FIRST COLOR

Sunday we took a drive up Uludag to catch the fall foliage.  We had seen snow on the top on our way to Izmit on Saturday, so we were hoping the color was still there.  It was amazing watching the colors increase and around each curve they seemed to intensify.  By the halfway mark, we hit the peak of color and an abundance of waterfalls and  mountain streams brought to life by the rains we had over the past 3 weeks.  As we continued on from this point, the color decreased, and the pines increased.  Then around the next bend...snow...icicles...and even a snowman.  There were areas of the mountain that had 10' of snow.  Full coverage and ski season can't be too far away.

 This Grandpa and Grandson were enjoying a Sunday afternoon walk in the forest.

 Don't know if these are poisonous or not, but the locals were climbing down the mountain to collect chestnuts and some kind of mushrooms.  Maybe these?

 The long and winding road...

 This was the waterfall we had tried to find a couple months ago.  It was running today!  The foliage was to thick, you couldn't capture the height of  it.

 You cannot tell from the photo, but the grade of this mountainside is fairly steep and this farmer was working in his field.  Looked pretty scary from our vantage point.

We almost ran into this mama when we rounded a curve; she was in the road feeding her 3 pups.  By the look in her eyes, I think she is saying when will this end; I've had enough.