Final Day 3

Welcome to all of you who have gone on this little trip with us.  We spent the second night in a town called Leavenworth.  When the lumber trade started to dry up, this town was on its way to a slow death!  Because of its lovely mountain setting,some very smart people decided to make it into a little Bavarian town.  In fact,  some say that Leavenworth is more Bavarian than Bavaria!! It is now a thriving tourist destination! It was on the trvel channel a few years back in their small town Christmas special.

 Here is where we spent night 2.

 The whole town has this Bavarian feel.

 Even the pet store!!!!!

 Are we now in Switzerland???!!!

Even Starbucks!!!!!!!

 Heading home through the Cascade Mountians.

 It's getting cloudier.

Almost home!! Thanks for joining me!

Day 2 East of the Cascades

I'm so glad that many of you are enjoying the pictures.    We spent the first night in Winthrop.  It is a kind of little Western town, wooden sidewalks and all.  We stayed at the Band B below. We got up early and started down the Eastern side of the mountains.  This side is so different from the Western side.  This is largely true because the moisture from the Pacific is kept on the Western side of the mountains thus, we are wet and the other side is very dry.  I love all our huge trees and green so I know I live on the right side for me.  However, they do say they have 300days of sunshine over there! I guess that means that when I get a bit tired of the gloom, I need to have a short trip over there!

A nice and very clean little B and B.

There were deer all over the place.  Gardens had 10 foot fences.

Sunset over the mountains.

We are now in a little town called Twisp.  This was the sign over a restaurant.  We opted for a treat at a cute bakery called Cinnamon Twisp.

I thought this was a very funny way to advertise!

This whole area was full of orchards and vineyards.  Next fall, I think we need to go on a wine tasting trip!!

Apple trees everywhere!

This is the mighty Columbia River.  It empties into the Pacific near one of my favorite towns, Astoria, Oregon. You can see the patches of green.  The rest of the hills(where there is no irrigation) were brown and it is only June.

One of the best surprises of this trip was Lake Chelan.  It is quite a resort town for Seattle so I expected lots of tee-shirt shops. Actually the town was delightful and the lake just a beautiful shade of blue.

All the cross walks had mini gardens.

You could see the bottom very easily.

After leaving Chelan we went to Leavenworth to spend the night.  I'll show you the trip back home tomorrow. Thanks again for joining me!

The Amazing Road Trip

A very special thanks go out to all of you who have sent good wishes regarding the birth of our Grand Daughter, Hannah Louis.  Grandpa and I can hardly wait till we can see her in person.  Now if you follow this blog to see cross stitch , you might want to skip this post.  The SBA and I just got home from a short 3 day road trip.  Since we moved here, we have heard stories about the beauty of the North Cascades National Park.  Mon. morning we set out to see it for ourselves.  I have decided to do a 3 day post so you can experience the great beauty of Washington . I hope you enjoy!!

 The highway closes from Mid Oct. through late March or April depending on the snowfall.

 Our first glimpse of snow.

I can see why these are nick- named the Alps of North America.

 We saw more waterfalls than you can count.

 The green color of the water is due to glacial melt. This beautiful lake is named Lake Diablo.

Wild flowers grew by the roadside at the lower elevations.

 Rainy Pass! We planned for a short hike here.  The parking lot was closed due to snow.  The air was not cold.  We had on tee-shirts and were quite comfortable.

 We are now at Washington Pass. This is the highest road point in the state( 5200 feet).

Just amazing.  The warm air was filled with the scent of pine.

Thanks so much for joining me.  Tomorrow we are going to Winthrop,a town  just the other side of the mountains, then through the Methow Valley.