Wellkommen to Leavenworth! Part 1

 

Roger here....  We traded the Pacific Northwest Islands for the Pacific Northwest Mountains.  A little history...

In the 1960s the railroad was moved away from the city of Leavenworth due to the annual clearing of the heavy snowfalls.  The very wise forefathers of the town knew that their home would not survive without the railroad.  They devised a scheme to take advantage of the alpine setting to create a German-inspired mountain village.  All of the buildings were required to be of Bavarian architecture.  Their plan saved their town and gave the Pacific Northwest an idyllic new village --- German beer, pretzels, sausages, wine, chocolate, hiking, mountain shops, oom pa music and fun.  So much fun.

The photos below give a good representation of the atmosphere.

HIKING IN THE FOREST IN THE CITY...

The Leavenworth City Park is more of a natural sanctuary compared to most city parks.  Trails and bridges along the Wenatchee River are literally a block from the Bavarian atmosphere.  We hiked in the park twice; once was a special time with Robyn and Atul (daughter and son-in-law) who flew up to spend a couple of days with us.  The second stroll along the river was with Bandido and Poquita.  

This photo of the back of one of the hotels illustrates how close to the town we were.

Below are a few family hiking photos...

Does a bear sh.. in the woods?  An answer to that proverbial question.

It was berry season.  Note all the berries in the scat.  

FRUIT, ROBYN AND A NUTCRACKER, AND PIZZA!

This part of Washington is considered the apple capital of the country.  There were orchards everywhere.  There were also fruit stands.  Dianne was in her element.

So was Robyn...

We all enjoyed the Nutcracker Museum.  Robyn had an especially good time.

We found a pizza place for dinner on Robyn and Atul's last day with us.  The weather was chilly.  Robyn was silly.  The pizza was tasty.  The mountain twilight was a fitting end to this post.

We will return to the Leavenworth area for our next post to celebrate Dianne's birthday and to venture away from town a bit.

PET PICTURES OF THE DAY.

Robyn brought a neckerchief and matching costume glasses for the dogs.  She insisted that we take pictures of Poquita wearing the glasses.  Typically, Poquita would not sit still long enough to wear glasses.  However, when we told her it would be like a photo shoot, she immediately went into modeling mode.

Then Bandido insisted that he could be the best model.

"I told you so!"