Just as We Thought!

 Jeff and Jina blocked out an entire day for us, and we were thrilled to take part in the activities they had planned! We started mid morning by meeting their extended family. There are children and grandchildren everywhere, and names escape, but every single one was pleasant and well mannered. They were a joy to meet!

Jeff hooked up their boat and we headed toward Lake Tapps, just a few miles away.

Slipping into the water, we were off! The lake is huge, with hundreds of homes on the shore, and we had plenty of room to play!

Jina is an expert boat “driver”, and got us headed in the right direction. Directly toward Mt Ranier!

Donna needed a bit of reassurance from Jeff, but we both soon relaxed and began enjoying a perfect day on the water. The temperature was comfortable, and a slight breeze cooled us as the sun direction changed.

Jinas daughter Olivia took a photo of us while her son, Conner, piloted the boat. We began to wonder if the nice wake that the boat created could be put to good use. Conner was way ahead of us!

Up on a surfboard in the same way a water skier gets up, Conner was soon surfing the wake!

Executing a perfect rotational 360, he dumped the board and gave his mom a turn! Jina is an accomplished athlete, and impressed us with her balance and coordination.

After a relaxing 4 hours on the lake, we reluctantly came ashore. Donna and I returned to the trailer to freshen up a bit and returned to Jeff and Jinas home for dinner with the family. Jinas father, Warren on the left, then what’s-his-name, Donna, daughter Olivia, Jina and Jeff.

Jina is an accomplished chef, and Jeff isn’t far behind, so it was steak and potatoes, a vegetable medley and asparagus. Check this out:

It didn’t take us very long to demolish those 2” thick ribeyes!

We unfortunately had to leave the Puyallup area and our new family, so a good night’s rest put us on the road to Port Angeles, Washington. We took a scenic route along Hood Canal on highway 101. This “canal” is a large body of water that feeds into the Salish Sea between Canada and the US in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

As 101 bears west away from the Canal, the terrain makes a dramatic change.

We have arrived at Salish Trail RV Park, site 808. The park is a bit rustic, with dusty dirt roads, but is perfectly serviceable for the time we have here.

We expect to see some sights, eat some food, and do some laundry. Stay tuned.

Good Friends and Good Times

 165 miles of driving got us out of Cashmere and headed west. US highway 2 took us west for a few miles, then we turned south on US 97. This picturesque drive was a joy, even pulling the trailer. Mountains, trees, and rivers showcased a perfectly well maintained highway.

In some areas, the trees are showing signs of approaching fall.

The fire department was conducting a controlled burn along one section that slowed things down a bit.

Abruptly, we left the mountains and approached a dry grassland.

And then a lovely valley.

Several interesting bridges along the way brought us to Interstate 90 once again, and west we went.

Snoqualmie pass is one of the most beautiful sections of highway we’ve had the pleasure of driving. Here’s a sample:

A few miles east of Seattle, highways 18 and 167 sent us south. After passing through Puyallup, we turned onto S Meridian E toward our final destination in Graham, Washington, the Rainier View RV Resort.

Mt Rainier, a 14,000 foot tall active volcano is, well, just through those trees…the volcano is calculated to explode within 10 years, threatening some 80,000 people in the Puyallup Valley. Right where we’re camped…

We wanted to stop in this area to renew our friendship with Jeff and Jina, a couple that we met in the spring in Nevada. JnJ are extraordinarily nice people and we love them like family! We were able to share a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant and make plans for more fun!

Steins and Brats

 Just a few miles north of us, tucked away in a small valley in the Cascades, lies the small Bavarian town of Leavenworth, Washington. Located at the confluence of Icicle Creek and the Wenatchee River, it was first named Icicle Flats by John Emig and Nicholas Kersherf in 1885, but renamed Leavenworth when it was rebuilt after a fire. Charles Leavenworth surveyed the site and laid out streets and was a relative of Henry Leavenworth, the founder of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. As with so many small towns, the arrival of the railroad brought prosperity. The Stevens Pass Route connected Seattle and Wenatchee, was the final section of the Great Northern Railway, and had a stop in Leavenworth.

The town has been reborn as a Bavarian village, and glistens, they say, around Christmas with up to 9 feet of snow! Today was a pleasant 84 degrees, and we enjoyed a stroll through the main shopping district. However our first problem was finding a parking space. Street parking is limited and expensive but we found a parking lot about a quarter of a mile away for $10 a day. There was a hill, however…..

That’s our truck on the extreme right, next to the blue box. At the point of the photo we were about half way up the hill!

Check it out! A citywide mandate has resulted in traditional architecture throughout the city.

The view from our restaurant was pretty cool (and yes a couple of brats appeared on the table).

Saddling up for the trek downhill to the truck, we had to snap a photo.

Leavenworth is the quintessential tourist town. Dozens of hotels, more dozens of restaurants and enough tee shirt shops to carpet a path to the moon. It is set in a beautiful valley, however, and a visitor’s every wish can be satisfied. There is even a cool little tram ride that takes a rider in their own car, up a mountain and then turns them loose to navigate a track down to the bottom!

Where else can you do that?

Apple Pan Dowdy

 We explored Wenatchee today, driving from top to bottom and discovered that this agricultural based city is a first class fruit processing machine. It’s also the county seat of Chelan county, so there’s a bit of government activity. 

On our way into town we got a good view of some of the orchards that line this valley. Not only a multitude of varieties of apples are grown here, but also pears and cherries, due to the dry climate and temperate conditions.

Wenatchee is also at the confluence of the Wenatchee river and the Columbia river. There is a wonderful state park at the actual location with some 13 miles of paved ttrails, swimming areas, and of course boat launches.

One of the oldest fruit warehouses in Wenatchee has been repurposed as a unique market, with craft shops, meat markets, olive oil vendors and restaurants. We had to visit and shop at the Pybus Public Market!

We ended our tour by having an early dinner at Garlini’s Napolitana. The calzones and the blackened chicken alfredo were delicious!