The fall foliage in Ohio has been absolutely beautiful.  The weather was perfect, with cool nights and clear, sunny days.  I always contend that Ohio’s fall foliage can rival any other state.  We have maples, oaks, sweet gums, birches, and honey locusts, all of which produce wonderful colors.

We went on a fall foliage drive with Mom and Dad at the peak of the colors, about mid-October.  The woods were brilliantly painted.  The occasional front-yard maple stood proudly orange.  It was sunny and warm and a wonderful day to be out.  We oooed and ahhhed over the beautiful trees that we eagerly pointed out.

We drove up to Ashland for lunch at Perkins.  The food was very good although our French Silk pie was a little disappointing because it wasn’t really French Silk.  A good chocolate pie, but . . .  Then we headed over to Grandpa’s Cheesebarn and Sweetie’s Chocolates.  Now that I know how to preserve fudge, we got some chocolate walnut and some Buckeye fudge.  Not as good as Murdicks, but acceptable.

We drove back to Mansfield along 42, which is a beautiful drive for seeing fall foliage.  Tom drove down some county roads so we could take in more of the woods.  Ohio Magazine had recently come out with a list of best places to see leaves.  Mount Jeez was on the list, so we decided to drive to the top and enjoy the panoramic view.  It was gorgeous!  It was also a little breezy and cold so we didn’t stay for long.

When Tom asked if there was any place else he should go before we headed back, I suggested Apple Hill Orchard.  I love visiting apple orchards in the fall.  I love the smell of the apples and envision baking all kinds of apple-related goodies.  Apple Hill Orchard is a small orchard but it has a wonderful variety of apples and a large selection of items in their small store.  I bought some Mutsu and some Winesap apples.  I also got some apple donuts, which we shared.  The apple donuts were very good, made fresh that morning and not too sweet.

We returned to Mom and Dad’s, satisfied with our fall foliage outing.  The trees were beautiful and we had enjoyed seeing them from many different viewpoints.  We also got some goodies and enjoyed being with each other very much.