Art, Brunch and a Corn Maze

On Saturday Susan and I attended a workshop at North Star Lodge titled 'The Art of the Inner Journey'. The speaker was Margaret Carpenter and she was in Yakima to promote her new book of the same name. Both the book and the workshop describe how to work with images of the subconscious mind in order to process emotions and develop positive imagery to better deal with the challenges of life. I am looking forward to reading our copy of her book.

Sunday morning we went to the Yakima Cultural Center in Toppenish to try the brunch at the Heritage Inn Restaurant. Susan noticed in the local event newspaper that this brunch has been voted the best brunch in the valley for three straight years so we had to go see for ourselves. It was very impressive indeed. Not only was the food good but the price was very reasonable.
After eating we went to Union Gap to walk off our breakfast in Schell's massive corn maze. In addition to the corn maze they have a farm animal zoo, hay rides, a mini corn maze for little people, 6 bonfire pits and BBQ's, a pumpkin patch, pumpkin chucker and a haunted house.

In the background of the picture below you can see some of the straw bales for one of the mini mazes.

This maze did have a lot of twists and turns. I took this picture shortly after we started on our trek. We had to go pretty show due to the uneven ground, but we still got to the exit ahead of the average time.

The area is very pretty. We were there right when they opened on Sunday morning so there were still in the process of setting things up for the day, but it would be easy to spend a couple of hours looking at everything.

What a fun weekend!

In The Mood

Yesterday afternoon Susan and I saw In The Mood at the Capitol Theatre. The music and singing was very enjoyable. The String of Pearls Orchestra was outstanding and it was great to hear some of the songs from the 40's and 50's again, such as Chattanooga Choo Choo, I've Got A Gal in Kalamazoo, Over There and Bugle Call Rag.

This is a little bit of history from their official website.
"IN THE MOOD began as a celebration of an unusual era in American music, the 1940s...the Swing era. On radio, in theaters and ballrooms, the Big Bands were drawing record crowds. Vocal groups and soloists sang a repertoire of great songs, and for the last time in the 20th century, the entire country shared a common popular music. This body of song did much to sustain national morale during World War II, the pivotal event of the '40s. The National Archives in Washington, DC brought IN THE MOOD to their audiences as part of their commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of WWII, and the response was extraordinary, with crowds lining up for hours before curtain time. The engagement was twice extended."

"In 1993, the Archives presented a repeat performance, out-of-doors on Constitution Avenue. Thousands attended, and many stayed to dance the night away. As a result, IN THE MOOD, in affiliation with the USO, began a series of tours which played to audiences across the U.S. The show's association with the National Archives and the USO was altogether appropriate, for much of the underpinning research was drawn from resources of these national organizations."

"Since then, IN THE MOOD has also visited Europe and Canada and in 1997, the band and singers were selected to be part of the entertainment for the 53rd Presidential Inauguration Ball for President and Mrs. Clinton. Touring since 1994, the show's upcoming 17th year of national and international performances will continue to portray the spirit of the music that moved the nation."
If you get a chance, it is a great way to spend a couple of hours.

Weekend Fun

Julie, Adam, Mom and Dad have been visiting for the last several days and there is so much happening in the valley this time of year, it is easy to find things to do.
It was still quite warm out when Julie and Adam first arrived. This gave Adam a chance to play outside with his water toys and bubbles. He doesn't like making the bubbles, but he does love to chase them and throw the wand. Right now he loves baseball. He went to 27 Pittsburgh Pirates games this season. He has his own ball and mitt and loves to play catch.

On Friday we all went to the Central Washington Fair. We spent a lot of time in the animal barns. This goat was trying to operate the power chair.

Adam just loves animals and he is not afraid of them.

Julie spent a lot of time with Adam in the petting zoo.

On Saturday we went to Leavenworth to meet Bruce for lunch. Marie and Samantha were not able to join us, which is a shame. It was fun to see Adam and Bruce play together. It was the first weekend of Oktoberfest in Leavenworth. There were a lot of people there to listen to the live music, enjoy the Art Fair, and see all the crazy hats people wear.

