Trip to Leavenworth Autumn Festival

These are some pictures from our trip to Leavenworth for the Autumn Festival. It is a real fun time with music and food and a parade. This is Dad waiting for the parade to start. There were some REd Hat Ladies sitting in front of us and they were fun to watch. Lots of people gathered to see the parade. Afterwards we bought us a bratwurst to eat and did some wandering. Dad remembered that he forgot to bring his tie and belt for his Sunday clothes so we hunted around for a thrift store and luckily found just what he needed for Sunday church. I think we were lucky because the thrift store was very tiny and really didn't have much to pick from. But the tie we found happened to be just the right color and the belt was just his size. We camped at a resort and it was completely full of campers and motorhomes. We actually had cable tv for the weekend - how's that for luxury? The resort was mostly just like a campground though and you got your firepit and table with your site.

Downtown Leavenworth at night, Dad eating breakfast in the camper and watching tv at the same time, Sharon sitting with the pumpkins waiting for the parade to start.

More parade

Eating gingerbread cookies at the Gingerbread Factory. It tasted soooo good and smelled soooo good.

This building was on a side street and it was so beautifully decorated I had to get a picture of it.

This is the grandstand in the middle of town where musicians perform all during the day and evening. There is always music going on and people dancing in the street. They actually have the street blocked off so you can wander back and forth. On the side streets are german sausage stands where you can buy lunch and snacks. The little children seemed to enjoy dancing right in front of the grandstand and even some adults were involved. It just makes for such a happy atmosphere.

This is the beer wagon. It was in the parade and pulled by horses. Here it is just parked in the street for people to take pictures by.

Dad and another tractor at the fruit market.

LEAVENWORTH CHAPEL Sunday morning we attended Fast Meeting here in Leavenworth. It was a very good meeting and enjoyed listening to the members' testimonies. You can see how low the clouds were. It had been raining that morning and everything was so fresh and clean smelling. Rain was definitely needed in the area.

It's a Tractor - of course

I told Dad to pick out something to stand by for his picture and wouldn't you know it would be a tractor. I told him to get up there and sit down but he didn't think the owners would like that.

Anyway - this is what he picked.

Roadside fruit market/pumpkin patch

We stop by this fruit stand every time we go to Leavenworth because they have so many fun displays and things to do and see. We visited later in the day on Saturday so it was a little cool by then and kind of windy. When we went inside the building to pay for our apples, there was a fire in the wood stove and it really felt good. I just wanted to pull up a chair and stay awhile.

Avery had been playing with the Legos - - which he really loves. We made space ships here. It was fun to scatter the Legos out on the table and play together. He said they have Legos at his school and he really likes them. Cute smile, Av!!

The Oreo Kid

This is Bodee after the Oreo snack.

Greenbluff Saturday and donuts

We went to Greenbluff yesterday to have lunch and get a donut and some apples. It was their first weekend to be open so the traffic was very light and we had good parking places. We got us a bbp'd pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and drinks and then walked up to Harvest House for a freshly made pumpkin donut. They are so yummy and hot! This picture shows the area just outside of the Harvest House building and they are cooking donuts here. The smell gets you every time. Just ask Mindy. From there we went to another orchard - Seimers - and bought a couple of sacks of apples and some cider. The next few weeks will be busy times there as they have a corn maze and a castle and train rides. From there we went to the shop and picked up Dad's trailer load of aluminum siding to take to Cory's place. Stopped at Costco and got a couple of pizzas to share with them for dinner. Jake and Matt were gone for the weekend but we visited with the other boys and had some dinner too. They had just gotten back from the Father/Son outing and so Grant and Scott had lots to talk about. It was a nice day - cool , but we had sunshine. I would have taken more picts. but the batteries gave out. Darn.

Rockin' at the Rockin' B Ranch Show

Dad and I are sitting at our table watching the musical show and eating BBQ at the RAnch. It was a real fun evening.

THE PLUM TREE

This is our little plum tree. We have been waiting for this day - prunes to pick. It really outdid itself this year and we will enjoy the canned fruit this winter. For such a little tree it really did produce well. The birds were enjoying the plumbs too so I hung a couple of old cd's on the tree to scare them away. I read that this really works. I haven't noticed any birds around the tree so maybe it did. Anyway, I decided to go ahead and pick the fruit and can it.

Tree branch with prunes hanging on for dear life. You have to look close but they really are still there.

Bowl of plums from our tree. I actually picked four bowls like this and there are still plums left to pick. They could have gone a little longer because some were a little green but the birds were having a hayday and some were dropping on the ground. Thus, I decided it was time to pick.

A Jar filled with plums

The Finished Product

These are the prunes after being canned in a hot water bath - cooling on my counter.