Chasing Autumn

Every fall for just a few short weeks a window opens into a magical and colorful world. Not everywhere is the magic as apparent, but we set out to find a few places where the autumn color was resplendent enough to inspire. We put together a rough plan over the course of a long summer and by the time we were finally able to set off, we weren't sure how our timing would work out. We simply looked forward to hitting the road experiencing new places and cooling off after the warm dry summer. If we were able to catch just a bit of color on the way, it'd add that much more to our journey, but just being on the road spending time together was enough to satisfy. Looking at our destinations though, the chance for something new and exciting was  pretty good. Using the National Parks as waypoints, we figured we'd experience some impressive natural wonders. As a bonus, we'd be visiting in the off season again and hopefully have places more to ourselves.

As we look at the calendar, our year is slowly coming to an end. We hope for one last final journey to cap off what has been a special year for the whole family.

We begin our journey in Truckee, where the first signs of fall have already arrived. Cooler temperatures have brought the changing of the aspen. The golden leaves of aspen groves contrasting to the surrounding evergreen pine and fir forests. The water in Donner Lake was already cooling back off, but the sun still warmed enough to get us all out for a short dip. However, Truckee was more about visiting cousin Sage once again before we head back to Norway in December. In January we moved into a little one room annex on my sister's house in Truckee where we spent the winter. Frêney and Sage were still learning to walk and spent most of the time on the floor and watching them grow this past year has been a highlight. As we wind down our time in California, we are fortunate our kids have been able to spend time with all their cousins and develop a closer relationship to them.