HALLOWEEN, CLE ELUM STYLE

Dear friends,

Lots has happened since my last blog 10 months ago.  I retired after nearly 29 years of Federal Service and we immediately packed up and left Santa Rosa.  Jim and I are now living back in Washington State in the little town of Cle Elum, just over Snoqualamie pass from Seattle.  We are on the DRY and SUNNY side of the mountains.  Also the COLD side of the mountains, in this season. 

We were told to expect 100-200 trick or treaters so we bucked up and bought some candy, as well as readying our new house for little visitors.

We had read in the paper that there would be a Halloween parade in downtown Cle Elum so we put our coats on and walked two blocks down to Pennsylvania Avenue which was the staging area.  I was amazed at how many people turned out.  I told Jim I felt like we were back in Cuenca for the Christmas Eve children's parade. 

There were some pretty cute kids...and dogs - notice the dog in the pharaoh costume!

Leopard girl!

Everyone was standing around waiting for the parade to start.  Mind you, there were no spectators - everyone was waiting to march in the parade.

This also included the sheriff, who was tastefully attired in his uniform...with "blood" all over his face and shirt.  I really, really wanted to photograph him but sort of felt that wouldn't be good.   Instead I got a photo of this adorable devil-angel girl... 

and this chicken girl.

Finally the fire truck started forward and everyone followed onto 1st Avenue.

It was fun to have the main street in town blocked off.  I turned around and this was what I saw.

This was about when I really wished I had worn something heavier than my windbreaker!  A cold wind was blowing and it felt colder than 40 degrees F.  This did not dampen anyone's spirit.  The kids were really motivated as the businesses along 1st Avenue were handing out candy.  The parade pretty much dispersed as soon as people reached these businesses (this was roughly 5 minutes after the parade started) but there was still plenty to see, like this adorable horse girl.

And this amazing scary-mobile, which was driven by a Mad Max kind of character in a mohawk and long flowing robes.

And did I mention there were LOTS of dogs in costumes?

We headed back home shortly after the parade started to turn into a chaotic mess of kids lining up for candy.  We wanted to get ready for the onslaught.  We had set up luminarias in the yard in addition to our skeleton and pumpkin lights.  We learned about luminarias when we lived in the Southwest.  Sometimes they are also called farolitos or "little lighthouses."  These are all over the square in Santa Fe in the wintertime creating a lovely sight in the snow.  We make ours simply by taking a brown paper lunch bag and putting a few inches of sand in the bottom, then lighting a votive inside.  This creates a really nice glow. 

We were ready with 100 Halloween pencils for the little kids and 120 Mike and Ike candies for the older kids.  It's so fun to hear the little kids walking away and exclaiming gleefully, "Mom!  I got a PENCIL!!" Once they started coming we had a steady stream and more cars going up and down our street than we normally see in a week.  When it was all over we had a handful of pencils left and just a few candies.

So, we not only survived but enjoyed our first Halloween in our new town.  We know what to expect for next year and we'll be ready.

Audrey


Next - Lake Chelan Adventure