The fall colors in Michigan seem to start so slowly…take three or four weeks to go from one or two trees to a generalized coloring.

Then once an area generally is covered in color…poof, the leaves are gone!

It’s hard to get the timing just right so you can see the best where you are.

We’ve been moving south juuuust a little too soon.

Petoskey was a few days shy of generalized color, and here 300 miles south in Berrien Springs there are just spots and small sections.
But clearly it’s not as though there’s nothing interesting to see! We took the pictures above on a little road along Lake Chapin that I’d never driven during all my years of living here (thank you, Connie!).

Most of the crops are in, and many grasses and weeds have moved to their final stages, but some things are still going strong!
No visit to this area is complete without spending some time at the Lake Michigan shoreline…and the St Joseph lighthouse!