Starting in September, we headed out to the Rockies for a vacation. We were in the Tetons during Peak color and at Rocky Mountain National Park during their peak color.
On the way home, in early October, we saw the pretty colors in Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota on our way back to Wisconsin. We were worried that the peak colors would be over with in Wisconsin based on the rusts of the oaks we were seeing in Missouri. In Wisconsin, that part of the fall Colors comes after the maples and the birch and poplars (our version of aspens).
Luckily, we were wrong. The colors were in full swing when we got home! I took these pictures the morning after we got home in mid-October on our lake.
http://carol.trailmanorowners.com/fall.html
For those of you who believe that the Northeast has the best colors, I have to disagree. We lived in Maine for a couple of years and saw the beautiful colors in the White Mountains. There, each tree has its own color, and they can be brilliant. However, I just love all the varied colors we get here in the Midwest. The maple trees will even have multi-colors on the same leaf. Maples can be red, yellow, orange and all colors in between. The birches and poplars get to be a bright yellow-gold (like aspens do). The oak trees range in color from red, rust, orange and yellow. We had a gorgeous, extended fall this year with lots to remember when it snows and gets cold!