As the leaves are starting to change, sweaters are being unpacked and boots come out of hiding, autumn is the perfect time to go out with friends. Tis the perfect season to take fun pictures that you will brighten up your Instagram feed before the snow comes. Here are 15 fall dates to do with your roommate, best friends or significant other!
1. Go apple and pumpkin picking at Green Bluff: Not only are there pumpkin donuts, apple cider and apples and pumpkins to your heart’s content, it is a great place to ring in the autumn season. Green Bluff supports small family farms and the community, so you know all the produce was grown locally!
2. Pumpkin carving/painting: After you pick up a gourd from Green Bluff, you can tap into your creative side! Extra points for anything Gonzaga themed. Even if your artistic skills are limited to stick figures, you can still have a lot of fun with a sharpie and a pumpkin.Â
3. Pumpkin spice and cinnamon in the air: Get a fall-flavored drink with your friends and revel in the fact that it now acceptable to always have a cup of warm coffee in your hands. Spend a night in making pumpkin bread, sugar cookies and apple cider. Then proceed into a sugar coma.Â
4. Decorate the Dorm Room: You can get fall-themed window clings, cute little gourds and cut little leaves out of paper. Break out the orange and red dry erase markers for your whiteboard. Buy fall colored flowers to brighten up a table or desk or windowsill.Â
5. Leave Fight: Much like the winter has snowball fights, you can give your best go at throwing leaves at each other. Or putting them in a pile and jumping into them. Just make sure there aren’t any rocks.Â
6. Fall Series Begin: With fall comes all the new seasons of our favorite shows. We get to find out the new drama on Grey’s Anatomy, the new scary characters in American Horror Story and watch brand new shows like This is Us and The Good Place. You might even discover that you and your roommate are obsessed with the same actor. Shout out to the Alex Karev fans.
7. Costume coordinating: As Halloween gets closer and closer, gather friends and decide on a theme. Whether it is barnyard themed, literary characters or puns, it’s more fun when your costume matches with your friends. You can even have different costumes for each night of the weekend.Â
8. RHA Trick-or-Treating: Residence Hall Association puts together an event where each dorm hands out candy to the kids from the Logan neighborhood. You can choose whether or not you hand out candy, but it is a lot of fun. Wear a kid-appropriate costume and hand out candy to little ducks, mini-hulks and tiny Disney characters.Â
9. Scarywood or other Haunted Houses: During October, Silverwood, an amusement park in Idaho, hosts Scarywood. They have the rides going and there are seven different scare zones. If Scarywood is out of your price range, there are other haunted house options around Spokane.Â
10. Scary Movie Night: Pull a girl’s night in to watch scary movies. Pop some popcorn, make some hot chocolate and curl up for a night of screams. Even if you don’t get scared easily, it is funny to watch other people freak out.Â
11. Photoshoot with the changing trees: Get everyone to throw on sweaters and rain boots. Throw leaves in the air and capture the laughs with a camera. During the weeks of papers and tests, you can look back to when you were happy and carefree.Â
12. Time lapse of you in your favorite place: Pick out an area of campus and every day, or every couple of days, have your friend take a picture from the same place. At the end of fall you will have a time lapse and will be able to see you and the trees change little by little.Â
13. Make a Family Dinner: When it gets cold outside, it’s nice to stay in and eat comfort food. Whether you live in a dorm or apartment, try your best to make a meal with your roommate or group of friends. It will be rewarding to eat your own creation at the end. Bonus points if there’s something pumpkin flavored served!Â
14. Get off campus and be Active: Winter comes quickly to Spokane and the snow makes it harder to get off campus and explore the Spokane hiking trails. Before that happens, explore the city and everything it has to offer. There are beautiful hikes in the area like Bowl and Pitcher.Â
15. Volunteer and be Grateful: Fall is a great time to reflect on the year and be thankful for everything and everybody you have in your life. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or the local animal shelter. Donate clothes that you don’t wear to centers like the Ark of Spokane or Goodwill.Â
Fall only lasts so long in Spokane so enjoy it while you can. There will always be papers due and tests coming up, but remember to schedule in some fun!Â