Happy fall from Dana at SureFooted Travel!
This Dana thanks my fellow blogger, Dana from The Four Seasons of Us, for tagging me to participate in the Fall Tag that was created by BossGirlBloggers .
The idea is that we write about fall by answering the ten questions below. This is a departure from my usual travel writing and current series on Alaska. But I’ll put a travel blog spin on the answers as best as I can.
Plus, you’ll get to know me a little better too.
1. What is one candle you MUST light every fall?
Open flames are not a good idea at my house.
I have an easily-distracted nature and a trio of busy, long-tailed dogs. I use an electric wax melter instead.
Now that we’re not traveling much (due to caring for our elderly dog, Ned), I’m enjoying my fall stay-cation days at home. You can find me on my screened-in back porch with the soft glow of the wax melter and a front-row seat to Mabel, which is the name of our gigantic Sugar Maple.
We always have a great view of fall leaves thanks to Mabel the Maple.
2. When you think of fall, what does it remind you of?
I’m a former English teacher. Fall meant the anticipation/anxiety of back-to-school. Once the hectic time of grading essays kicked in, my life was a blur from Labor Day until winter break. Now that I work for a non-profit, my weekends and evenings are my own. Whew!
And I can now travel in the fall! (See #5 below.)
I have the time to enjoy fall for the first time in my adult life! This means more hiking, kayaking, and walking the dogs through the leaves.
We’re out on the water as much as the weather permits in the fall. (I’m checking out the family of four ducks on the branch in the water.)
3. What is your all time favorite fall/Halloween movie?
I dislike all things scary. But as a Harry Potter fan, I do enjoy seeing in the films how Hogwarts is decorated for Halloween.
4. What Halloween costume do you have in mind?
Oh my. The answer here is NONE.
I have had a life-long aversion to Halloween. I didn’t like wearing masks, having creepy looking “big kids” come trick-or-treating to the door, etc. Even the candy wasn’t enough to make this sweet-tooth enjoy the holiday.
But the one year I didn’t hate Halloween is when I got to dress up in a poodle skirt as a 1950’s lady. That was cool!
I was happy not to have to wear one of those hot, scratchy face masks that year!
These days, the only ones in our house dressing up for Halloween are the dogs.
Our previous yellow lab, Sammy (who is now at the Rainbow Bridge) loved costumes. She was so proud when we told her how pretty she looked!
5. What is your favorite fall trend?
Most of the cruiselines offer Canada & New England itineraries, so can I call this a trend?
We loved our Canada & New England cruise on Royal Caribbean a few falls back. So much beautiful scenery!
We hired a private driver to take us out to Peggy’s Cove during our cruise stop in Nova Scotia.
Despite the wind, it was a great day for sight-seeing with my husband and mother-in-law.
I’d love to do another Canada & New England cruise some day because we enjoyed the ports so much. (I’m looking at you, Portland, Maine!)
We escaped the wind and warmed up inside 3 Dollar Dewey’s for lunch. My husband enjoyed a local beer, one of his traveling traditions.
Heads up: there’s no guarantee that you’ll successfully time the cruise to coincide with the leaves changing in any particular port. Just go into it with an open mind – it is an entirely different experience than an Alaskan or Caribbean cruise.
We enjoyed looking for the gleam of distant lighthouses as we cruised the New England coast.
So back to the fall trend question… Other than cruising, seasonal trends usually mean buying some thing. And the more I spend, the less money I have for my travel fund. Instead, I’m adding to my travel fund by using the Ibotta app when I shop for groceries. I’ve earned over $600 in two years by purchasing stuff I’d buy anyway (fruit, rice, paper towels etc.) October is Ibotta’s anniversary, so there are some nice bonuses happening right now!
There are also bonuses that are earned together on a team. To join my team, click here.
You’ll receive a $10 welcome bonus. And then you’ll receive a referral code of your own that you can use to invite friends to our team and get a $5 referral yourself.
6. When you think of fall, what drink comes to mind?
After a summer of enjoying sweet tea, water embellished with lime and mint, chilled white wine, and margaritas, I’m ready to get back-to-basics with hard apple cider. If hard cider was good enough for the Founding Fathers, it is good enough for me!
7. What is your go to fall beauty product? A must have staple!
At home and in my cosmetics bag when I travel, you’ll always find cruelty-free products. Burt’s Bees lip balm is a staple year-round, and in the fall I bust out my cranberry lipstick from The Body Shop.
8. Do you prefer apple pie or pumpkin pie?
Gluten-free here, y’all. Anyone have a flourless chocolate cake they can send my way? No need to slice it. Just hand me a fork.
9. Do you have any fall traditions? If so tell us all about it!
We bring my mother-in-law along (I won the MIL lottery) and head to the winding roads outside of Pittsburgh to admire the fall leaves. A favorite daytrip destination along the way is Fort Ligonier Days, a fall festival about 1.5 hours southeast of Pittsburgh.
10. The moment of truth, is fall your favorite season?
Summer is my #1 favorite season. I love it when the temperature is in the 80’s from sunup to sundown. (Can you tell that I can’t wait until I am a retiree who can winter down south?) Pittsburgh humidity can be a beast in the summer, but I like to think of it as a nice, warm hug!
That being said, fall is my second favorite season due to the pretty weather we have here in western Pennsylvania. Our rolling hills and rivers make a great backdrop for fall leaves! When travelers think of leaf-peeping, they often think of New England. But Pittsburgh makes a great destination, especially in the fall.
If you do visit Pittsburgh, please just promise you won’t invite me to any Halloween parties!
Dana says:
Dana – great article! I can totally relate to the blur of the school year, as that still happens for me! I love the dogs dressed up ❤️❤️
October 7, 2018 — 5:17 pm
Dana says:
Yes, it is definitely a blur!
Our current dogs aren’t as much fans of dressing up as Sammy was, so there’s usually not much more than an orange bandana on the dogs these fall days.
October 7, 2018 — 5:23 pm