'Home' - Oroville, Wa

Oroville, WA

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.

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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!

www.okanoganwine.com

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.

Tumbleweed Yoga Studio - Oroville, WA

Tumbleweed Yoga

1117 Main St.
Oroville, WA 98844
(509) 476-2820

Practicing yoga at Tumbleweed with Kathy Fulmer was special in many ways. First, her studio is in my hometown of Oroville, WA. I was born and lived here for the first 18 years of my life. Oroville is a small town (about 1500 people) on the border of Brittish Columbia, Canada - in the central part of Washington State. Oroville shares Lake Osoyoos with its neighbors to the north and is home to the Similkameen and Okanogan rivers and many small mountain lakes. It is remote and beautiful.

www.orovillewashington.com


Tumbleweed Yoga is located in a log cabin styled building that is also home to Kathy's adorable gift store. Her gifts are sold in the front and the yoga resides behind the store. The yoga space is very cozy. She used natural materials, greens, beiges, and brown/red tones throughout which give it an earthy feel.

While this is the first time that I had met Kathy in person, I had been told that she was a very sweet and good person and that I was sure to enjoy both her and her class. Kathy has a way of making you feel immediately 'at home' in her presence. She welcomed me into her store/studio.

Right off the bat Kathy had a bit of a challenge. My childhood friend, Shelly, made the trek up from her home in Okanogan, WA to join our class and she is 5 months pregnant. Kathy explained that she did not have a lot of training in prenatal yoga but that she would give options in all poses with Shelly in mind and encouraged Shelly to do what felt right to her.

As we were getting settled my Dad burst into the store (in true Gary fashion). "Do you know what time it is???" he candidly asked. "Aren't you finished yet??? The passes are getting snow, you know!" All of you who know my Dad can picture this scenario, I'm sure. After I explained to him that we had not yet started and that I would be finished in about 90 minutes, he made his exit very similarly to his entrance noting that "I had better not forget about the weather!" As I was driving over Stevens Pass to Snohomish, WA that day. Everyone knows everyone in Oroville, so Kathy didn't seem too surprised by this interruption. She took it in stride (but I think she locked the front door after that :) and we got started.



Kathy explained that one of her reasons for opening her yoga studio was to maintain and foster her own personal practice and that she was largely self-taught. She usually has two to three regular students, but she was glad that Shelly and I were there because her regular students had all called that day and cancelled.

When she was a teenager, Kathy was very passionate about dance - specifically modern dance. She wove that passion throughout her class in many different core based poses and sequences. Kathy also incorporated many of Bikram Choudhury's poses. I have practiced Bikram Yoga (hot yoga) before. For those of you unfamiliar to this, Bikram Yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional yoga techniques and popularized beginning in the early 1970s. Bikram's classes run approximately 90 minutes and consist of a set series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. Bikram Yoga is ideally practiced in a room heated to 105°F with a humidity of 40%, making it notoriously known as a form of hot yoga. I completed a 30 day challenge (you have to complete 30 classes in 30 days - doubling up on days if you miss any - it's no joke) a couple years ago but have not returned to continue a Bikram practice. It was interesting to incorporate these poses without the heat in the room - much more pleasant, too!

Kathy did a nice job sequencing her poses and was very aware of Shelly's pregnancy throughout, reminding her to pay close attention to what her body was telling her. Kathy's voice was smooth and calming. She guided Shelly and I through a relaxing savasana and I felt great! Following the class we had a nice talk with Kathy. I very much enjoyed meeting and practicing with her and Shelly did great! It is fantastic that she has followed her passion for yoga and opened a studio in Oroville. What a gift she and her practice are to that community!

Thank you, Kathy, for a wonderful class! It was great meeting you, and I look forward to practicing with you more when I come home for Christmas!

ps. My abs were pretty sore the next day, it was an awesome workout ;)

Landscaping for the Episcopal Church - Service in Oroville, WA

Growing up in Oroville, WA means being close to a lot of people (whether you like it or not :). For instance, there were 33 people in my highschool graduating class. Many of these people - including myself - had gone to school together since pre-school (3 yrs. old to 18 yrs old - that's a lot of years, people!). For all of you that didn't grow up in this fashion, this means that you basically have 32 brothers and sisters - okay so maybe not siblings but cousins at least. So now, take this even smaller and increase the bonds tighter - I mean reeeeeally tight...then you have the Oroville, WA Episcopal Church Youth Group. Starting in and around 5th grade Marilyn Wilder (glutton for punishment that she is :) wrangled us in church, in our weekly evening meetings, through confirmation classes and confirmation, and on multiple field trips to Camp Cross and other out of town churches. At this time Marilyn was a member of the Church, NOW she's the Reverend! She's bonafide! I can't imagine a person better for the job!

I didn't bother to set up community service in Oroville ahead of time because somehow I knew...that Marilyn Wilder would have something up her sleeve.

I was pretty ill with a cold the first few days I was in Oroville so I was running a little short on time - when I dialed Marilyn. About twenty words into the coversation she says, "Oh, just meet me at the church in five minutes - you're going to need Brick (the person not the wall material)." It takes about 5 minutes to get anywhere within the city limits of Oroville. Once at the church, Marilyn outlined a landscape project that she wanted me to finish involving setting some pavers - made by the current youth group - in a pre-determined design, in some crushed rock. She showed me where I needed to go for the rock and off she went to pack for her trip.

I immediately called Brick's house and cell phone leaving messages that I was in town and needed him to call me (I'm pretty sure that after this little stunt, he'll never return my call again). As you can probably guess, Brick was in youth group. He is definitely one of the most hilarious people I've ever met - I don't know how you could not be funny with a name like Brick Wall - I'm not kidding, that's his last name - his 'real' name is John but that's not nearly has funny. He has a way of delivering little quips that absolutely cracks me up. Not only was I looking forward to his help on this project, I was also looking forward to hanging out! So...Brick calls me back, I explain what I need to do, and without question he says, "Yep, I'll help you, see you tomorrow - my house - 1 p.m. Just like that - the project was set up.

Brick and I drove out to the landscape place where Marilyn had instructed me to get rock and we got to shoveling. I made sure to get photos of us at the beginning of the shoveling because I was pretty sure we wouldn't feel so much like smiling during or after. Sooo...

I shoveled....

Brick shoveled...

and I shoveled some more- I forgot how heavy rock is ... (see I told you Brick cracks me up)

and when we had what we thought was enough, we drove to the church. For once in my life I thought to take before photos.

We started with a bare patch of dirt that needed some leveling.

So level I did.

Brick and I laid the pavers in the pattern that Marilyn wanted. Brick brought the rock up wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow and I spread it out. We worked and worked trying to make sure that we ended up with something that at least resembled Marilyn's intention and finally.... we were finished!

Each of the pavers has a cross in it and when all said and done, it looked pretty nice.

We hosed off our masterpiece and went to Brick's house to warm up and hang out with his wife and kiddos.

Thanks, Brick, for being such a sport - I couldn't have done it without you. It's wonderful to have good friends :)

Wenatchee to Oroville - Heading 'Home'