Yes this is really New Jersey

So what's the first thing you think of when you hear about New Jersey?  Is it the hit series "The Sopranos?"  Is it the Goethals Bridge? Is it the now infamous "Jersey Shore?"  or is it the lovely stench of fumes produced by the Bayway refinery on exit 13A of the Turnpike?  Or do you view New Jersey more as a convenient refueling stop en route to Manhattan? Regardless of your views of the state, New Jersey generally does not get a good rep when compared to other states.  However, lost in these popular generalizations are the hidden gems of the lesser populated and known parts of the state.

Renee and I this past Saturday took a autumn foliage trip to the Northwestern part of the state.  (Mostly Hunterdon county)  Our journey began at the town of Hope and ended at New Hope, Pennsylvania. (This was a coincidence, we did not intend it to be that way.) Our trip also had an unconscious, dual motive as we vigorously attempted to debunk the popular, but erroneous myths of our state. So here are the pictures from our journey.  Enjoy!

Buttzville. Yes this is actually the name of the town! We stopped here to grab a hot dog from the famous Hot Dog Johnny's.  As we parked our car I snapped this shot of this beautiful brook that was adjacent to the place.
   

Round Valley State Park,  Lebanon.  After our stop at Buttzville, we took a slight, eastern detour and we ended up at the majestic Round Valley State Park.  I took this shot of the reservoir.  Notice to the left of the photo there is a person canoeing.  This park is famous for its canoeing.

Rt. 12 West, Near Frenchtown.  After leaving Round Valley we decided that we wanted to head towards Stockton.  We decided to take Rt. 12  in order to connect with Rt. 29 which flanked the Delaware river. I took this shot, but as you can tell it was still too early for the autumn foliage season.

St. Agnes Roman Catholic church, Stockton.  After passing the famous Stockton Inn we passed by this lovely, charming, little church.  This might be the smallest Catholic Church that we had ever seen.  Regardless, it was still beautiful in its unadorned simplicity.

Delaware Township. After passing the delightful Stockton we took a slight detour to county road 605.  While driving on this scenic road full of rolling hills and endless sky I was drawn to this barn and silo.  It felt like we were somewhere in Kansas.  We even began chanting "There is no place like home, there is no place like home."  "Does anyone know where the yellow brick road is?

Lambertville. After leaving Delaware township we took Rt. 179 into Lambertville.  We parked our car had some great coffee at the Lambertville Trading Company.  After our coffee we took a brief stroll to the historic Lambertville Train Station; to the right of the station we discovered this small, but attractive stretch of shops. 

Lambertville/New Hope.  After spending some time in Lambertville we embarked upon the final leg of our trip to New Hope.  While we were driving on the bridge I snapped this shot of the evening sky.  (No, the line running across is not some UFO, it is just the one of the rails of the bridge.)