Why do I like Autumn best?

Autumn is the harvest. Of reaping what is has been sown.

It’s the mellowing, angled light of the fall sun; the long shadows in the late afternoons cast by the autumn sun hanging low in the southwestern sky.

The cycle of gentle decay, of dying leaves  that bloom with magnificent color, a beautiful farewell and promise of another spring after the hard winter ahead. A celebration of the cyclic nature of things here on this earth.

It’s just a fancy way of saying it’s the colors of autumn that make the season my favorite.

Sometimes winter gets ahead of herself, moving in with an early storm and hastening, with the chill wind, an early blanket of white snow, adding it’s own color to a wintry-autumn scene.

Winter in Autumn – photos from Cheyenne, Wyoming by Roy Barnes

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Visit a classic Fall Color photo album from 2006

When one thinks of the word “Mancation”, it’s associated with thrilling outdoors activities with the guys. In Spokane, Washington, I got to experience a few thrilling activities that helped me “man up” as a traveler, so to speak. Thanks to Spokane’s location, outdoor enthusiasts in general have a feast of activities that will connect them to Mother Nature.

A Bird’s Eye View

When Denny Reed of Backcountry Aerosports was first introduced to a trike, his reaction was quite negative.  He refused to set foot in what he deemed a “flying weedeater.”  As time passed, Reed became one of the trike’s best human friends, taking willing flyers like myself up – way up – in his $60,000 motorized and natural flying machine. A machine, by the way, that has a 7:1 glide ratio.  It reaches speeds of 40-60 mph, a 34 foot wingspan, a 10 foot fuselage and a range of 270 miles. The experimental aircraft can be transported in a pick up and put together in 40 minutes.

I’ve flown many times in airplanes, including classic biplanes, but this trike experience was quite unique for me. I felt quite vulnerable at the thought of flying in such a contraption. I began my triking from a spot roughly 25 minutes drive from downtown Spokane, on a beautiful northeast Washington evening. After watching an orientation video, I was fitted inside the passenger seat. A helmet and microphone were put on me so I could communicate with the pilot of nine-plus years, who’s logged thousands of miles.

The take off was right beside his home, where a flat airstrip is situated.  Trikes, like his Air Creation Tanarg, need 250 feet to take off and winds of 20 mph or less for passenger comfort. As the machine sped up, I closed my eyes. I’m still a fraidy cat about heights, but once air bound – wind blowing in my face – I opened my eyes and got views of deer grazing on the rolling hills. There were tree havens and farmland as far as the eye could see. We flew anywhere from six feet to 120 feet above the ground – at times so low that you could literally smell the flowers!  The feeling I had was one of amazement and wonder.         

The Day of the Rubberleg Nymph

There is a sense of peace when one fishes. For me, to cast out my line and let it sit, while anticipating a bite is really fun. It doesn’t matter if I catch anything.  I’ve never really had any experience with fly fishing, but after doing so on the Spokane River with G.L. Britton of Double Spey Outfitters and fly fishing instructor Stann Grater, I appreciate this kind of fishing all the more. I was hoping to catch (and then release) any number of trout (most notably the Redband) from the bottom end of the free-flowing part of the Spokane River.  This kind of trout prefers this area to more still waters. We had to navigate down foothills in Spokane’s backyard (10-15 minutes from downtown), encountering many loose rocks and even poison ivy en route to the river. This was after already putting on our hip waders and fishing boots – and I thought the trike was dangerous.

Fly fishing skills are not acquired in one or two lessons. It takes time to master the art of casting and placing the fly where you want it, making the fly act ever so natural. Britton remarked, “The river has personality…it talks to you.”  He said that what makes fly fishing ideal is water temperatures in the 50s and cloudy weather. Sadly, the sun was shining brightly over northeastern Washington as my personal instructor Stann Grater showed me the basics. He was patient, especially when I didn’t show the finesse he demonstrated. Finally, I did get the hang of at least casting the fly out into the river and seeing the orange strike indicator move downstream in the constantly babbling water. Despite the various flies used, including Beadhead, Pheasant Tail, Bloody Mary, and Rubberleg Nymph, I had no luck catching any fish. Grater loves the sport, emphasizing, “What archery is to hunting, fly fishing is to conventional fishing.”

