If this isn't a perfect day, then I don't know what is

The weather across New England is perfect and the New Hampshire foliage report says the fall colors are at their peak. The air is cool and crisp. You have an awesome travel buddy and you're both itching to get out of the city and pick some apples.

What would you do?

Here's what Jenn and I did: We reserved a new BMW 328 from Zipcar and plotted out a trip that would take us from Boston to New Hampshire through the back roads of New England.

Yes, I brought my camera.

ON THE ROAD

The farther away we got from coastal Boston, the more intense the fall colors seemed.



By the time we were just outside of Keene, which isn't too far from the Vermont border, the colors were unbelievable.





I've never seen anything like this. The farthest north I ever lived was North Carolina, and I moved from there when I was 4. I've never experienced the pure bliss that is possible on a beautiful autumn day, where the smell of chimney smoke lingers in the air, and the grass is crunchy from all the leaves.





Me and the woman I love.



Our sweet ride. BMW calls itself the ultimate driving machine. Hyperbole? No way. This car devoured those twisty New England roads. (Jenn and I hatched several plots on how to steal it from Zipcar.)

AT THE ORCHARD

Although apple picking season was nearly over, there was still plenty of delicious fruit high up on the branches at McLeod Brothers Orchards in Milford, N.H.





And, as my kiss-stealing, apple-peeling travelmate demonstrates, they had a special tool just for reaching the apples near the top.







Apples, mostly Cortlands, at all stages.



And, of course, we had to do the obvious when we returned home …



… bake an apple pie. De-lish-us.