We spent over a month in the beautiful state of Washington because we had to "kill some time" before the Red Sox played the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Luckily, Washington is beautiful and there was plenty to see and experience! Like in Oregon, the wineries were plentiful and beautiful and yummy. One of the Harvest Host farms that we stayed at TOTALLY hooked us up with their vineyard recommendations and we spent an afternoon exploring some beautiful spots and I got to sample the wines while we sat outdoors overlooking their vineyards. (I was channeling my inner Hallmark movies!!) I haven't included many pictures here because I am supposed to be summarizing and I DID share a lot of pics on Facebook (FB) at the time - so feel free to go to my FB page if you want to see more!
When our retirement was planned, the Sox vs Seattle dates were circled (and starred**) because that was the PERFECT time for my sisTER Lauryl to come visit us (again)... I will refrain from going into a play-by-play of our most awesome adventures while the Allerdt Sisters were let loose on Seattle! Suffice to say, beer and wine were sampled, we road the iconic Ferris wheel, we went up on the Space Needle, experienced the Chihuly Glass Gardens, we had a tour of T-Mobile Park and had a blast checking out the Public Market, and um - we went to a Red Sox game and we represented well! Oh, and just to clarify - Lauryl and I stayed at a hotel in Seattle (walking distance to both the waterfront area and the baseball stadium), while Karl & Penny were at the campground outside of the city. Although we had an amazing time in the city, I must admit it it was pretty unsettling to see all of the homeless population there. The "tent cities" were pretty intense - not to mention both sad and scary. On the upside, I now have joined the "Uber generation"! (insert wink here...)
After leaving the Seattle area, we first stayed at a beautiful family farm and then at a glorious orchard. Here I learned that I have been an apple snob my entire life. I was always so cocky thinking that New England cornered the market and, actually, I think I felt we OWNED the market when it came to delicious apples and all things autumn. Well, we had us some Honey Crisp apples from Washington state and let me tell you - there is NOTHING like them!!! Washington is the United States' top producing state of apples and Karl and I can attest to the fact that the weather/soil etc...results in pure perfection in the apple department. New England DOES know how to celebrate Fall, but I was shocked to learn that it's not even a blip on the screen when it comes to apple production in the USA. This was yet another eye opening moment that I was only too happy to learn.
Our next stop was Idaho. We were on the northern end of the state this time, and spent five days in an old small mining town named Wallace, ID. Wallace had been "The Silver Capital of the World" back in the late 1800's and we took a tour through an old silver mine which was quite the educational experience. They also had a great little railroad museum; The Northern Pacific Railroad Depot, at which I spent a lovely afternoon. Oh, and I bet you never knew that Wallace was "The Center of the Universe"... I can't make this stuff up - I've even included a picture here of the "proof"! It's a fun little tidbit to look up if you feel like researching it... However, I WILL give you a piece of info that you can possibly utilize at a trivia game someday - Idaho's State Seal is the only one in the USA designed by a woman! (You heard it here first!)
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