Being Led Up the Mountain by a “Yogi”

Even though I’ve been a life long resident of ATV-crazy Wyoming, I had never ridden on nor drove an ATV. As fate would have it though, I would be led on a three hour ride by a “Yogi” up the Idaho Panhandle National Forest to see some stunning views of Lake Coeur d’Alene and Hayden Lake. Knowing I was about to drive an ATV, I felt intimidated by the challenge. Thankfully I learned rather quickly from the owner of Adventure Sport Rentals, Yogi Naresh, on how to navigate the vehicle.  There are a few primary functions that one needs to get functional knowledge of: starting it, shifting the gears, one finger on the accelerator, at least two fingers on the brake, and steering. The real fun and challenge came from going up the long and winding mountain paths to and around the West Canfield Butte, which took about two hours from Coeur d’Alene, (about a 40 minute drive from downtown Spokane in good traffic).

I was impressed by the stability and great suspension of the ATV, which didn’t bounce me around on those rugged paths full of ruts and rocks. We went up safely at speeds ranging from 5-15 mph.  Butterflies fluttered around me and I could feel a pleasant mountain wind on my face. With it, a sense of freedom that I don’t feel driving a regular car. It was as if I were one with the machine and looked forward to what I’d see and have to drive over with every twist and turn. We adventured down the hills at around 20 mph at most, as Yogi stressed traveling at safe speeds even though his 50 horsepower Polaris Sportsman ATVs can reach speeds three times that. Along with the stunning mountain and lake views surrounded by tamarack and spruce, I shared the road with hikers and motorcyclists.

Despite the thrill of driving an ATV, the vehicle and the trail roads have to be respected because of the risks involved making oneself feel so free, yet vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to ask for extra safety equipment like elbow and knee pads or for safety tips in general. You will not be breaking any “man” code of you do.

For more Spokane Tourist Information: www.visitspokane.com

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Roy A. Barnes is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He is a regular contributor to the Traveler. All photos credited and copyrighted to Roy A. Barnes.

Disclosure: Roy A. Barnes  attended a press trip sponsored by the Spokane Regional CVB, but what he wrote were his own impressions and without scrutiny or vetting by the sponsor.  He writes from southeastern Wyoming.

By Roy A. Barnes

Christmas in Germany is taken really seriously and has much historical significance.  Decorated Christmas trees originated there in the 16^th century when Christians started bringing decorated fir trees into their homes (because of its triangular shape that represents the Holy Trinity).  It’s purported that Martin Luther was so impressed with a bright starry night amongst evergreen trees, that he re-created the scene for his family by putting up a tree in his house, substituting lighted candles for stars; and thus, starting the lighted Christmas tree craze. Do people really take the time to think about where Christmas gifts come from?  Well, some of Saxony’s locales are part of the answer.

To Saxony’s Capital for Stollen

The first Christmas market (Striezemarkt) originated in 1434 in the city of Dresden. And it’s here in the trendy and artsy Neustadt part of the city that I came across some really wonderful-tasting holiday season sweet bread called stollen.  Stollen can be made with a number of ingredients which include finely ground flour, yeast dough, butter (which makes up 1/3 of the recipe, including some that’s melted and then hardened), bitter and sweet almonds, raisins soaked in rum, salt, candied orange and lemon peel, sugar. When Stollen first came out in the 14^th Century as a result of a contest originated by the Bishop of Nauru’burg, each loaf weighed 30-plus pounds. People would not eat the first or last pieces because they saved them in hopes of good luck.

The Backerei Grundmann is near the Three Kings Church (Dreikonigskirche) and emanated a pleasant fruity bread smell.  A retired baker, Frank Ludolphy, still active in the bakers association (and baked for a living some 45 years), made some.  I got to sample the Zutaten (“very fine ingredients”), and found the rum-soaked raisins irresistible.  Ludolphy rolled out the dough and began shaping it. There’s normally a maturing time for the fruit flavor to soak into the bread.   He let me sample the dough (which he bakes at 356 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Centigrade for 40-50 minutes). The raw form had an orange-like taste, reminding me of the orange sweet rolls mother used to bake for the family on Saturday nights.

