Yesterday morning Lietta sent me a list of fun things we might do for Labor Day around the community.
There was an assortment of interesting activities, some, like a boat tour on Lake Pend Oreille seemed out of the question in that we would be competing with all those with holiday time to spend.
With such in mind we opted for three choices, two at Spokane Riverfront Park and the third out at Green Bluff.
We had been planning to do the Skyride for some time now so it seemed like a good appetizer before pigging out in the park. There are those who have called the Spokane Falls Skyride "overrated" in their online reviews. I suppose that - based on priorities of time (a hurry to get to the next excitement) or perhaps "spectacular- icity" (this better be breathtaking!) or just plain thrilling (aw shucks, this ain't nothing compared to Tremors and Aftershock out at Silverwood in the Panhandle) - that a gentle lazy take-a-break moment on the Skyride where "frenzy" comes to a halt 5 or 6 times over a 20 minute interlude can be scary; especially if one is left to their own thoughts while just literally "hanging out."
Course that would suggest that "entertain me" cause I'm no good at self-entertainment is the norm ... and that would make no sense in a laid-back city where the rate race is most and mostly pronounced during traditional working hours when the city is in fact a business center.
The Skyride was break in the actuality of frequently pausing to let my physical senses dangle in space while my mental acuity and sense of pondering from the heights was amplified. I enjoyed that ride which incuded frequent peaceful loving glances of serenity in the eyes of my wife.
Once the soaring interlude had ended, we commenced a serious consideration of how we were going to briefly betray our membership in Our Sacred Church of the Paleo Dining Lifestyle (from which I have lost almost 100 pounds in the last six months and have discovered without bending over that there are feet attached to the ends of my legs.)
So many choices ... so little time. We opted for a plate of 3 huge pizza slices that were thicker than brownies and loaded with pepperoni and cheese. Grain-based food is the biggest no-no in our Paleo church so we were seriously backslidden in dining on something we had been fondly pining for now for six months. The additional thrill for me was that in order to eat the pizza at one of the beer gardens, I had to show ID - they CARDED me! That was so much fun I went out and back through the gate three times just to get carded. Haven't had that much fun since I was a teenager wearing a trench coat while driving the rest of the gang around in Idaho as the 16-year-old designated driver cause I had made myself a fake ID for buying beer and partying in nearby towns.
Why I was so thrilled to be carded that I drank almost a third of a glass of dark beer. And one young couple, when they saw the gate guard card us, asked us, "Are you kids having a good time behind your parents' back?"
Actually, the Pigout in the Park offered a much greater variety of a more exotic nature than mere pizza and such choosing left us planning on a different approach next year.
Finally it was time for us to find our car and head for Green Bluff out by Mount Spokane. Our objective was participation in the Green Bluff Peach Festival. I ignored my reliable navigator and headed out I-90 to the Argonne exit and headed north toward Mt. Spokane and Green Bluff. After a long detour to the East we finally arrived at the peach festival. The better route is definitely north out Hwy 2 toward Newport and turn Eastward near Mead.
At Green Bluff we settled on Eleven Acres Farm for our peach pickin ... at $1.25 a pound. We grabbed a little pull wagon and loaded two-three boxes and headed for the peach trees. In no time we had two overflowing boxes and a small assortment of other produce. Two our surprise we had picked almost 25 pounds of peaches to take home.
Last night we heated a bunch of water and blanched enough peaches to slice and bag 4-5 freezer bags of peaches for our next few jugs of smoothie juice. Our Paleo eating regime encourages smoothies which we make from one banana, 3 cups of coconut or almond milk, a bag of frozen fruit and either guava/pineapple juice or cranberry juice depending on what kinds of frozen berries or fruit we are using that day. Our smoothies come out more like fruity "milk shakes" that we will drink mostly with paleo breakfasts and will usually last for three days of meals.
We also sliced enough peaches to completely fill our drying appliance and those dried peaches will be ready some time tomorrow morning. We gave away two bags of peaches to neighbors and have enough peaches left for one more batch of dried peaches.
Well it was a fun Labor Day that actually turned into more Labor than I anticipated. But in terms of the sheer pleasure of being out in the sun on a less than overheated day with plenty of sunshine ... well in Spokane where we've only been living permanently now into our second year ... it doesn't get any better than that.
