Category Archives: Travel

WMEO Fall Foliage Update — October 2026

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Two cats sit behind a WMEO 9 news desk delivering a “Fall Foliage Update.” Banner, an orange tabby wearing a black bow tie, and Balboa, a sleek black cat, face the camera with a microphone between them. A teddy bear and toy mouse rest on the desk beside their WMEO press badge. Behind them, a large screen shows a vivid autumn landscape of trees with red, orange, and yellow leaves along a riverbank under a blue sky.

🍁 Live From the WMEO 9 Weather Desk, This is your Fall Foliage Update

WMEO 9   We Meow- You Listen

Banner (Weather Desk): “Good morning, New England! Banner here with your official WMEO Fall Foliage Update. Peak color has exploded across New Hampshire and Vermont, and experts say this is the most vibrant season in over a decade. Reds, oranges, yellows — the whole region looks like it’s been set on ‘autumn mode.’”

A calm pond reflects a dense forest of trees in peak autumn color, with bright red, orange, yellow, and green foliage lining the water’s edge under soft natural light.

Balboa (Anchor Desk): “Well, that explains why the humans keep stopping in the middle of the road to stare at trees. Personally, I prefer indoor foliage — specifically the houseplants I’m not supposed to chew. But yes, the mountains are glowing, and leaf‑peepers are already out in full force. Brace yourselves.”

Banner: “Thank you, Balboa. For on‑location coverage, we now go live to our Autumn Correspondent, Pumpkin Spice, reporting from somewhere inside a leaf pile.”

Pumpkin Spice (Leaf Pile Reporter)

Pumpkin Spice, an orange tabby cat dressed as a WMEO field reporter, sits partially buried in a pile of colorful autumn leaves. He wears a black hat with an orange band and small leaves tucked into it, and holds a WMEO microphone in his paw. A WMEO press badge hangs from a blue lanyard around his neck. Behind him, New England mountains covered in peak fall foliage rise under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds.

Pumpkin Spice (Leaf Pile Reporter): “Pumpkin Spice reporting LIVE from Leaf Central! As you can see, I am fully immersed in the situation — literally. Experts say this is the best foliage season in over ten years, and judging by the amount of leaves currently stuck to my hat, I can confirm the data is accurate.

Up north, the White Mountains are glowing. Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom is showing off. Northern Maine is basically a postcard. Sunny skies, temps in the low 60s… perfect conditions for leaf‑peepers and terrible conditions for anyone who dislikes raking.

A curving paved road winds through a dense forest of trees in peak autumn color, with bright red, orange, yellow, and green foliage lining both sides under a partly cloudy blue sky.

Peak color will last about a week in the mountains before drifting south. Translation: more leaves for me to sit in, and more tourists for Banner to yell at from the Weather Desk.

…and with peak color expected to drift south over the next week, leaf‑peepers should prepare for maximum crunch conditions. I’ll remain on location — mostly because I’m stuck — but for now, this is Pumpkin Spice reporting LIVE from the leaf pile.

Banner, Balboa… back to you at the desk.”

Banner (Weather Desk): “Thank you, Pumpkin Spice. Please try not to sink any deeper — HR says we’re out of replacement microphones.”

Balboa (Anchor Desk): “And if anyone sees a small orange reporter buried in leaves, please do not attempt to rake him. He is part of the broadcast.”

Banner: “That’s your WMEO Fall Foliage Update for today. Stay safe, enjoy the colors, and remember — if you’re stopping suddenly to admire a tree, maybe use your blinker.”

Balboa: “We’ll be back tomorrow with more WMEO coverage. Until then, keep your paws warm and your leaf piles cat‑free.”

Two cats sit behind a WMEO 9 news desk as if hosting a broadcast. The orange cat on the left wears a dark blue bow tie, while the black cat on the right sits beside a small gray mouse toy and a brown teddy bear. A sheet of paper with red markings lies on the desk. The front of the desk displays the text “WMEO 9” in large yellow letters and “Thank you for watching” in white. The blurred newsroom background features blue and red tones.

