Journey in the Land of Vineyards: Grapes + Gardens

Today's journey was a trip of definite highs and definite lows;

if is OK I think I'll share just the highs with you:(

I will also skip the first part of today's journey and move to our first major destination;

a beautiful garden nursery located high above the valley floor on a hillside.

BTW--our means a good family friend, my dad (who we borrowed for the day) and I.

Our first view of the nursery was this--
I never get tired of pinks and purples!
And I never get tired of this area's beautiful hillsides!

I LOVE this view--unfortunately this area was not at peak autumn color yet;
I think it is later than usual this year.
Still the view is wonderful
and my dad, who had never been here before liked it very well--
in fact he liked the whole trip,
especially the yummy frozen pumpkin dessert we all enjoyed at the end of our day trip:)
Yum, pumpkin!

I loved this very lush herb + veggie garden --

and this beautiful maple!
~
After the nursery---and a quick drive past their olive trees,
we went even further up the hillside and then to other nearby places!
It was fun being on the hilltops and, unlike, the trip to Mt Rainier I only got a little anxious for just a minute or two when we traveled up a very, very narrow road up one of those hillsides
(fortunately we passed only one car on that road and we had a little room to pull over so he could go by us--believe me the views at the top were well worth it!)
We traveled by many vineyards and saw many grapes--

and some very interesting sights besides the grapes
(we heard some interesting noises too--
apparently the birds also love the view and the grapes)!

Many, many hillsides filled with rows of grapes and beautiful red soil!

And then we bid goodbye to the grapes
and headed towards another vineyard and our second major destination--
a kiwi vineyard

But that will have to wait till part two.

Until then--be blessed,
Aimee
~
Photos:
Red Ridge Nursery
and other areas SW of Portland.
Note:
TY to Red Ridge for being such a great place to visit and for permission to post photos here! We'll be back:)

What is the Right Answer?

I have become increasingly aware that I am spending way too much time on a 'certain' social network, on blogger and surfing the web...

That 'certain' social network is the main way I keep in touch with my out-of-state family and friends; I can't just say give it up completely--it's not like we live in the same city and I can see them in person:(

Regarding blogger--I LOVE sharing the beauty of the Pacific NW with others, meeting other bloggers and my blog serves as a semi personal journal (with the added benefit of photos). I also LOVE reading the blogs of others--sharing their lives, their interests, their thoughts.

Surfing---I know I can cut back some here; my surfing the Internet reminds me a bit of how, when I was a child, I used to spend hours reading encyclopedias--I have never tired of learning new things and there are always NEW things to learn on the Internet:)

So what to do...just thinking out loud (sort of). And now back to my real tasks.

Be blessed, Aimee

Photo: another favorite of blog visitors--enjoy! BTW, I LOVE this one too:)

A Perfect Autumn Day

This day has been perfect--

filled with beautiful music from my favorite radio station,

filled with sunshine and showers...

my favorite grapes and the first lingonberry of the season!

Surrounded by stained glass--courtesy of the Creator above!

Gifts and blessings every place I look...

the changing of the seasons...

saying farewell to the last gifts of summer-

and embracing with my whole heart the gifts of the autumn.

Thank you Lord for the amazing beauty of the earth--

thank you for Your amazing grace!

Sights + Sounds of Washington: pt 4

After we said goodbye to Mt Rainier,

we drove through Ashford again and I saw this...

of course we turned around

(my friend knows me VERY well)!

But how could I resist this bit of history?

I wonder if my grandparents ever stopped here on the way into the National Park?

I wonder how long this was in operation?

So many unanswered questions on trips...

~

And then another good thing happened-

my friend saw a sign and it said

(I) Huckleberry pie!

We stopped, how could we not?

After all - pie, candy, jam, jelly or ANYTHING made from this juicy 'jewel'

of the PNW mountains--

well it is something we who have partaken of huckleberries before CAN NOT resist!

By the way, the restaurant we stopped at -the Wildberry Restaurant-

is owned by the nicest couple originally from Nepal!

Sad thing--

my mind was SO focused on huckleberries that it wasn't till we were gone that I realized they offer Sherpa Himalayan food items on their menu besides the Yak burger listed on their sign outside.

Next time I will have to try some--I love foods from different regions!

AND I will, of course, order some more huckleberry pie because it was SOOOOO good:)

Another view of beautiful Mt Rainier--

in this part of the PNW you can see the mountain a lot!

When I got home, I found another area with a awesome view of Mt Rainier and a lake too;

we will definitely have to make a trip there too:)

Not too long after leaving Ashford we came to the small community of Elbe,

and my friend tells me she is turning around and THEN I see why!

A gorgeous little church;

another church for my growing photo collection of historic churches...

and this one was very, very special for

at least one of my ancestors was Lutheran and from Germany!

She was an amazing woman who survived so many things--I would love to talk to her!

Kind of off the subject here, but my favorite Communion--ever--was at a Lutheran church--

I will never forget it; it was that special!

Anyway, one of my next statements went something like this

(I) See we never would have seen this if we hadn't been pulled over in the park by the officer!

Of course, there was a beautiful lake nearby--

and we didn't have to cross over a bridge this time to see it!

In fact, we both liked this road the Park Ranger suggested--
beautiful mountain views, small towns, windy roads--no cliffs:)

After a few more pleasant side trips

(at one point we were even headed towards the coast to find another historic church)

and

more food

we arrived home--

tired but happy:)

I'll be back soon--I never can stay away long from my second home of Washington!

Be blessed,

Aimee

Note: a BIG thank you to the owners of the Wildberry for allowing me to take photos in their establishment and post them here! Should you be hungry for pie or something more--

they are located at 37718 SR 706 in Ashford. They have a website here: http://www.thewildberry.net

And now...time for me to get to work:)

Sorry if this post is a little rambling--my left eye is really bothering me today.