BETTY UDESEN / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Northwest Weekend editor Brian Cantwell prepares to hit the road for an autumn driving tour of Eastern Washington.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Vine maples gleam in the rain along Highway 20, the North Cascades Highway, east of Marblemount.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Freshly baled hay – or freshly rolled hay – is a common load for pickups around Northeastern Washington in the fall. This is near Tonasket.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Maybe he had too much of that In Room Coffee. In Omak, home of the "Omak Stampede and World Famous Suicide Race."

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Relax on the Okanogan River – or not.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Combs for Mayor — or Meyor — of Okanogan.

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The Okanogan County courthouse in the town of Okanogan is an architectural surprise.

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Horses run to the barn every morning from their nighttime pasture at K Diamond K Guest Ranch in Republic, Ferry County.

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Catherine Brown, director of Stonerose Interpretive Center in Republic, examines leaf fragments in shale at the center’s fossil site on the edge of town.

BRIAN CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Aspens near Sherman Pass, Ferry County.

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The cider-making machine presses golden delicious and Jonathan apples to make delicious cider at the Marcus Cider Festival.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Steps lead into Manresa Grotto, a cavern used by the Kalispel people for religious services, on the Kalispel Reservation in Pend Oreille County.

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The Mill Pond on Sullivan Creek, near the town of Metaline Falls, reflects autumn colors.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

A Jack-in-the-Box made by Lee McGowan as part of her elf display for Metaline Falls's annual holiday festival.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Lee McGowan shows off elves she made for the annual Metaline Falls Christmas Festival. The elves are stored in the city's former jail.

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In the Whitman County town of Palouse, 81-year-old Bob West explains the working of an old Linotype machine in the town’s printing-press museum.

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Someone had high goals for this Whitman County community, with only a train sign to mark its existence today among the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse.

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Say Cheese: Jim Cavender sells Cougar Gold and other tinned cheeses (with free samples on toothpicks) at Ferdinand's on the Washington State University campus.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

In Pullman, even the bridge abutments are cougars.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Barns – and autumn skies – are their own art forms in the Palouse. This is off Highway 195 just south of Uniontown.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Sometimes the modern intrudes on the historical. Clarkston’s Craig Rockwell, portraying Capt. William Clark in Lewis and Clark anniversary events, takes a cell call.

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Late afternoon sun dapples towering hills above the Snake River at Clarkston, Asotin County.

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Ann Marie Molloy, owner of the Asotin Cafe, shows a visitor a favorite view of the town she loves.

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Dopey roadside advertising: "Head on in," along Highway 12 in Southeastern Washington.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Flywheels, belts and cogs in the old Pataha Flour Mill helped produce flour for export worldwide from 1878 to 1943. The mill is now a private museum and part of a Christian ministry.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Grain elevators are the skyscrapers of wheat country. These border Highway 12 in Pomeroy, the county seat of Garfield County.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Workers are renovating and restoring Pasco’s Franklin County Courthouse, including the copper dome that acts like a beacon in the town at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Electricity-generating wind turbines march atop a ridge in Walla Walla County near Wallula.

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The Cayuse winery’s Main Street tasting room is one of a half-dozen or so wine-tasting shopfronts in downtown Walla Walla.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Mike Wallace, winemaker at Hinzerling Winery in Prosser, hand bottles Collage, a golden dessert wine made from muscat grapes. His small winery was among the first in the state in the 1970s.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

The historical Teapot Dome Service Station in Zillah is closed, but still cute.

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Dinosaur statues have taken over the town of Granger, as a promotional device. This brute "busts loose" from the wall of a public works building.

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Tough crowd: One toddler listens raptly while another makes a dash for the exit during an Oktoberfest concert in Leavenworth.

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Still the onion-ring champion, Zeke’s near Gold Bar.

BRIAN J. CANTWELL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Back among mountains and trees: Saturday’s sunrise view from the top floor of Haus Rohrbach Pension on the edge of Leavenworth.