159 gallons.... yes, topping off.
It's diesel fuel with a blue dye added to tag it as home heating oil and highway taxes have not been paid on it. You can run a diesel powered vehicle on it fine, but getting caught with "blue" in the tank of your truck will probably earn you a trip the Guantanamo. :eek:

Back on topic; Fall fell. That means the frost is, or soon will be, on the pumpkin.
Much of western Canada and the northern Rocky Mountain states got snow before the first killing frost.

Marichiko - wow!

But much as I can appreciate the beauty of your pics, I wouldn't want to be away from England at this time of year. I spent an Autumn in France one year and was horribly homesick.

Autumn is definitely my favourite season. I love the colours, the smells, the quality of the air, I even love the slight feeling of melancholy I get (which might just be bonfire smoke catching in my throat). Summer is usually too hot, too bright & too brash for me. Give me misty mornings, grass covered in frost and soft afternoon sunlight every day.....

I'll see if I can get some pics - they'll be laughably understated compared to Marichiko's spectacular scenery pf course!

Anyone headed for New England leaf peeping, I've been told the leaves are running 10 to 14 days behind schedule.
The tremendous rain storms in the past week may raise hell with that also. :(

that is if Bush doesn't decide to keep the time like it is to "save energy"........

Sundae Girl, I couldn't agree with you more about summer. I really do hate it and get very depressed July/August. This summer has seemed to go on forever with hot weather (like, in the 90's and humid) keeping us company until just last week! :eek:

PLEASE post whatever pics you've got! We all really love to see them!

And, Mari, those are some beautiful shots! Wow!

Thanks, Bri! I love those places. Camped on the side of darn near every mountain and driven every back road. You can see why I can't wait to get back home! Just a few more months and I'll be back there for good!

Can't resist two more pics and then I'll stop - I promise.

The first is looking directly down thru the cables at the town of Telluride just as the Gondola takes off, and the second is more of Lizard Head Pass, looking back toward the mountains to the West.

What, you didn't ride the train? Or do I have the wrong town?

Durango maybe, buster?

Jinx knows her 4-Corners! Yep, there's an old time steam locomotive that will take folks from Durango to Silverton for an exorbitant fee. There is also another steam locomotive which runs thru some specatacular scenary between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico (also for an exorbitant fee). Up Telluride way, your choices are car, on foot, cross country ski's in winter months, or by the gondola between Telluride and the ski resort of Mountain Village. The gondola has the side benefit of being completely free of charge and runs constantly from like 6:00am to midnight (don't quote me, it may be in operation even more than that). The cars are enclosed in plexi-glass and in the cold months, friendly workers will even hand you a blanket to take along for your ride if you want. There are special cars reserved for people with their pets in case you want to take Fido along to view the scenary.

In many ways Telluride is a pretty cool town. It has a "free box" just off its main street where the wealthy folks who stay in the condos in Mountain View can drop off unwanted items for the rest of us. I've made some incredible finds there - like 100 brand new stuffed animals that I snapped up one Christmas and donated to the kids whose folks come to pick up food boxes in the desperate little town of Nucla, 60 miles away. Its got an incredible public library which offers an amazing variety of stuff for no charge and, of course, it has the summer music festivals which I have learned how to attend for absolutely free. Have heard many of my fav musicians and groups there.

On the downside, Telluride has winter. I don't like winter and I'm not a down hill skier type - cross country works fine for me and that I can do anywhere there's snow which Telluride gets in ridiculous excess (I draw the line after a foot or so). It also takes the income of a minor member of the Saudi royal family to rent or buy housing there. And it doesn't have a train. ;)

I love the Fall as well. Warm snuggly clothes that help to hide my spare tire, stews and other comfort foods to make said tire a little more inflated. It makes you want to decorate your house (it helps distract from the tire). Besides, I don't know anybody but my mom that does summer decorations. I love leaving my bedroom window open and having the fresh chilly air to breathe in while I am snuggled up with my husband in bed.......

awww.... iddnt that sweet?

We just got our first snow on top of the farthest up/ back mountains. I will try to post some pictures later.

Man oh man...I left my favorite cozy pair of pajamas at the rental house I was staying at for Telluride Jazz Fest. I wondered later if they had ended up in the Free Box, but they may not have been nice enough. :o

Please explain. I'm itching for standard time so I have a little daylight in the morning instead of dark on both ends of my day.

there are rumors that GW will keep the time at daylight savings year round.... I'll have to do some research.
Anyone hip?

Someone at work said there was talk of going back to standard earlier in the month...

I tend to be a night owl. I go to sleep around midnight or later and get up around 8:00am, so even with daylight savings, its already light out when I get up. The ending of daylight savings means for ME, one less hour of light in my own day. I am one of those people who are strongly effected by the short days of winter and all that dark, so the end of daylight savings always impacts my mood.

I can see how a lark type or someone who needs to get up early might welcome the switch, though. ;)