Month: September 2023

13 Scenic Fall Foliage Train Rides

Here are three of the best:

Amtrak Missouri River Runner

COURTESY OF AMTRAK

This Midwest route departs from St. Louis and travels across the state to Kansas City, offering scenic views of the Missouri River. The train stops at a number of charming destinations along the way, and each offers rich history and a host of fascinating attractions. Be sure to hop off at the quaint riverside city of Hermann to catch the trolley that includes stops at local wineries, distilleries, and restaurants. Check out Stone Hill Winery, which dates back to 1847 and boasts numerous international accolades for its impressive wines, or explore Hermann Farm, an enormous property with tours showcasing the regal (and relatively rare) Shire horses bred on site.

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

COURTESY OF NEW MEXICO TRUE

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is nothing short of breathtaking as it traverses the diverse terrain of Colorado and New Mexico, winding through lush forests and across high plains. This train line is also one of the country’s highest, topping out at 10,015 feet as it crosses Cumbres Pass. The train snakes 64 miles from Antonito, Colorado, to Chama, New Mexico, and passengers can opt for a one-way journey along the whole line or a “half limited” voyage, which travels round-trip from either terminus to the midpoint station in Osier, Colorado. With the leaves transforming the landscape into a show of spectacular reds, golds, and oranges, this ride is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in the country come autumn.

Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

COURTESY OF FANNIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway begins at the historic depot in downtown Blue Ridge, Georgia, and takes riders on a four-hour, 26-mile round-trip journey along the Toccoa River through the northern Georgia countryside. The railway offers a choice between traditional closed cars (featuring large picture windows) and open-air cars, for riders who want to breathe in the crisp mountain air while admiring the autumn colors. The journey starts with a one-hour trip to McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, Tennessee, neighboring mountain towns situated on the state line. Travelers enjoy a two-hour “layover” there before making the one-hour return trip through the scenic forest and back to the depot in Blue Ridge. 

View all 13 fall scenic train trips by copying and pasting the link below:

(travelandleisure.com)

Random Acts of Kindness Day

Random Acts of Kindness Day is February 17th!

In February of 1995, the first national Random Acts of Kindness Day took place with participants coast to coast. As a gift to many grassroots organizations, Conari Press funded and facilitated the kickoff year.

Random Acts of Kindness Foundation (RAK) was created in 1995 in the Bay Area to facilitate future celebrations, always taking place in February during Valentine’s Day week. RAK was purchased soon after by a private foundation and moved to Denver, Colorado where it is located today.

Source: Remedia Publications©

Leave the Leaves. To rake or not to rake?

Fall is a beautiful time of year, but it comes with a list of chores to be done before the snow flies. Is raking leaves one of those chores? Maybe, maybe not. If you have trees dropping leaves on your lawn grass, in many cases there is no need to incur blisters by raking them up. Leaves have nutrients, which can be recycled into your lawn. The concern is if your leaf layer is very thick and will smother the grass.

If you have just a few leaves, such as 20 percent of the lawn covered, you can just ignore them. They will blow around, settle in, and break down on their own. If you have a moderate amount of leaves, such as 50 percent coverage, you still don’t need to rake. Simply run your lawn mower over them to chop them into smaller pieces so they can settle between the grass blades where they will decompose over time and release nutrients for your lawn to use next year.

If you have a thick layer of leaves, where you can barely see any signs of grass beneath them, then it’s best if you remove some of the leaves to prevent matting and smothering of the grass. Rake or otherwise remove at least half of them. You don’t need to get every last leaf, but if you remove a significant amount of them, then you can mow the rest up and leave them on the lawn. Those raked up leaves can be a valuable resource, and used in composting, winter mulching, or saved until spring for mulching in vegetable or flower gardens.

The one caveat to leaving tree leaves where they fall is if your trees have had serious foliar fungal diseases. While most leaf spots on leaves are cosmetic and harmless to the overall health of the tree, fallen diseased leaves do serve as a source for spores that can infect next year’s emerging leaves. Significantly diseased leaves should be raked and removed from the area and disposed of properly, such as by burying, burning where allowed, or hot composting.

Of course, one good reason to rake up leaves is to have a pile to jump and play in! But if you only have a moderate amount of leaves on your lawn, quickly mow them up and spend your time doing the other things on your pre-winter chore list.

Article By: Diana Alfuth for hort.extension.wisc.edu

3 More Free Streaming Services for You

Fawesome

Fawesome — a combination of “free” and “awesome” — offers over 10,000 movies and shows available instantly. It’s available online, through mobile apps, and on Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV.

Haystack News

Haystack News is “a free newscast made just for you,” including live coverage, available online, through mobile apps, smart TVs and other common devices.

Plex Watch Free

Plex’s free offerings include thousands of titles on more than 300 channels, including movies, shows, sports and live TV. You can stream from “just about any phone, tablet, smart TV, gaming consoles, or PC.”

And the very best thing is:

memegenerator.es

Globi-Another free streaming service with a twist.

Globi launched in 2021 with hundreds of hours of free titles from more than 20 countries. Not everything is in English, but they will at least have English subtitles. It offers both linear and video-on-demand streaming and is dedicated to providing international content and has officially launched with over 500 hours of award-winning content from around the world. Most of the library is available exclusively on the platform and comes from more than 20 different countries1. Globi aims to cater to the growing appetite for international content among American audiences1.

 You can access the service online or via supported devices such as Amazon TV, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung TV, Apple and Android Mobile.

Source: Money Talks News©