No artificial preservatives are used by this bakery, which sells their stollen at various locations around the city, baking some 14,000 loaves for the holidays.  It’s generally available between September – January.  The baked loaf is quite dense and the fruit juices can make the stollen appear to have brown spots. Nonetheless, I wasn’t let down by the incredible fruity, sweet taste of the semi-soft bread that’ll get even the Scrooge-iest of people into the Christmas spirit!

It’s “Time” for Christmas in Glashuette

In the town of a few thousand people about an hour away from Dresden to the south and very close to the Czech border lies Glashuette (founded in 1506), where some 10 watch manufacturers are located.   You don’t have to be one of the rich and famous to take a free tour of the Germany’s premiere luxury watch maker Glashuette Original whose watchmaking roots go back to 1845.   Because of the amount of components that are used, the hand assembly and craftsmanship, these watches are not your ordinary chain store timepiece. Getting a watch for Christmas with a glass bottom to witness the working parts means big bucks spent on one’s behalf for this brand, with 2009 US prices starting at about $6,700 and going up well over $150,000.  They’re sold in over 70 countries and in chic cities like London, New York and Hong Kong. This company uses gold screws, Louisiana alligator skin (for the watchbands), and Meissen Porcelain (for the dials) to make some of their watches.

The company produces about 8,000 watches a year via watchmakers who’ve had 3 years of apprenticeship training to install between 150-500 movable parts (some as small as a tiny bread crumb) per watch.  They implement concepts like spark erosion technology, bronze plating (superior to gold) and complex measuring and polishing of the plates.  It can take more than 40 hours to complete one watch.

Later, I took a short walk to the German Watch Museum where I got the lowdown on watchmaking via pictorial and computer exhibits, many of which are in both German and English.   I looked at numerous kinds of pocket watches, table clocks, and pendulum clocks on display.  I got see some really nice looking timepieces, including one dating back to 1778 as well as a pocket watch from 1899 that has over 800 components called the La Grandiose Universal Watch, a 12 year project.  The lobby contains a large priceless pendulum clock (a 32 year project) that was crafted by Herman Goertz circa 19^th century that not only tells the time, but the age phase of the moon and current Northern Sky representation.

Seiffen is all about Toys, Toys, Toys!

About 90 minutes southwest of Dresden is Seiffen, a town of roughly 2,500.  The town became a major toy maker for the Nuremberg market in the 18^th century because of its quality products and low manufacturing costs.   As I walked around town, I noticed a quaint toy shop at every turn or glance across the street.  They sell Seiffen’s wood-turned animal toys, nutcrackers, and intricately-crafted matchbox miniatures, the latter coming about to help cut down on the weight of toys to save on export taxes.  The Seiffener Volkskunst not only sells these goodies, but you can actually watch the toymakers ply their trade making these beautiful and festive objects.  The scent of wood dominates the nostrils, especially that of spruce, the principal wood used for ring-turned toys, which have been fashioned on the lathe for around two centuries to cut down on carving time.

The Erzgebrige Toy Museum is located on Seiffen’s main drag, and a must-see for those who love wood toys.  Over 2,000 items are on display via 3 floors at any one time that cover just about every Christmas-themed toy you can think of from trains, soldiers, smoking men, angels, games, and mining (since Saxony has quite a mining history).   Their collection of Christmas pyramids really helped me appreciate all the more the artistic talents that humans have.   I saw the attention to detail paid to those magical playthings that I noticed dated back to 1699.

Germany tourism website

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The author attended the German National Tourist Office’s 2009 “The Making of Christmas” press trip, in which he got to experience the following venues.  But he writes his impressions freely without any editorial scrutiny from the press trip sponsor.

Biography: Roy A. Barnes writes from southeastern Wyoming and is a frequent contributor to the The Traveler/The Traveler Blog.

The Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski
President Obama doesn’t do the Motel 6 when he’s on the road. Nope, he stayed in a group of rooms called the Crown Prince Suite (which includes four bedrooms and two salons and one kitchenette where smoking is allowed) which cost the American taxpayers 5,000 Euros that particular night of June 4. He checked out the next day. But given that the US government booked the hotel’s 200-plus rooms for that night (basic rooms go for 200 Euros a night according to my hotel guide), it was an expensive night for taxpayers.

I walked through the nicely furnished suite of rooms numbered 239-245, seeing the room President Obama slept in (Room 244). I even touched the bedspread! The hotel guide wouldn’t tell me what he ate though. Normally, the public can’t go up here (unless they book the suite), but they are allowed to enter the lobby just like President Obama did, and for free. Ask for a brochure at the counter.

Located at Taschenberg 3, 01067 Dresden, Germany. Phone +49 (0) 351 4912 812.

Inside and Outside The Historic Green Vault of The Royal Palace (Residenzschloss)
President Obama got a tour of the Das Historisches Grunes Gewolbe (The Historic Green Vault), taking in a place with some of the most lavish jewels, sculpture, and miniatures that I’ve ever seen.  What I found most interesting were the ivory crucifixes that had Christ in different positions that I haven’t normally seen him in, and I was also captivated by the intricately-made chess pieces. President Obama also talked for an hour with German Chancellor Merkel in one of the special rooms called The Coat-of-Arms Room. It’s also called the Bronze Room or Room Number 6, which is publicly accessible during a visit. Following his private discussion, a joint press conference was held just outside The Historic Green Vault under a glass roof, which is also publicly accessible.

Much of Green Vault’s collection was procured during the time of August the Strong from 1723 to 1730. One must go through a chamber before entering and leaving in order to keep the room temperature the same (President Obama did, too). There’s an air of solemnity in this place as people ponder the relics.  When you purchase a ticket, you have a 15 minute window to get inside, and can stay there until closing if you want. You’re also expected to take an audio guide with you, too, and if you don’t use it (I don’t like using audio guides), people give you funny looks.

Located on Sophienstrasse and Schlosstrsse streets. Phone for reservations to The Historic Green Vault is +49 (0)351-4914-2000.

The Frauenkirche
It is one of the most beautiful churches in Europe (first completed in 1743), and its existence today is even more remarkable when you consider that it was utterly destroyed in the firebombing raids in February of 1945. Yet with time and about 100 million Euros of donations from around the world, the church rose from the heap and was fully rebuilt in 2005. Visitors like President Obama must’ve noticed the church’s exterior, where you can see blackened stones in place like checkerboard squares: that’s because those stones were recovered from the ruins and put back in place. I took in a noontime devotions and organ music service that was heavily attended.  I was captivated by the beautifully-restored Baroque-like interior. There’s even “luxury boxes” on the second floor. President Obama lit a candle for peace while there.

Located at An der Frauenkirche 12, 01067 Dresden, Germany. Telephone: +49 (0) 351- 6560-6100. Open church visits are free, but special events and tours have admission prices.

The Zwinger
President Obama and German Chancellor Merkel visited one of the most opulent complexes in Dresden, Germany before he left the city on June 5. It was built during the early 18th century by August the Strong, and contains a large courtyard that gave me a peaceful feeling as I walked through it. Currently, the Zwinger contains a number of collections of artwork like the Old Masters Picture Gallery as well as vast porcelain collection that contains 20,000-plus pieces (in German the latter place is called called the Porzellansammlung).

Located at the corners of Sophienstrasse and Ostra-Allee in Dresden, Germany. Admission charges for entries into the museums. Courtyard walking is free.

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Roy A. Barnes attended the German National Tourist Office’s “The Making of Christmas” press trip, but he wasn’t told to write about President Obama’s visit nor how to write about it.  Also note that a Euro is currently worth about $1.20 when you see prices quoted. Barnes is a frequent contributor to The Traveler Blog and writes from southeastern Wyoming.