Category Archives: Seasonal

Walter’s Fruit Ranch: What a Find

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Outside of Spokane, in an area called Green Bluff near Mead, you can find produce, cheese, farm animals and more, at more than 40 farms. You can easily spend a day here and not see it all.

An Angeles peach - so juicy you have to tilt your head back to eat it to keep the sweet juice from dripping on your clothes.

If my experience at Walter’s Fruit Ranch in Green Bluff is typical of the other farms, you’re in for a real treat. My day started off with a yummy Greek quiche made with eggs, feta cheese, ham and green olives plus the flakiest, most buttery pastry crust I’ve ever tasted. I couldn’t get enough of the crust, so I ate a slice of apple pie for dessert. Kudos to the pie baker and co-owner Arlene Morrell. At one time or another, the café offers 32 different varieties of Arlene’s pies. Arlene or a baker she has shown the way makes them and freezes them; she says they taste better after freezing.

One of the very vocal sheep at Walter's Fruit Ranch

Fueled for the day, I hopped on the Fruit Loop Express, a tractor-train contraption, and headed for the fruit orchards where I discovered 22 varieties of apples, five varieties of peaches, three of apricots and cherries. When the fruit is in season, you can ride the Express into the orchards where the driver will deposit you in a prime spot and you pick all the fruit you want. The train continuously meanders along the same route through the orchard all day so that when you’re ready to leave, you get on and it takes you back to the farmhouse.

I visited in the fall so owner Mark Morrell who drove the Express that day let me shoot an apple out of an air gun aimed at a pumpkin. If I hit the pumpkin, I got to take another pumpkin home. No worries there – I don’t have very good aim.

 

While you’re there don’t forget to visit the gift shop, which sells some already picked produce, plus lovely home décor items.

Don’t Overlook Salem

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Last week at this time I was touring Oregon’s state capital, Salem. Oftentimes, travelers concentrate on the big city of Portland, the coastal towns or the wine country of Willamette Valley when they consider Oregon as a destination. Consider Salem, also. Here’s why:

 

Just a few miles outside of town sits the lovely Bavarian town of Mount Angel. At the Glockenspiel Restaurant, local ingredients from less than a mile away, are the emphasis. That makes the entrees served taste a lot fresher and really brings something special to the table. Besides the tried and true German recipes like wienerschnitzel, I urge you to try their special cabbage, which takes the chef five hours to make. It will tantalize your palate. Then at the appointed time, go outside and watch the performance of the wooden dolls in the Glockenspiel tower alongside the restaurant.

For a healthy walk after dinner, head up to Mount Angel Abbey. Enjoy the gardens and the peacefulness.

Mount Angel’s largest claim to fame and what the townspeople put the most energy into is their Oktoberfest. This year is the 45th annual and runs from September 13-16. With all kinds of fun for the whole family, Oktoberfest celebrates the harvest and the bounty of the earth through live music, street dancing, a car show and more.

Gallon House Covered Bridge

On the way back to Salem, visit the Gallon House Covered Bridge, Oregon’s oldest covered bridge. It was named for the days when liquor was sold by the gallon or quart in a nearby house.

Gerry Frank’s Konditorei, with more than 40 flavors of cake and pastries, is a must-stop for dessert in Salem. Local favorite cakes include Barney’s Blackout, Chocolate Raspberry and Lemon Cream. I savored the seasonal Marionberry and highly recommend it.

Then for $1.50 you can’t beat the price for a ride on the old world-style carousel housed in a stately building on the banks of the Willamette River.

Salem makes a fabulous family vacation and every year right around this time it hosts the Oregon State Fair. Scones, funnel cakes, food on a stick…

Fantasy Lights at Spanaway Park

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Proclaimed to be the Northwest’s largest holiday drive-through event, Fantasy Lights continues through January 1, 2012. With more than 300 colorful and dazzling light displays, it’s one event that should not be missed.

Last year Fantasy Lights spawned three successful marriage proposals and lots of pay-it-forward situations where the driver in front paid for the car behind him. Because I’m recovering from foot surgery, a drive-through display from the warmth of our car made perfect sense.

When this holiday tour was first born 17 years ago, it held just 38 displays. Now with over 300, you will see everything from animated bears flying kites, snow boys kicking field goals, a sea serpent that breathes fire, frogs jumping on a lily pad and Santa and Rudolf sail a tall ship to every holiday theme imaginable. Watch out for the reindeer jumping over your car.

My personal favorites were the illuminated aliens built by Rogers High School’s Welding Class. The aliens range in height from 5-7 feet and are 3-7 feet wide. Students from Rogers High have built many of the displays in the past including the flowers, gingerbread people and candy canes.

You’ll hear lots of “awes” and “ohs” from the kids sticking their heads out of car windows and sunroof tops. And maybe a few from inside your vehicle. Take as many passengers as your car holds because you pay by the car load.

When you arrive at the park gate, tune your radio to the suggested station and you’ll hear Christmas music throughout your drive.

