In San Luis Obispo, the fall season, in terms of colorful trees, is pretty pathetic. I lived briefly outside Aspen, CO, and I miss that sort of fall season. But in SLO, we do have to two things which I have noticed seem to mark the transition from Summer to Fall:
1) Great white sharks begin to be spotted frequently by beachgoers and surfers
and
2) Tarantulas become prevalent on trails or dirt roads. The attached picture is from a bike ride that I took today. I was too chicken to pick it up, so I decided to see if he would walk over my (gloved) hand.

Other than leaves changing colors, what are some natural phenomena which mark the end of summer in your area?

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

It gets colder!

The roads are full of people driving their children to school and out of school sporting activities!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Besides the color, which is an obvious draw here, it's the arrival of the varied Octoberfest offerings at the package store. And on the Connecticut River in autumn, a ballet of swallows.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

...Nobody on the beach.
No more 5 o'clock belles leaving the beach till June.
[HD 720p] The Boys of Summer (1984) - Music Video - Sung by Don Henley - YouTube

'Nuther six, seven weeks it'll be time to put the porch furniture away, drain the pipes and tuck the old girl in bed for a long and well earned winter's rest. She's been standing tall for 128 years.

I do not miss those. The northeast is unbelievably beautiful in the autumn though.


Sent from an abacus

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

On the positive note, you won't have to see dudes like me leaving the beach for the next 8-9 months.

We'll be headed north to Maine winterize the camp in a few weeks to do the same routine. It's always bittersweet. I enjoy the solitude, the autumn air, seeing the 10-12' lake drawn down for the winter (part of the algae control routine) and the subsequent exposed rocks and formations. But knowing the season is officially over is a bummer.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Nothing positive ever comes out of fall. It just means we are closer to winter. Heard the winter is to be predicted to be pretty terrible. The summer here in Philly was incredibly mild, it didn't even feel like summer to be honest.

Looking forward to the day I move somewhere much more mild in the colder seasons.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

I'm with you, probably stuck here for a while though.


Sent from an abacus

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Last things to do before the colder weather closes in always seem to be there every year.

Birds are not getting ready to leave quite yet. So things are far from really cool . The evening temperatures are falling off though now here in eastern Canada.

The tree leaves are just starting to turn color here . Some will be closing their cottages up now. The wife likes to keep ours in service till it is really cold. Burns a little wood in the process of doing so.

The fall is my favorite season hands down. Northwestern NJ is absolutely beautiful when the leaves turn. I'm already planning a day trip to my favorite restaurant in the world, The Walpack Inn. WALPACKINN.COM

One of the best things about fall in NJ is the humidity goes away, although this summer was great. We only had a few days over 90 degrees.