elizabeth area.
Our second stop was Portland Head Lighthouse where Sandy and Jerry stopped to pose for me. The well kept 72 foot stone lighthouse was finished in 1791, and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Maine. One frequent visitor was poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (that's the long and short of it). Also in this same area are the remains of Fort Williams.
Below is my favorite picture of Portland Lighthouse, providing a great view of the structure and the coastline below it.
Mission accomplished! Two more things checked off our bucket list: fall leaves and lighthouses.