Ready or not

 

Quite a few trick-or-treaters come knocking at our front door, but it will be raining tonight so traffic might be lighter. There are many neighborhood kids around, but this is about the only time we see them. Children aren't free range anymore. In the old days, Amanda would costume up and head out alone or with a group of friends. 

 

This is Twisp back in 2017-- Nova is the witch and Maya a unicorn. Nova is too grown up now for trick-or-treating, plus she never eats candy, but she will probably hang with her friends or go to the haunted house they set up at the Community Center. 

Maya has a major sweet tooth, and so does her best friend Kate, so this is their kind of holiday. The last time I asked, Maya wasn't sure what she was going to "be." Amanda will send a picture tonight. 

I'm just going to be myself-- the old lady witch who has lived in the blue house on the corner for the last 40 years.

Western Larch

 

The Western Larch is a rare conifer tree that only grows at elevations of 1,600- 8,000 feet in the Northwest. In the fall, they turn bright yellow and drop their needles. I had perfect driving weather on Blewett Pass yesterday, and they looked like gold candles scattered through the evergreen forests-- a strange and beautiful sight.

This trip wraps up the easy driving seasons. In the winter, our visits are short and I don't go alone. The house is winterized and in good hands, the driveway snow-plower confirmed for another winter, so now we just wait and see what it brings.

After three years in Twisp, I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner in Seattle again. My sister Marji is coming from Las Vegas and the family from Twisp, so we'll squeeze eight around the table in our little dining room. 

We don't usually plan trips this close together, but we're flying to California on Sunday. New York was a trip, but this is more of a mini-vacation to familiar old places in Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs. The weather looks perfect there next week, with high temps in the mid-70's and clear desert skies. The dark time has certainly slammed down in Seattle.

 

Spooky week ahead

 

In more ways than one...

Downtown Twisp is all decorated for Halloween with funny and realistic scarecrows. 

I enjoyed walking around town yesterday checking out the spooky neighbors.

 Wonder who lives here?

We had a nice weekend visiting and unpacking the little treasures Dave brought from our parent's Cripple Creek house, including these stained glass panels Dad made long ago. 

Our Mom was such a creative and energetic person, and she loved collecting, writing and especially recording family history. She was a tireless archivist. Even the most ordinary objects have little notes attached in her familiar handwriting, giving old stuff meaning and context.

One of the things salvaged from their garage was a can containing thousands of matchbooks they obsessively collected since the 1950's. A real trip down memory lane from by-gone places, documenting their long, full lives.

On Saturday, Nova drove us out to the horse barn where she works and rides. Wow. She's a careful driver and seems to be doing really well.

Amanda and I wrestled open the barbed wire gate-from-hell so she could ride Ginger in the adjacent cow pasture. 

I'd planned to leave today, but the weather is a rain/snow mixture on the passes. It won't affect the roads, but makes for unpleasant driving. And people tend to freak out (myself included) at the first snowfall. Tomorrow mostly looks sunny and dry so I'll go home then.

It will be many months before I make another solo trip, and I still have some chores to do around here. Winter is closing in fast, and this placid fall view will soon transition to bare trees and snow. 

 

Fall perfection

 

Once I got over dark and rainy Snoqualmie Pass, it turned into a beautiful day for driving. I had a cup of soup and sandwich at Lone Pine, sitting in the courtyad for the last time this year. A sharp nip in the air under the brilliant blue sky.

The fall foliage season is at peak now in Washington state. I drove along the Columbia River and up the Methow Valley, admiring the colors and contemplating why some people traveled across the entire country to see pretty much the same thing. Ha.

It's been a dry and warm fall, and isn't always this beautiful. A couple years ago, a heavy October snow buried the town Halloween decorations until spring. The leaves froze before they fell naturally. The sad brown things hung there all winter, as snow piled up by the foot.

I was greeted by a welcoming committee of deer and turkeys relaxing in the quiet yard. Well, maybe not so welcoming-- they gave me perplexed looks like I was the trespasser. Which we are, in a way.

The house was sparkling clean, just as I left it. Our wonderful property manager already winterized the outside. Now we just wait and see what the next season brings.

My brother arrives today for a 2 night visit and I'm looking forward to the company. Everyone is crazy busy with work, school and activities, but we hope to get the gang together at some point this weekend.

It's back

 

 

The first snow is expected to fall in the mountains soon. I'm going to Twisp this weekend, but it shouldn't impact my usual route over Snoqualmie and Blewett Passes, where it will be mostly rain until later next week. 

The high North Cascades is another story. I was thinking of taking Highway 20 one last time this year, but conditions can change awfully fast up there. Once in mid-October, they closed the road right ahead of us and we turned back. The first snow is usually pretty chaotic.

Anyway, it's not as scary as it sounds. It just means planning ahead, and until next spring, I can't jump in the car whenever I want with a jacket and a picnic sandwich. 

Everyone is hoping for a snowy winter, since last year was such a bust for outdoor recreation, not to mention, the low snow pack. The driveway only got plowed a couple of times. There's a 60% chance of a La Nina winter, which usually means above average precipitation in the Northwest. Only time will tell.