 

Vermont’s Fall Colors

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A white steepled church sits in a small Vermont town surrounded by vibrant autumn foliage, with red, orange, and yellow trees, a grassy foreground, a winding stream, and misty mountains rising in the background.

🍁  Vermont’s Route 100 — From the Triangle to the Trees

After wandering through the mysteries of the Bennington Triangle, it turns out the perfect next stop is… Bennington itself. Because that’s where Vermont Route 100 begins — the most scenic drive in the entire state, and honestly one of the best in New England.

Route 100 is Vermont showing off. This winding two‑lane highway runs the full length of the state, more than 200 miles from bottom to top, hugging the eastern side of the Green Mountains the whole way. In October, it becomes a rolling ribbon of color — hills blazing in red and gold, quiet lakes reflecting the sky, rivers slipping through the trees, and covered bridges popping up like they were placed there just for your camera.

A curving paved road with double yellow lines winds uphill through a dense autumn forest, surrounded by vivid red, orange, yellow, and green foliage on both sides.

It’s the kind of road where every bend feels like a postcard.

You pass through tiny villages with white steeples, old farms tucked into the hills, waterfalls you can hear before you see, and long stretches where the forest arches overhead like a tunnel of color. We stayed on Route 100 almost the entire way, with just one detour planned: Smugglers’ Notch up north — because honestly, how do you resist a name like that?

A winding paved road curves through a bright autumn forest, with yellow and orange leaves forming a colorful canopy overhead and a large mossy rock sitting beside the road.

If the Bennington Triangle gave us Vermont’s eerie side, Route 100 is the soft, golden, leaf‑peeping side — the part that makes you roll the windows down, breathe in the cold air, and remember why fall feels like magic.

 

Haleakalā: The Mountain That Stole My Heart

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View from the summit of Haleakalā volcano on Maui showing reddish‑brown cinder cones and rugged volcanic terrain under a clear blue sky, with drifting clouds nestled among the crater slopes.”

A Trip Back in Time

I’ve been deep in my Hawaii Photo Tagging project, reliving a trip from November–December 2016 with my sister and cousin. Spending time immersed in those photos is like stepping into a time machine. It feels like yesterday… until I remember that 2016 was ten years ago. Ten! Impossible, yet here we are.

So what I’m about to share may be “outdated,” but it’s still absolutely fresh in my mind. Today, we’re talking volcanoes — specifically a mature, stately mountain, not that fiery upstart Kilauea. Those stories will have their own day.

Meeting the Giant “View from the summit of Haleakalā volcano on Maui showing rugged volcanic slopes and dark rocky terrain above a vast layer of white clouds under a deep blue sky.”

First of all, Haleakalā is majestic. This isn’t a cute little cone volcano. It’s a full‑fledged shield volcano. Officially, Haleakalā rises 10,023 feet from sea level to summit, but in truth it’s closer to 30,000 feet from its base on the ocean floor. You don’t grasp its size until you reach the summit, look out over a layer of clouds, and realize you’re standing above them.

Topographic map showing a winding mountain hiking route with labeled waypoints including Lava Tower, Barranco, Karanga, Barafu, and Uhuru Peak.”

Driving up is an adventure in itself. The road zigs, zags, and switchbacks so you’re never heading straight up. You get glimpses of the valley as the road twists, but honestly? I was driving, and those hairpin turns encourage you to keep your eyes firmly on the pavement. Add in the bicyclists — yes, the pedal kind — who pay good money to huff and puff their way to the top. I guess the exhilarating ride back down makes it worth it.

House of the Sun

Haleakalā means House of the Sun in Hawaiian, and since the 1800s it’s been a tradition to visit the summit at sunrise. I’ve never done it. Between jet lag and the 3 a.m. start time, I’ve always passed. It’s become so popular that the National Park Service now requires reservations for sunrise viewing.

“Silhouetted group of people watching a dramatic sunrise above a glowing cloud layer, with golden and orange light illuminating the sky.”

 

Dormant, Not Dead

Haleakalā isn’t about to erupt under your feet. It’s considered dormant, not extinct — meaning it could erupt again someday. The last eruption, as best anyone can tell, was between 1750 and 1790. Not long ago in geological terms, but long enough for me to feel perfectly safe wandering around.

