Population: 1653
Latitude: 48.939
Longitude: -119.433
County: Okanogan
Avg. Temperatures:
January: 21 to 32 F
April: 37 to 65 F
July: 54 to 86 F
October: 37 to 61 F
Annual Precipitation: 11.5 inches
Reason it's part of my blog: I spent almost 18 years here, it's my home.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Growing up in Oroville, WA was pretty great. I played basketball and tennis, rode my horse all over the mountains, and knew that at any given time I could walk into pretty much anyone's home and they would ask me if I would like to sit down and have something to eat. During the summers I would swim in the lake, water ski, and ride my horse. Molly (picture shows up later) and I used to ride our horses around the south end of Osoyoos Lake to Deep Bay Park. We would ride our horses into the water, stand on their backs, and dive off. These are the kind of things that you grow up doing in Oroville. Of course, there were complications like the fact that we could never train them to wait for us to swim back to them - they would charge riderless out of the water to the beach. We solved this by politely yelling to the random Canadian tourist to please grab the horses! We'd swim to shore in a minute!
It was also while living in Oroville that I solved the problem of my horse continuing to escape from her pasture by ordering a dog tag with our address and phone number and attaching it to her halter. This seemed like a logical thing to do. So... at 5 a.m. one morning the Whistle Stop Cafe downtown (no kidding - that's what it was called) called to alert us that my horse was eating the grass in their parking lot. Of course I had used The Funeral Home (family business) phone number because someone ALWAYS answered THAT phone. I'm sure that that only added another layer to this already confusing situation for the waitress that called. ANYWAY...that's a snapshot of what it was like to grow up in Oroville, WA.
My time back in Oroville during The Trip and the Trade was a little compromised because I was sick with a cold but it was still nice. I was excited to hear that the the table grape vines still had a lot of fruit on them. My Dad planted a lot of varieties and they are good!
Recently, a cat decided to take up residence at my parents' house. My mother especially is not very pleased about this but they put up with him. One of Arthur's favorite activities while in Oroville was to initiate staredowns with the cat.
It was apple harvest time when I was home. I haven't been home during harvest for years! It rained for much of the time I was there but there was one day that was dry enough for the crew to move through for one color selective pick. My parents' home is surrounded on all sides by apples: red delicious, golden delicious, and fujis. The fujis were the only ones left to pick.
Upon hearing that my Dad has orchards people will say, "Oh! I'd love to come up during harvest!" I always jokingly warn them to come before or after because they might get put to work picking apples. Never fails, they always say, "Sure! That'd be fun!" There is just no graceful way to say this...picking apples sucks. The fruit is heavy, you have to go up and down the ladder, not bruise or stem the apples, and be very careful when you transfer them into the bins. Trust me people, you do not want to go on vacation to pick apples.
You DO however, want to eat them! My Dad is a great farmer, he grows some of the best apples around.
Here's Sinforiano taking a bin of apples down to the area where they stack them for the semi-trucks from the warehouse to come pick them up. Sinforiano is my Dad's right hand man, a hard-working good person - he's been with our family for almost 25 years.
You can see 'Number Mountain' in the background. This is quite the Oroville phenomenon. The tradition is for every highschool graduating class to either climb up from the bottom or repel from the top to paint their graduation year on the face. I haven't seen too many current years, apparently the younger generations are smarter than we were.
My Mom always does such a great job making the house look beautiful with her gardening.
I love the view from my parents' front porch, I can see all the way into Canada.
Next on the list of things to do while I was home was visit my Dad's vineyard. He grows Pinot Noir and Gewurtztraminer grapes. Our wines are sold throughout the northwest and recently we were able to get them into the Las Vegas market - pretty excited about that!
The vineyard runs down the hill towards Lake Osoyoos, the lake we share with Canada.
Next stop...Okanogan Estates Winery!
Dad with his wine :)
Then - we had to take a run down to the family business.
The Bergh Funeral Service has been in our family for four generations. Growing up in this business, I never thought it was odd. Once I moved away I started to realize that many people thought that the funeral business was weird and creepy. This never made sense to me. The words I would use to describe the funeral business are: necessary and important. My father and my cousin Scott who now run the business do an amazing job making very difficult times as easy as possible for people who face the loss of a loved one. They are very good at what they do.
Next, we drove by a mural in town. Our family commissioned a piece that shows a scene from our vineyard representing the wine industry in the Valley. The mural really beautifies the side of an otherwise non-descript building.
A trip back home just wouldn't be complete without a visit from Molly (above mentioned horse diving partner extraordinaire).
Molly and I grew up right next to each other since we were 3 years old. She no longer lives in Oroville but is always great about making the 2 hour trek up from Ephrata when I'm home.
My cousin, Scott, is a big game hunter. He goes on multiple hunting excursions every year and always has some wild game meat available for cooking. His family doesn't like to eat it with him but I - on the other hand - am always a willing participant! He cooked up some elk and venison round steak and it was delicious!
It was great getting to have dinner with Scott and his family. I got to catch up with his wife Bennie and daughters Ali and Kendall.
Being home in Oroville is always good. Getting to see my family and friends is wonderful. The people there will always hold a special place in my heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment