Is it Fall?

The end of October and it has still been in the 90s!  Luckily, we were able to escape the heat for awhile and see the Fall colors in New England.

On 8/29/17 I went to Tohono Chul Park, DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Garden

On 8/30 I went to Tohono Chul Park and Tucson Botanical Gardens

I went to Sweetwater Wetlands on 9/5

On 9/7 I went to Tohono Chul Park, DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun and Tucson Botanical Gardens

Paul and Nathan went to see Lego Ninjago on 9/24

I went to Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Botanical Gardens, the Reid Park Rose Garden and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Garden on 9/25

Nathan took his school picture on 9/28.  He also got the 3rd stripe on his white belt in Taekwondo.

Christopher Carson and Janay got married on 9/30

On 10/3 I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Garden

Nathan tested for his orange belt in Taekwondo on 10/5

We went to New England during Nathan's Fall Break 10/6-10/14.  We flew into Newark, NJ on 10/6.  We went to NYC on Saturday, 10/7.  It was hot and humid that day, but we took the Big Bus to the Empire State Building, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the Statue of Liberty and Times Square.  Paul and I had been to NYC before, but this was Nathan's first time.  He was excited to see the Statue of Liberty.  We took the cruise to it, but the tickets  were sold our to go up inside.  The next day we drove though New York and went to Kaaterskill Falls.  We hiked down to the bottom of the falls.  It was a difficult hike for me who is not an experienced hiker.  There was little water coming down, but it was still pretty.  On Monday, we saw the Eerie Canal and then drove through Vermont.  We stopped at a few covered bridges.  The Fall colors were amazing, but the it was foggy and rainy that day.  The next day we went to the Vermont Teddy Bear Company and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory.  Nathan really enjoyed the Vermont Teddy Bear Company.  He made his own Vermont Teddy Bear with a soccer outfit and he and I came up with the name Honey since it is a Honey Bear.  On Wednesday, 10/11, we took a ride on the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire.  It gave us great views of the colorful trees and we could even see part of the Atlantic Ocean at the top of the mountain.  At the top it was very cold and windy.  The coldest and windiest readings in the world have been recorded on Mount Washington.  I could not even tolerate standing out there to get a family picture so I went inside the building to warm up and take pictures from the windows.  And it is not even winter yet!  After the cog railway, we went to the Maine Wildlife Park.  We were a little disappointed in it, but they are basically a bunch of rescued animals which is a good thing.  The only live moose we saw on our trip was here at this wildlife park.  The enclosures were very camera unfriendly so I did not get many decent pictures of the moose or other animals there.  On Thursday, we went to Acadia National Park.  We saw only a small portion of the park due to time restraints.  The park is very beautiful with wonderful views of the Atlantic Ocean.  However, I did not find it very photogenic because it was mostly open water without too many other interesting elements to add to the shots.  We did not have time to hike or explore the park much outside of the car so maybe we would have better picture taking opportunities if we did so.  We did see the Bass Harbor Lighthouse there.  Again, it was hard to get pictures of it.  It is pretty much right in your face if you approach it from the park.  I think better pictures could be taken from a distance in the ocean.  They offer lighthouse cruises in Maine where you can see numerous lighthouses in one trip.  I would like to do that the next time I go.  I would also like to see the puffins on Egg Rock Island.  They breed during the spring and summer and there are tour boats that take you close to see them.  On our last day we went to Trailside Zoo on Bear Mountain in New York.  It was another disappointing zoo, but again the animals are mostly rescues.  The people in New England told us that they had a heat wave a couple of weeks ago which delayed the Fall colors.  Then they had some rain which we ran into a couple of days that we were there which really set the Fall colors in motion.  So some areas were exploding in color while others were just getting started.  While the scenery was beautiful, I took a lot of shots from the car and others during the fog and rain.  Thus, many did not come out well.  Hopefully, there are a few good ones in the mix.  We already decided that we would like to go back some time, maybe during the summer.  This was our first time in New Hampshire and Vermont.  It was my first time in Maine, too.  I loved it all, but I loved the color and country atmosphere of Vermont.  I loved being by the ocean, too, though.  There was just so much to see and not enough time as usual.  I always feel rushed to take my pictures so I hope that we can go back soon.

Nathan made honor roll for the 1st quarter.  He got a couple of Bs this quarter, but his grades were high enough to average 93.8%.  The awards assembly will be 10/24.

Nathan got his new orange belt in Taekwondo on 10/18

We went to the U of A red blue game on 10/20.  Shaquille O'Neal was there.

My Grand Prix was close to overheating on 10/20.  I took it to Pep Boys and they had to replace the thermostat and water pump that were leaking.  They told me the transmission was really bad and that the car probably needed new rotors because the brakes were vibrating.  The mechanic suggested that we sell the car as soon as possible before the transmission falls out.

We bought a new 2018 red Ford Fusion Hybrid today!  Paul will start driving the new car and I will drive our 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid!  We are going to try to sell the Grand Prix tomorrow at Carmax.