There were several activities available for people who did not want to shop such as this rock climbing wall. Thunderstorms and showers were predicted for the day, but only a few drops fell while we were there.

We stopped for coffee at one of the Bratwurst and Beer pubs and this statue was in the garden.

We celebrated Susan's birthday on Sunday. Even though her birthday was actually in August, we decided to wait and celebrate when everyone would be in Yakima. Julie gave Susan this color book of Mount Lebanon, PA where Julie lives. Several artists from the area provided the pictures for this book that doubles as a local history. One of the artists is a lady that taught the art class that Julie took last winter.

On Sunday, Susan took Julie and Adam out to Thompson's Farm to watch the pumpkin canons. They blow a whistle before firing the canons and that scared Adam to death. I believe this creature in the pumpkin patch was more his style.

A close-up of the pumpkin creatures head.

Every year they have a group of different characters "playing" music for the crowd. They also serve hot apple cider and cinnamon doughnuts that are made while you watch. YUM!

What a fun long weekend!

Trip to Port Orchard

Susan got Tillie from Cedar Creek Cavaliers in Poulsbo, WA. Trudy Owens, the owner, is a very conscientious breeder. She is passionate about her dogs and stays in touch with all the people who purchase her puppies. She recently contacted Susan about a Veterinarian Cardiologist who would be in Port Orchard on September 20. We were told that he is very experienced in picking up heart murmurs that might be missed by other vets. The information is crucial for both the long term care of the dog and Trudy's breeding choices. Susan decided that those were good enough reasons to drive over to Port Orchard for the test.
We got both dogs, the stroller and ourselves in the car and left Yakima just before 9:00 AM. After stopping at rest areas so we could all stretch our legs, our first stop was Molbak's in Woodinville. Yes, that is the wrong direction from Port Orchard, but they have some kneepads that we desperately needed and besides, the store is just awesome. We arrived there at lunchtime so after making our purchase, we all sat outside at Panera Bread and ate lunch. The dogs were a big hit inside Molbak's and outside the restaurant. From Woodinville we headed over to Edmonds to take the ferry to Kingston. We decided to take this route and visit any of the small towns on the way to Port Orchard, if there was time.

It is amazing the attention you get everywhere when you have two cute dogs with you. The weather was just spectacular all day long. No clouds, perfect 75 degrees and sunny. As you can see, there wasn't a wave in the water.
When we arrived in Poulsbo we decided we needed to just drive straight to Port Orchard for the test because we did not know how long it would take to get there. The vet was suppose to arrive between 3:30 and 4:30 PM and it was already 2:40 PM. It only took us 20 minutes to make the drive down highway 3. When we arrived, the vet was there and we got to go right in for the test. It only took a few minutes and Tillie's heart sounded just fine.
Back in the car, we headed for the Southworth ferry which would take us to West Seattle after a brief stop at Vashon Island. Mt. Rainier was stunning!

While driving across I-90 in the morning Susan noticed that the freeway would be closed at 6:30 PM for blasting. We checked on the cellphone and blasting was still scheduled. We knew we would get stuck in the delay if we drove home over I-90 and 410 is very windy so we decided to drive home over White Pass.
Not counting the two ferry rides, we traveled 442.07 miles. We were all very tired when Susan pulled into the garage at 11:45 PM, almost 15 hours after our day began. What we won't do for the love of our dogs!

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Since we were driving down to Bingen to try the pizza (see the previous post) I picked two Geocaches we could hunt for while in the area. The first cache was located in the Chenowith Cemetery. The cemetery is at the top of the cliff overlooking the Hood Canal. This view from the top of the cliff was just fantastic. The Hood River Bridge is just barely visible stretching across the river. Visibility was lower than normal due to the Oregon wildfire.

The town of Hood River is just across the water and was easily seen from our vantage point above the cliff.

The Oregon wildfire was visible as well. We could see the smoke shortly after leaving the Yakima area. Part of Mt. Hood is visible behind the smoke.

