18 July, 2007 – Wednesday – Wenatchee to Leavenworth, WA

It rained off and on all night. Still drippy this a.m. with lots of clouds and gray skies. But life moves on.

We headed up to Leavenworth, WA, to see the sights. Leavenworth is a created Bavarian town – with German food and souvenirs: music boxes, cuckoo clocks, chocolate, nutcrackers, incredible crystal, beautiful linens, fine porcelains, and all the stuff that comes with a tourist attraction. Plus local wines in the Germanic style, and imported beer. It’s the kind of place that after a few hours of poking around, I’m ready to leave. At least that was the way it was with us. Tonight there is a performance of “Sound of Music” at the outdoor amphitheatre, and there are mid-summer jazz and chamber music festivals.

We had lunch in Café Christa (second floor). Both of us had a goulash (I thought that was a Hungarian dish?). I had a German beer; Margaret had local water. It was OK, but not great.

Today was not a great photo day. Blame it on the cloudy conditions or what we encountered; whatever. Looking over our shots for the day, we concluded it wasn’t memorable despite some promising shots of the bountiful, colorful hanging flower baskets. They are enormous!

The weather has cleared – finally. The evening is wonderful – great time to sit under the spreading elms and enjoy the sound of the river and twilight. The campground is serene. I walked down to the river this p.m. There are lots of trees and bushes along the banks that were uprooted – probably during the recent spring thaw – along the river bank. Folks were out enjoying rafting down the Wenatchee River, in rafts accommodating one to twenty. There are no falls, just rapids, between Leavenworth and Wenatchee, so it is an easy raft trip. Makes me wish I could have taken it – particularly since the river is so close to our campsite.

Photos today are limited – we can’t figure out whether it was the weather, the sites, or just us. The two photos in down-town Leavenworth are representative of a town determined to appear Bavarian. Whether it “works” or not is up to the observer. The last shot is of a small town between Wenatchee and Leavenworth – named Cashmere. We didn’t find any sweaters of note, but we did buy some pastries. Other than the roof covered in moss (lichen?) and an upside-down crow, it wasn’t memorable. Maybe one has to get involved to uncover hidden qualities?

Tomorrow we head west to Issaquah. We hear it is a great place; our next lay-over before heading into Olympia where we will spend the next 2+ weeks.