I’d give a resounding 10-4 to this meander that was taken on October 4th. There was a subtle hint of color for some of the trees, whereas the many Maples were already getting their glow-on, as you see above.

My trip to Heritage Park that lovely Fall day was two-fold: first to capture some of the scarecrow images and spooky pics from the Scarecrow Stroll event the day before, plus peep at the leaf colors.

I started off at the Botanical Gardens where the flavor of the harvest season was everywhere …

… and, as you can see, this lovely tropical-looking Hibiscus was alongside Chrysanthemums, a perennial favorite for Fall.

The rest of the blooming beauties at the Conservatory were still going strong as well – these are just some of them.

This insect was happy to hunker down inside this pretty rose.

Well, even though today is All Saints’ Day and we might be thinking about spirits, I don’t think this paver brick meant those types of spirits.

Mere steps away from the still-blooming Summertime flowers, there were some harvest vibes going on inside the Conservatory.

After I strolled around the Conservatory and grounds, I headed to the Woodland Garden and Trail to see their spooky stuff for my Halloween post which was last week.

I also strolled over to the “farming area” of the Community Gardens, thinking there may still be a pumpkin or squash hanging around that I might photograph for the Fall feel of this post. Fellow Michigan blogger Ruth had surprised me earlier that week by saying they had already harvested all their pumpkins and squash from their gardens.

It was the same at the Community Gardens where all that remained of the plots so carefully tended since Spring were Marigolds, no doubt planted to thwart the critters who were out to feed their respective faces and destroy the harvest of the Community Garden produce. The strong smell is good for deterring those critters, squirrels in particular.

I saw the geese were gathering beyond the caboose and boxcar.

The geese didn’t play favorites as they also hung out around the boxcar. The grass was about as bright green as that boxcar, which I’m sure delighted the geese.

I thought they looked a bit conflicted in this photo, like … “hey gang, where do we go next?”

I was hardly welcomed with open wings by the geese and my reward was not a ton of photo ops, but a few side-eye glimpses instead, so I just moseyed on.

It was a gorgeous Fall day, with the sun shining brightly, which just seemed to intensify the already-bright colors of the Little Red Schoolhouse …

… and the Water-Powered Mill.

The covered bridge had a perfect backdrop of green trees, but for one Maple tree that had erupted in a color which seemingly matched the roof of the bridge.

The Maple trees are my favorite when it comes to leaf peepin’.

The historical West Mound Church was touting their venue for weddings.

After leaving the church, I saw many ducks sleeping over by Coan Lake, so I went over to check them out. I saw they were all out of “eclipse phase” so they are no longer a blah brown, but have returned to their respective resplendent selves, so I can now distinguish the males from the females.

Check out these two Sleeping Beauties:

I tried not to startle them as I walked by, but I suspect some of the crispy leaves that were already littered along the path must have crunched beneath the soles of my heavy walking shoes and these ducks awoke, instantly alert and, without sounding as much as a quack as an alert to their brethren, most of the others soon opened their eyes as well …

Just as with the Canada Geese, they looked at me as an intrusion to their day and one by one they waddled down the slope to Coan Lake. Oops!

My trip past the Petting Farm did not yield a single photo op that day; nary a rooster antic, nor did I have a meet-up with chickens too chicken to cross the road. So, I decided to opt for a brief walk in the wooded area that is between Heritage Park and Wayne County Community College. This time, however, the route I chose was different than the trail I’ve taken in the past. (This straying from the beaten path would happen to me twice that week!) I only intended to top off this post with some woodsy shots, even though I was on the lookout for a doe and fawn that people had taken photos of. I realized they would have been out foraging much earlier in the day, but the morning drizzle dashed my plan to get there earlier. Taking that new trail in the woods yielded a ton of shots during the hour I spent there. I’ll save that tale for February as I plan to have a theme for that post in conjunction with my 14th Blogiversary, so stay tuned!

Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge this week is “Favorite Vacation Spots” and since I’ve shared a lot of former vacations earlier this year, I will use this Walktober post for Terri’s Flower Hour instead.