There were several trees around the cache which always interferes with the GPS signal. Susan noticed that the needle was moving even when she was standing still - not a good sign. Lucky for us, this was a very small cemetery so the "search" area was small.
Some people add clues to the cache information online at Geocache.com in case you need a little help finding the cache. The clue for this cache was "Delbert is looking at it.". This is Delbert.

The next cache was located at the Bingen Point Marina Park. We did not have any trouble with the signal for this cache. The GPS took us right to it.

A beautiful place to hide a cache.

What a great day of sightseeing and trying out a new restaurant.

Solstice Wood Fire Cafe

In the September 2001 Food Network Magazine there is an article in the section titled On the Road, describing the best pizza found in every one of the 50 states. The winner for Washington was the Country Girl Cherry pizza found at the Solstice Wood Fire Cafe in Bingen, Washington. We'll, since Bingen is only a couple of hours away we decided to drive down from Yakima and try it out for ourselves.

While we can't speak for the remaining 49 pizza picks, the Food Network got this one right - it IS worth the trip. For those of you that can't pick up your magazine and read about the pizza, it is made with a tomato based topped with goat cheese, cherries and chorizo sausage and sprinkled with rosemary and thyme. YUM!

We also tried the pizza special of the day; a salmon pizza with corn, cherry tomatoes, and a special white sauce. Susan preferred that salmon pizza while I liked the cherry one the best. The restaurant has outside seating and a gift shop where you can buy a variety of items from Washington state. Well Done Solstice!

Back to School

Susan and I made this cake last night in honor of all the parents at North Star who have kids going back to school this week. This cake is featured in the September 2011 Food Network Magazine.

Preying Mantis

I do not remember seeing them last year, but this year we have a number of Preying Mantis that arrive on the porch at sunset. This one decided to stick around for awhile and Tillie was just fascinated. Usually the little critters are stuck to the screen door, but this one decided to rest on the table, which is just at the perfect height for Tillie to get a good look. She was so funny. She kept turning her head and looking at me and then back to the mantis and then back to me. I guess she was waiting for some explanation for the creature.

60th Anniversary Party

Susan and I hosted a party for Mom and Dad this weekend to celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary. The celebration was held at our home on a picture perfect Saturday afternoon.
Mom and Dad were married on September 7, 1951 in Spokane.

This was the first time Bruce and Marie had been to our new home and the first family photo taken since 2001.

For lunch we served salmon deviled eggs, shredded chicken, meatballs, a seafood pasta salad made by Marie, pea salad, a variety of cheeses, veggies, chips and dip, rolls, and droid mix.

Sally and Randy drove over from eastern Washington (as did Claudette & Carol, Marge & Larry and Bill & Beverly to celebrate the day with Mom and Dad.


Bruce clowning around with Mom's tiara and Dad's chain.

Dessert consisted of six flavors of cupcakes made by the Truly Scrumptious Cupcakery in Yakima. We also served mints, and personallized M&M's. The M&M's read either Ken, Dolores, Happy 60th or Party!

Each cupcake held an image representing something that Mom and Dad have enjoyed doing during their years together.

Marge, Claudette and Carol are looking at the photo book we gave to Mom and Dad during the party. We also surprised them with ads from both the Yakima Herald and Spokesman Review that ran on Sunday announcing the celebration.

Left to right: Eillen, Bill, Jim, Betty and Bruce

Eileen and Teddy

Mom and Dad went to high school in Deer Park, WA with Bill and Beverly.

Mom and Dad enjoyed the party as did everyone who came - at least that is what they told us.

Flowers and Plants

We did get a late start on planting this year, but that has not stopped things from growing. I took these pictures this morning out in the front yard. You cannot see these Calibrachoa very well but they are bright orange and purple, just a beautiful combination.

These Aloha flowers look like miniature petunias.

We have honeysuckle plants on each side of the arbor closest to the driveway and they are doing very well. They have already started climbing up the arbor.

The sweet Million tomatoes are ready to eat!

Susan has also planted lettuce, zucchini, eggplant, strawberries, and a large selection of herbs.