Polar Plaza Coming to Tacoma for the Holidays

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Skate to your heart’s content. Wear an Ugly Sweater to get $1 off admission. Watch the Thunderbirds Hockey Team take the ice. Enjoy live music. Choose your Christmas tree. Shop for gifts. Do it all in one central location.

 

This holiday season Tacoma residents won’t have to trek to Bellevue or Seattle to experience an open-air outdoor ice skating rink with all the trimmings. Tacoma will have their own. The Franciscan Polar Plaza, which will be located directly across from the Tacoma Art Museum at Tollefson Plaza on Pacific Avenue, will be open from November 25 through January 2, 2012.

The skating rink will measure 40 feet by 100 feet and can accommodate 150 people. Admission will be $8 and skate rental will be $2. After paying these fees you can stay all day if you like and enjoy the music, special events, and purchase coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

I am really looking forward to this although I don’t ice skate, but I do love to watch skaters. To get there and avoid the parking crunch, I think I’ll park at the Tacoma Dome Station and take the Tacoma Link light rail to the Polar Plaza. That’s all free so I can spend more when I get to my destination.

Apples and More at BelleWood Acres

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Sansa, Sunrise, Zestar, Tsugaru and Pink Pearl. What do these all have in common?

John Belisle talking about some of his favorite apples

They represent just some of the varieties of apples grown at Bellewood Acres in Lynden, Washington. John and Dorie Belisle grow 20 different varieties of apples – some you might recognize like Gravenstein, McIntosh and Honeycrisp.

Besides being a working farm, Bellewood Acress also provides education to children and adults alike. A self-guided tour is offered that includes the orchard, packing shed, juice parlor, bakery and farm store. Each year in their garden, the Belisle’s grow something new. This year it’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkins, but because the Northwest has suffered from a lack of sunshine this year, the ginormous pumpkins probably won’t be that big.

At the packing shed they pack over 200,000 pounds of fruit a year. In the coolers you can see the sizing tables. The largest apples are sold in the Farm Store, medium-sized ones go to the grocers and the sweet little ones make their way to some of the local school districts.

A breakfast of hot, flakey apple turnovers and Bellewood Acres Bubbly makes a great start to your day

After learning about the farm and taking a tour, a visit to the farm store should be on your agenda. Apple pie, apple turnovers, Bubbly, peanut butter and gifts galore await you. I’m sure you’ll leave with lots of goodies for your dining table and maybe even some décor items. I know I did.

Do the Puyallup

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You’ve still got plenty of time to get to the Puyallup Fair since it runs through Sunday, September 25th. If you go, there is lots to see and do including several new attractions. I like to take two days to go through everything as it’s hard for me to enjoy everything I want to in just one day.

Listed as one of the biggest and best fairs in this Mainstreet.com article by Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell, the Puyallup pretty much has it all. Livestock, a petting zoo, lots of entertainment, a beer garden and wine bistro, lots of food, famous entertainers, rides, a carnival, 4-H and Grange displays and vendors galore round out the fun at the complex known as the Puyallup Fairgrounds.

 

Some of my favorite treats from my time at the Fair this past Sunday included Danny Vernon, the best Elvis impersonator in the Pacific Northwest. And he’s phenomenal – both his singing and Elvis movements plus he has a five-piece band backing him up. But even better – watching the audience and all the people who actually remember the real Elvis and the words to every one of his songs. I don’t know if Danny is returning to the Fair, but if you have a chance to seem him perform, definitely do it.

One of the new attractions, A World of Music, is located just outside the Northwest Outdoor Barn. On display are instruments from many other countries and you can touch and play them to your heart’s content.

We also got to see a Seattle Police Officer demonstrate how his K-9 Ziva works. And, yes, she is named for the character on the TV show, NCIS. This German Shepherd is the first female K-9 to work with Seattle Police and she’s very good. She hasn’t been on the job long and has already caught quite a few bad guys.

Yummy, yummy barbecued ribs.

Foodwise, I highly recommend the new strawberry flavored ice cream in the Milk Barn, Fisher scones, of course; barbecued ribs or chicken, hamburgers, elephant ears and corn on the cob. I’ve heard that deep-fried Rocky Mountain Oysters (none for me, thank you), deep-fried bubble gum and deep-fried Kool-Aid are also available. I also have it on good authority that there’s a wine bar on the second floor of the fine arts building, but I’ll visit that on my next trip.

The News Tribune wrote a great article on how to visit the fair, if you need some help in that direction.

Maybe I’ll see you there on my return trip.

Floating on a Fall Foliage Cruise

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Every once in awhile I venture outside Washington’s boundaries to see what’s going on in our neighboring states. In Post Falls, Idaho, which is only a hop, skip and a jump from Spokane, Washington, I discovered the Red Lion River Queen, an authentic paddle-wheel boat that cruises up and down the Spokane River.

The Red Lion River Queen docked at the Templin Marina.

I love to sit on the upper deck of a boat, watch the shores for wildlife and feel the warmth of the sun caress me. Sipping a drink, while doing so, makes the experience just about perfect. This cruise does that and more.