“Rugged volcanic landscape with reddish-brown slopes and rocky formations beneath tall peaks partially covered by drifting clouds under a bright blue sky.”The Summit That Captured My Heart

The summit is home to the Haleakalā High Altitude Observatory, built there for the purity and clarity of the air. I didn’t climb up to see the observatory. I was too mesmerized by the landscape.

Haleakalā has more of a moonscape than a landscape. Plants are few and far between, and the browns, reds, and blacks paint a surreal, velvety picture. My mind knows it’s sand, dirt, and ash — but it looks soft enough to touch. I imagine a giant hand reaching out to stroke the terrain.

It’s not waves, water, surfers, or sunny brilliance. It’s moody. Dramatic. Dark. Dotted with cinder cones and caldera cliffs. I don’t know why I love it, but I do.

A Rare Treasure: The Haleakalā Silversword “Two tall flowering stalks with clusters of small blossoms rising from spiky silver-green leaves, growing among dark rocks with a stone wall and railing in the background under a clear blue sky.”

While you’re wandering around the summit, keep an eye out for the Haleakalā Silversword. These plants are found only here — nowhere else on Earth. They flower once in their lifetime, sending up a spectacular, towering bloom, and then die soon afterward, scattering their seeds to the wind. If you’re lucky, you might catch one in bloom during your visit. It’s a sight you won’t forget.

Step Into Another World

So next time you’re on Maui, skip the beach for one day. Make that twisty drive up the mountain. Stand above the clouds. Let Haleakalā wrap you in its quiet, otherworldly beauty.

It’s worth every mile.

“Rugged volcanic crater landscape with rocky terrain in the foreground and tall peaks rising above drifting clouds under a bright blue sky.”

WMEO Weekend Update – Fat Bears Are Back

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Two cats sit behind the WMEO 9 news desk like news anchors. The orange cat on the left and the black cat on the right face the camera with a microphone between them. Paw‑printed papers lie on the desk, and Balboa’s small gray toy mouse sits on the black cat’s side. Behind them, a large studio screen shows a bear catching a salmon with the headline “FAT BEAR WEEK 2026.” The newsroom background is softly blurred with blue and red lighting.

WMEO Weekend Update – Fat Bears Are Back- We Meow, You Listen

Banner: Good evening, Taunton — the salmon are running, the bears are bulking, and Fat Bear Week is lumbering back into the spotlight.

Balboa: And some of these guys are so round they need their own zip code.

Banner: Fat Bear Week runs September 22–29 this year. It started in 2014 as an annual competition celebrating how the brown bears of Katmai and Brooks Camp pack on weight before settling in for their long winter sleep.

Balboa: Pack on weight? These guys carbo‑load like they’re training for the Salmon Olympics. They add blubber faster than a whale on cheat day.

Banner: Park Superintendent Mark Sturm says Brooks Camp has more cubs this year than they’ve seen in a long time. The new generation is off to a strong start.

Balboa: Strong start? They’re practically born into a bracket. Last year, over 1.7 million votes came in from more than 100 countries before Bear 32 — “Chunk” — took home the crown.

A large brown bear stands in a rushing river near a small waterfall, its fur wet and heavy. The bear faces forward with a piece of fish visible near its mouth, surrounded by flowing water and rocky terrain in a natural wilderness setting.

 

Banner: The 2026 Fat Bear Week bracket dropped Friday,  September 18. Voting runs September 22–29 (no weekend voting), and the champion will be crowned September 29.

Balboa: Chunk is back to defend his title. And remember — these bears gain most of their weight by eating fish. Fish! One of humans’ favorite diet foods. Do we need to rethink everything.

Banner: If you want to be one of the more than 1.7 million people who voted last year…

Balboa: From more than 100 countries!

Banner: Yes, from more than 100 countries — head over to the Fat Bear Week website, meet the bears, and vote for your 2026 champion.

Balboa: My money’s on Chunk. Two‑time champ material right there. And remember — Chunk may be a champion, but he’s no teddy bear.