Happy Labor Day.
There was an assortment of interesting activities, some, like a boat tour on Lake Pend Oreille seemed out of the question in that we would be competing with all those with holiday time to spend.
With such in mind we opted for three choices, two at Spokane Riverfront Park and the third out at Green Bluff.
We had been planning to do the Skyride for some time now so it seemed like a good appetizer before pigging out in the park. There are those who have called the Spokane Falls Skyride "overrated" in their online reviews. I suppose that - based on priorities of time (a hurry to get to the next excitement) or perhaps "spectacular- icity" (this better be breathtaking!) or just plain thrilling (aw shucks, this ain't nothing compared to Tremors and Aftershock out at Silverwood in the Panhandle) - that a gentle lazy take-a-break moment on the Skyride where "frenzy" comes to a halt 5 or 6 times over a 20 minute interlude can be scary; especially if one is left to their own thoughts while just literally "hanging out."
Course that would suggest that "entertain me" cause I'm no good at self-entertainment is the norm ... and that would make no sense in a laid-back city where the rate race is most and mostly pronounced during traditional working hours when the city is in fact a business center.
The Skyride was break in the actuality of frequently pausing to let my physical senses dangle in space while my mental acuity and sense of pondering from the heights was amplified. I enjoyed that ride which incuded frequent peaceful loving glances of serenity in the eyes of my wife.
Once the soaring interlude had ended, we commenced a serious consideration of how we were going to briefly betray our membership in Our Sacred Church of the Paleo Dining Lifestyle (from which I have lost almost 100 pounds in the last six months and have discovered without bending over that there are feet attached to the ends of my legs.)
So many choices ... so little time. We opted for a plate of 3 huge pizza slices that were thicker than brownies and loaded with pepperoni and cheese. Grain-based food is the biggest no-no in our Paleo church so we were seriously backslidden in dining on something we had been fondly pining for now for six months. The additional thrill for me was that in order to eat the pizza at one of the beer gardens, I had to show ID - they CARDED me! That was so much fun I went out and back through the gate three times just to get carded. Haven't had that much fun since I was a teenager wearing a trench coat while driving the rest of the gang around in Idaho as the 16-year-old designated driver cause I had made myself a fake ID for buying beer and partying in nearby towns.
Why I was so thrilled to be carded that I drank almost a third of a glass of dark beer. And one young couple, when they saw the gate guard card us, asked us, "Are you kids having a good time behind your parents' back?"
Actually, the Pigout in the Park offered a much greater variety of a more exotic nature than mere pizza and such choosing left us planning on a different approach next year.
Finally it was time for us to find our car and head for Green Bluff out by Mount Spokane. Our objective was participation in the Green Bluff Peach Festival. I ignored my reliable navigator and headed out I-90 to the Argonne exit and headed north toward Mt. Spokane and Green Bluff. After a long detour to the East we finally arrived at the peach festival. The better route is definitely north out Hwy 2 toward Newport and turn Eastward near Mead.
At Green Bluff we settled on Eleven Acres Farm for our peach pickin ... at $1.25 a pound. We grabbed a little pull wagon and loaded two-three boxes and headed for the peach trees. In no time we had two overflowing boxes and a small assortment of other produce. Two our surprise we had picked almost 25 pounds of peaches to take home.
Last night we heated a bunch of water and blanched enough peaches to slice and bag 4-5 freezer bags of peaches for our next few jugs of smoothie juice. Our Paleo eating regime encourages smoothies which we make from one banana, 3 cups of coconut or almond milk, a bag of frozen fruit and either guava/pineapple juice or cranberry juice depending on what kinds of frozen berries or fruit we are using that day. Our smoothies come out more like fruity "milk shakes" that we will drink mostly with paleo breakfasts and will usually last for three days of meals.
We also sliced enough peaches to completely fill our drying appliance and those dried peaches will be ready some time tomorrow morning. We gave away two bags of peaches to neighbors and have enough peaches left for one more batch of dried peaches.
Well it was a fun Labor Day that actually turned into more Labor than I anticipated. But in terms of the sheer pleasure of being out in the sun on a less than overheated day with plenty of sunshine ... well in Spokane where we've only been living permanently now into our second year ... it doesn't get any better than that.
Happy Labor Day.