The last rose of summer

 

Food

 

We are so happy to be eating home-cooked, fresh food again, like this chicken stir fry with lots of vegetables and brown rice. Finding food is never much of a problem on vacation, but healthy eating in restaurants takes more discipline. Because we so rarely eat out in Seattle, I tend to overindulge.

I'm lucky to have a cast iron stomach, but ate something at the Buffalo hotel restaurant that seriously disagreed with me. Fortunately, it passed quickly, but was scary the night before our long flight, because you hear so much about serious foodborne illnesses. 

Along those lines, Delta's entire Detroit catering operation was shut down this week, causing a huge service disruption. More apologies from the poor flight attendants. They served moldy chicken on an international flight, which had to be diverted for all the sick people. Delta Airlines must have a giant building full of lawyers to settle all the lawsuits.

Anyway. Enough Delta horror stories.  It just makes a person want to stay hone.

I made an apple pie from scratch yesterday and what could be more wholesome? The top crust and filling were perfect, but the bottom still a bit soggy. The new oven bakes beautiful breads and cakes, but I still need to fine tune the pizza and pies. John says "consult the user's manual" for the correct rack level-- probably that simple.  

To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.

A quote by 17th century author François de Rochefoucauld. A Frenchman, of course. 

24 hours in the City of Light

 

Buffalo was once known as the City of Light, because it was the first American city to have widespread electric lighting, courtesy of Niagara Falls hydroelectric power.

The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens are located within the South Park neighborhood, yet another urban landscaping masterpiece from architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

 

We really enjoyed the magnificent glass conservatory. Buffalo, of course, is notorious for its dreadful winter climate, and you could imagine how magical this warm, green, tropical place would feel on a snowy day. 

We walked the mile loop around the perimeter of the park, admiring the "outdoor museum of trees." Unfortunately, I'm not good at identifying the eastern hardwood varieties.

As luck often has it, on our final day of vacation, the weather made an abrupt switch to cloudless Indian summer. But other than 2 rainy days in Ithaca, we can't complain.

 

 

And last but not least, what's a visit to Buffalo without the original Buffalo wings from Duffs?

 

We got home at 7 last night, which felt late after 10 hours of travel and the 3 hour time change. There were many highlights: Watkins Glen, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, The Johnson Art Museum, boat tour on Lake Cayuga, Ithaca Gorge, and above all, nothing really prepared us for Niagara Falls and the unforgettable view from our room.

 

 

 

The parting shot. With all the driving and flying, it was a big (and tiring) trip for us, nothing like our easy jaunts down to California on familiar Alaska Airlines.  

 

We decided the Delta Airline employees must attend "apology school" because they have to do it all day long. By blind luck, everything worked out for us, but with a constant undercurrent of stress over delayed flights, service interruptions, changes, etc. My heart stopped each time I got another text from them saying "we apologize for the inconvenience."

 

For example, without contacting us first, the Delta computer system abruptly cancelled our flights back to Seattle. "It" didn't know we made that tight connection at JFK (how could that be?) and so figured since we weren't there, we didn't need to fly back to Seattle. Anyway, a rude shock at 5 am, which meant an hour on the phone to reach a live Delta person. Who efficiently fixed it. But you get the picture.

OK. Speaking of light, Seattle sure got dark since we left, with an atmospheric river on tap for the weekend. We'll just be home relaxing (John) and doing tons of laundry (me.)

Moon over Niagara

 

A view from our room last evening as the full moon came up over the falls. And speaking of full, what a day seeing the attractions.

 

John remembered going behind the falls when he was here as a kid. They haven't painted the tunnels since then.

It was pretty amazing, feeling all that power up close and personal. My thoughts down under turned somewhat morbid, thinking of the 5,000+ bodies recovered from the bottom of the falls over the years-- mostly suicides, but many senseless daredevil stunts in barrels and such, including a guy who thought it would be fun going over in a kayak. He was never seen again.

Have I mentioned Niagara Falls Park is a goldmine for Ontario? We heard as many foreign languages as English in the crowds, and we were here on a weekday in the off season. This visitor center is filled with restaurants, bars and a giant shopping area. Yes, everything is very expensive.

Anyway, on to a more relaxing attraction in the afternoon: The Niagara Butterfly Conservatory. 

 

We had a nice dinner in the hotel steak restaurant-- which doubles as Ihop during the day.

We head back to Buffalo today, and spend the night at the same airport hotel where we started our adventure. The weather is chilly but nice, so we might stop at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens this afternoon. And maybe some Buffalo wings for lunch at the iconic Duff's? Tomorrow we part ways with New York and fly home. What a trip. 

Niagara Falls!

 

When we parted the drapes in our room on the 29th floor at the Tower Hotel...

This was our first view of Niagara Falls! Nothing really prepared me for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

We got settled in, then rode the little tram car down the river bank for an up-close look.

And later, the beautiful lighted view from our room, with the constant sound of the falls going all night.

I once asked John where he wanted to go, if he could go anywhere in the world. 

He showed me a picture of the IHop restaurant on the 26th floor of the Niagara Falls Tower Hotel. What a peculiar man! But I was soon intrigued, and got to work planning an entire trip around a 2-night stay at this hotel. I made the reservations many months ago.

And it just goes to show you, dreams can come true...

A spectacular sunrise outside our breakfast table at the IHop. 

Eggs Benedict and blueberry pancakes. Someone looks happy.