Two cats sit behind a news desk labeled “WMEO 9 – Thank you for watching.” The orange cat on the left and the black cat on the right pose like news anchors. A small gray toy mouse and a light‑brown teddy bear rest on the desk in front of them, with paw‑printed papers nearby. The background shows a softly blurred newsroom with glowing blue and red lights.

Banner (closing): That’s your WMEO Weekend Update — stay curious, stay chunky, and remember: in Katmai, size does matter.

Balboa: And so does the salmon count.

 

When a Chore Turns Into a Treasure Hunt

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Two deer standing in a sunlit grassy clearing surrounded by dense green foliage.

Rediscovering Hidden Gems in My Photo Archives

Dolphins swimming together at the ocean surface with their dorsal fins visible above the water.When I started The Great Photo Tagging Project, I was doing everything I could not to feel overwhelmed. My archives had grown to more than 10,000 photos, and most of them weren’t tagged. Any time I needed a specific picture, I had to scroll endlessly—unless I happened to remember the exact year and month I took it.

Take Hawaii, for example. I started traveling there in 2008 and went annually for years. I have hundreds of photos from those trips, but no clue which year a particular shot belonged to. Finding one specific image felt nearly impossible.

To make matters worse, I didn’t know about tagging when I began blogging. I’d find a photo, use it, and then toss it right back into the black hole of the untagged archives. So when I finally decided to tackle this project, it felt daunting.

The Slow March Through the BacklogA powerful geyser eruption sending steam and water upward, surrounded by grassy terrain and a forested backdrop.

At first, everything went smoothly. I was happily tagging away, and I made a rule: any new photo gets tagged immediately so I don’t add to the backlog. Somewhere along the line, though, the fun faded. Tagging became a chore.

Still, I was determined. I’d skip a day or two, then come back and knock out a page of 20 photos, slowly working my way backward through the years.

I’m currently in November 2016, inching my way toward the very beginning of the archive—January 2011. Some months are easy with just 10 or 20 photos. But then I hit a trip month and suddenly I’m staring down 300 images. Momentum? Slowed.

When the Chore Became a Treasure Hunt

But recently something unexpected happened. Without a car, I haven’t been able to get out and take new photos, so I’ve been relying on the archives. And as I started reviewing images in small batches, I began noticing things I’d completely missed before.

Treasure #1: The Puffin

Original puffin photo showing the bird floating on calm water before enlargement.I once waded through more than 200 puffin photos during post‑processing and somehow missed a gem. But while tagging, I enlarged one tiny puffin and—there it was—the iconic mouthful‑of‑fish shot I thought I’d missed forever. My first treasure.

Close‑up of an Atlantic puffin with a mouthful of fish, revealing details missed in the original thumbnail.

Treasure #2: Haleakala

The untouched Haleakala photo showing the raw volcanic landscape before post‑processing.I’ve always loved my Haleakala photo, but my artistic eye said it was a little flat. When I rediscovered it during tagging, I decided to give it a little post‑processing love. Suddenly it had punch, depth, drama. Treasure number two.

Vibrant, enhanced photo of Haleakala’s volcanic terrain with sharp detail and dramatic cloud formations.

Treasure #3: The Submarine Shots

The untouched shipwreck photo showing the quiet underwater scene before enhancement.Then came two photos taken from a submarine. Shooting through thick porthole glass isn’t ideal, but with a little editing magic, those images transformed from “nice memory” to “something really special.”

The transformed shipwreck image showing rich color, marine life, and dramatic underwater detail after post‑processing.

The untouched eagle ray photo showing the quiet underwater moment before enhancement.

Vibrant, enhanced photo of three spotted eagle rays swimming across the ocean floor, showcasing their patterns and graceful movement.

Finding Beauty in the “Ugly Ducklings”

Now I’m energized again. I’m not just tagging my inventory—I’m hunting for hidden gems. I’m looking for those overlooked, imperfect photos that just need a little love to become beautiful swans.

And honestly? I can’t wait to find my next treasure.

What about you? Have you ever looked at an old photo with new eyes and discovered a treasure hiding in plain sight?