In order to enjoy one of these excursions, you’ll have to act fast because the last one of the season leaves the dock on September 25, 2011. I highly recommend these narrated tours.

From the water side you can see the $7 million home that Amway built. Nobody lives there now – the complex is just used for events. Besides the mega mansions situated on the river’s shores, you might see osprey and you’ll definitely see fall emerging in a symphony of colors.

The house built by a gentleman who worked within the Amway Corporation.

 

The River Queen holds 100 people (60 on the enclosed lower deck) , has a full bar on board and it’s easy to move about the cabin or step outside to the upper deck (holds 40 people) for an even better view.

The Wine Down at Sundown cruises, offer appetizers and wine tasting from Coeur d’Alene Wine Cellars. Sign up soon because the last departs on the evening of September 16, 2011.

 All aboard!

Take a Jaunt to Jetty Island: Last Chance This Season

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I’ve heard about Jetty Island in Everett, Washington, but never had the chance to wiggle my toes in the warm sand, relax on the beach or participate in an educational trail walk. And it blew me away.

 

You have to take a ferry or a private boat to get there and I love ferries so it already enticed me. This ferry is free, one of the smaller Argosy boats, and the ride takes only three minutes.

On a sunny day, which we enjoyed, the 80-passenger ferry reaches capacity on every crossing until the Ranger on Jetty Island declares too many people have landed on the island and the ferry takes a break until some people depart.

Ranger Kraig Hansen, Chief Naturalist for the City of Everett, describes the island's fauna to a group of hikers.

Who would want to leave when the kids are kept busy digging in the sand or wading in the water and parents can relax without distractions. When everyone needs a change of activities, nature trails beckon and guided walks geared towards children are offered. Ranger Kraig leads the walks and is a fountain of knowledge and quite funny. He might even ask you to taste Pickleweed.

Jetty Island measures two miles long, has one floating restroom, and no running water or electricity. So bring whatever you need because you won’t find vendors on the island selling hot dogs and soda. Unplug and unravel for as long as you like. Just don’t miss the last ferry of the day back to Everett or you might have to pay a private boater to shuttle you in.

Although there is no charge to go to Jetty Island donations are welcome and make it possible for the ferry to transport more than 40,000 visitors annually.

The season officially ends on Labor Day, September 5 this year.

View of Everett from Jetty Island

Crystal Mountain Gondola Ride: A Slice of Paradise

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Our friends, Dan and Cheryl with Mount Rainier in the background

This past Saturday evening I experienced the true meaning of breathtaking. After riding up 2,500 vertical feet in the brand new gondola at Crystal Mountain, you’re as up close and personal with Mount Rainier as you’ll ever get without climbing her. It’s only 12 miles away here, but looks much closer. Since you’ve already climbed some while driving up to the resort, now you’re at 6,872 feet. You can feel the crisp chill she sheds off her slopes even on an 80 degree day.

At the top you can hike, sit in the chairs provided and just marvel at Mother Nature’s creations, picnic or dine at the Summit House. Since it only seats 65, and word has gotten out about this must-do activity, the dinners, which are served on Fridays and Saturdays, have been sold out through the end of the season. Sunday brunch and lunches should still be an option, though.

Scrumptious lemon cake

The food served is world class and dinner at the highest restaurant in Washington State should definitely be on your bucket list. Try the lemon cake dessert and the halibut – I recommend both.

Guess what? Dogs are welcome on the gondola and love to hike and chase squirrels at the top. For more ideas on what to do on Crystal, log onto Visit Rainier or Crystal Mountain Resort.

The gondola will run daily through Sept. 11 and then switch to Saturday-Sunday only through Oct. 2. Then it closes until ski season begins.

Tarry at Cherry Wood Bed Breakfast and Barn

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In Zillah we found a most unique place to stay – Cherry Wood Bed Breakfast and Barn.

Teepee interior at Cherry Wood

You sleep in tall teepees that are completely furnished with real beds, a refrigerator and mirrors. The floors are either stone or brick depending on the teepee. You do have to venture outside to use the porta potties or the showers, but it’s worth it for the view of the Yakima Valley and experiencing the sites, sounds and smells of nature.

Try the “Twilight Tubs” for romance or bonding with your BFFs. Bath salts are supplied, and you can enjoy candles and drink wine while relaxing in the soaking tubs. Pepper Fewel, the owner, drew a vivid picture of what it’s like to recline in the tubs under the stars and it was a mighty appealing picture.

After breakfast in the morning, you’ll want to get dressed for a winery tour on horseback. For four hours, you’ll ride a horse, fit to your riding level, to three different wineries, which might include Cultura, Agate, Silver Lake or Two Mountains, and have lunch. If you choose to buy wine at any of the wineries, it is picked up for you and brought back to Cherry Wood so it’s there to enjoy when you return.

Getting the horses ready for a winery tour

Fewel says most of her horses were rescued and then trained for trail rides. Horses that run up to the gate in the morning are the first ones chosen for the winery tour that day. The ones that hang back don’t have to go.

This is a tour I’d love to try. What better way to enjoy the countryside, experience the lushness of the wineries and get a little exercise to boot.