Autumn Leaves

After spending most of the summer traveling, we arrived home in early October.  It’s my favorite time of year in the Tri-Cities.  The temperatures are cooler, the sky is usually blue, and most importantly it is not as windy as other times of the year. 
 

Neighborhood pond, ducks & geese

We live in a desert; most people don’t realize that WA State has a desert.  It is known as the Evergreen State and though much of the state is covered with heavy forests, our southeastern part of the state is a dry scrubland with less than 10” of annual rainfall on average.  Without irrigation from the Columbia River we wouldn’t have anything growing except sagebrush.  Despite all the cultivation of the area, the wind blows briskly in the spring, fiercely in the winter, and there’s generally a hot breeze in the summer.  But in the fall the winds are calmer, most of the time.  That being said, the wind has been blowing most of the last three days!

Overlooking the Yakima River, West Richland WA

We lived in SC for four years and the autumn was beautiful there.  All of the fall colors that make New England famous move south and the hardwood trees burst with orange, red, and golden yellows. 

View from Caesar's Head, SC

Bob’s from MI and their trees turn beautiful reds; I’m from CO and it is known for the lovely golden Aspen. 

Autumn in Michigan

Autumn on Vail Pass, Colorado

Amy & Shane, 1977 Grand Mesa, CO

But in the Pacific NW we don’t have a lot of fall color because we don’t have many hardwood trees; our forests are evergreen.  Around the Tri-Cities most of the trees are ones that have been planted; they are not native to the area except for a few cottonwood along the rivers.

Leslie Groves Park, Richland WA

Leslie Groves Park, Richland WA

   

But this time of year we enjoy getting out and walking through the parks and our neighborhood. 

Bob's morning walk thru the neighborhood

  

Autumn has long been a “family” season for us.  We try to spend some time together before the busy holidays.

Halloween, 2013

This year we enjoyed some one on one time with Shane who came over to visit for Bob’s birthday.  We went wine tasting at Bookwalter Wines (www.bookwalterwines.com) and enjoyed a relaxing sunny afternoon. 

Shane @ Bookwalter

Sunday afternoon wine time!

  

A couple weeks later we visited Amy & Mike in Walla Walla where we visited Burwood Brewing Co. (www.burwoodbrewing.com)

Amy & Mike @ Burwood

We also enjoyed a visit from a dear Port Townsend friend and took her wine tasting in the Red Mountain area, at Fidelitas. (www.fidelitaswines.com) and Hamilton Cellars (www.hamiltoncellars.com).   There seems to be a theme to these sunny fall afternoons!

Sunny afternoon in the vineyards!

We really do not drink very much.  Truly!  However, our region has become home to many vineyards and of course wineries. There are over 200 wineries within a 50-mile radius of the Tri-Cities.  Our town is central to vineyards in the Yakima Valley, Prosser, Red Mountain, and Walla Walla.  Each of the viticultural (raising grapevines) areas produces unique wines and the views of the vineyards are stunning.www.visittri-cities.com/what-to-see-and-do/sip-sample/wineries  

Grapes @ Walla Walla ready for harvest

 

Grapes are WA State’s fourth largest agricultural crop; a significant part of our local economy. www.washingtonwine.org/wine-101/regions/   
But the best part of being in wine country is that the vineyards and wineries have become interesting places to take visitors for tasting and many of the wineries offer great food.  It’s a fun afternoon!

It seems craft beer and brewpubs are also becoming prolific; there are hundreds in WA and several stand out in the southeastern part of the state.  But it’s also worth noting that one of the reasons the beer industry is thriving in WA is because we are one of the largest hops growing regions in the world.  WA grows 75% of all the hops in the US, and specifically approximately two-thirds of hops grown in the Yakima Valley region are exported worldwide.  washingtonbeer.com/breweries/ 

Yakima Valley Hops

 
And if visiting wineries or brewpubs isn't enough, the wheat fields, apple orchards, and potato fields always offer some beautiful and interesting scenery.

Wheat fields toward Blue Mountains

WA Apples

Yakima River Valley potato fields

Both of us have had a bit of withdrawal syndrome from our summer travels so we headed to Spokane for a day trip to the Apple Store and some shopping.  It’s a different world just 150 miles north of here.  Spokane has done a fabulous job of making downtown a fun destination and we enjoyed a riverfront walk.  One of the things we’ve been trying to “work” on is being more spontaneous so we decided to take in a movie, have dinner and stay the night.  Loved time in the big city!

Spokane Falls

Spokane River

Downtown Spokane

I said I enjoy autumn.  And, I do enjoy the weather, the fall colors, the smell of autumn leaves, football (Go Hawks!), and all of those things . . . but there is something sad about autumn also.  It makes me very reflective and I can’t help but think about the long winter to come and those I love.  I also remember those we’ve lost.  We realized in the last two years, we have lost two loved ones and five dear friends, one of whom passed just last week.  They haven’t all passed in the autumn but for some reason my thoughts turn to them this time of year.  I guess it’s a time for transition, just as the season changes and autumn leaves us.

We do have some great family times coming up!  Bob’s Aunt will turn 90 next week and we are cashing in our airline miles to fly to MA to celebrate and spend time with his cousins.  Alex and Amy both have birthdays around Thanksgiving, and we will celebrate the holiday together as well as their birthdays.  When Amy was young she always thought all of the Thanksgiving celebration was for her birthday because that was when we got together with extended family members.  It hasn’t changed much!

My insight into retirement for today is to take time to enjoy NOW.  Everyone tells us . . . travel now while we have the energy, patience, desire, and our health.  We will as long as the money holds out and also as long we like each other!  So far, it’s okay.  In the meantime we are enjoying retirement, the hustle bustle of the summer when we were on the go and the stillness of fall as the autumn leaves fall from the trees.  A couple years ago we spent some family time in late October at Lake Chelan, a beautiful area northwest of here.  I think Amy & Shane got a head start on relaxation . . . time for a nap!