If you decide to forego New England but still want to do fall foliange this year... give Michigan a try. Fall foliage to die for, 3 great lakes, hills, lots of smaller lakes, sand dunes, Macinac Island, lighthouses along it's thousands of miles of coastline ...
One of my favorite all time ever bill-boards is in Michigan. Has a picture of Fall leaves and the caption reads "Green is sooo last season".