Fall Color Ride… Without The Fall Colors

How about that weather we had this past weekend here in southeastern Minnesota?! It was absolutely gorgeous, and seeing as the long-range forecast for next weekend wasn't supposed to be quite as good, my wife and I hopped in the car to check out the fall colors here in our neck of the woods Sunday afternoon.  The only problem was, we were a little early: outside of a lone red or orange tree here and there, most of the foliage we encountered was still pretty much green, with just a hint of yellow.

That doesn't mean that scenery wasn't beautiful-- we do live in a beautiful natural landscape here in Minnesota-- and despite the absence of the brilliant fall colors, we still had a good time, however.

We headed north on Highway-63 through South Troy and Zumbro Falls to Lake City, then continued down Highway-61 along the Mississippi River, stopping for a beverage and a snack at Reads Landing Brew Pub. We then continued south along Highway-61 through Wabasha and Kellogg before heading back along Highway-42 and Highway-247 through Plainview to get back here to the Med City.

According to the Minnesota DNR's Fall Color Map, most of the areas we were in yesterday are still at only about 25% of peak fall colors. So this weekend-- even if the weather won't be quite as nice as last weekend-- is probably your best bet to see those spectacular fall colors, right here in our own backyard!