An Autumn Drive in Northern New York

Mirror Lake, Lake Placid, NY

We like to go for drives/rides this time of year - in the fall, when the leaves are turning colors.



The landscape is truly nature's beautiful palette. So many colors of reds, yellows, greens, browns, oranges, and against the background of the blue sky and white, puffy clouds the views are just amazing. And the smells, too! When the leaves have fallen, and they start to decay, you can smell the slight pungent odor of the leaves after a rain. That's when you know that fall is here and winter will follow soon in autumn's footsteps.

When we go for a leisurely ride in our car, it usually always involves a ride to either the mountains, a forest, or some type of water (that could be a river, a pond, a lake or a waterfalls, etc.), and usually we're lucky if we can get all three in on one trip.

And in the fall we usually head up to the Adirondack Mountains. From our place, in Mexico, NY, we can get up there in about 2+ hours. Of course that depends on how many times we stop for photos along the way of any of the above three mentioned items (mountains, forests, or water).

We're so lucky in New York State to be able to experience all four seasons of nature, and each with its distinctive qualities. The fall, as the days get shorter, allows for the transformation of the summer greenery in the landscapes of trees, flowers, and fields, to turn a golden yellow or brown, and other rich, glowing fall colors.

Whiteface Mountain (in back) from Lake Placid, NY.

The days can be brisk from cool mornings, to a warm and sunny afternoon. And then you have the autumn rains and wind that finish off the colorful leaves left hanging on the trees by disposing of them on the ground to be blown around the house and then to be raked up or left until spring. And you could even be surprised by a snow flurry or even an accumulation of snow this time of year.

Several areas of the Country experienced the effects of Hurricane Patricia as well as we did, too. In the last few days our areas have had high winds with some people experiencing power outages, and lots of rain. We were fortunate that we did not get as much damage as several areas of the south experienced. Personally, we just had some small branches come down.

Only in New York, in October (and no, that's not Ted)

So back to our autumn drives around the area - this year we headed up to the Lake Placid area. Home to the winter Olympics of 1932 and 1980. There is a museum there that you can tour for the history of the games as well as visiting the sites where the competitions were held. And you might be able to see some athletes in training for the next Olympics.

Lake Placid also offers some great eateries as well as some great shopping. We had lunch at The Cottage Restaurant, which is a pub-like restaurant offering wonderful views of Lake Mirror and the High Peaks. They have a woodburning fireplace both inside and out, and it was warm enough the day we visited so we were able to dine outside.

On a separate day, we took off for an afternoon drive on some of the dirt roads in northern Oswego and Jefferson Counties. With the heavy winds we've had the last couple of days, most of the leaves were down in that area, but the leaves scattered on the ground and in the woods make for delightful woodland fairy scenes.






Hope you are able to welcome in the "Trick-or-Treaters" or catch some of them in costumes at your local venues. I just love watching all the little goblins and ghouls running around the neighborhoods in search of their sweet treasures!

May Jack-o-lanterns burning bright

Of soft and golden hue

Pierce through the future’s veil and show

What fate now holds for you.

~Author Unknown

Feel free to leave a comment. 

Would love to hear from  you ~