A place we had never even heard of before our travels, Leavenworth, WA, kept popping up on many must visit lists. National Geographic called it one of the 100 best adventure towns and Country Living hailed it as one of the most charming small towns. We were headed towards Colorado and wanted to go through Walla Walla (wine of course) and Boise to visit a friend. So, we decided we needed a stop in this Bavarian-styled village to see what all the fuss was about.
As we drove in from Seattle, the Cascade Mountain views were forget-to- breath beautiful. As we got closer, around every corner we saw more snow-capped mountains. It was like we were driving into the Alps, not central Washington.
But, pulling in to the Germanesque downtown was more intriguing than awe inspiring.
Not to be outdone by actual Germans, the city of Leavenworth takes their theme seriously. When we pulled into our campground, we were handed a cheat sheet of German words just to be sure we could fit in with the “local” language.
While it was the tiniest bit cheesy, we do have to admit we had fun exploring the town by bike and feeling like we were in a Bavarian village done Disney style.
In Leavenworth you can pig out on everything from schnitzels to cider kraut and wash it all down with a stein in one of the beer gardens. Don’t worry, if you are like us and not the biggest fan of bratwurst, they have plenty of food besides the typical German fare. Rest assured though, you will still get the Bavarian experience. All of the other shops and restaurants toe the themed line, even the local Starbucks.
Best thing we did?
It had the four elements of what we consider our perfect hiking trail.
1. It all starts with a great name. Icicle Gorge. It sounds like when you take off on this route, you may end up channeling a Viking explorer or getting stabbed by a falling chunk of ice. Either way, the name kicks ass.
2. It was a loop. TeamTary doesn’t like to go backwards. We are always full steam ahead and hiking trails are no different. We want to explore new sights around every corner and loops are the way to go.
3. It had action along the way. From rushing water and waterfall-ettes to rocks and bridges to traverse it kept us guessing with every step.
4. It took no more than two hours to finish. Don’t get us wrong, we can do more and will take on any challenge, but this size makes it comfy enough to get plenty of other stuff done in a day. And really, we don’t know where the time goes now that we have so much less to do. It’s exhausting.
Best thing we ate?
Before heading out full time in the Airstream, we bought a cast iron skillet. I think we thought it was a camping requirement. Maybe idealistic thoughts of grilling out over a wood fire even floated through our heads. Well, the glampers that we are were using the stove and grill all the time. The skillet was buried deep in a nook in the under couch storage until now. A recipe for a cast iron citrus upside down cake pushed us to reach into the crevices of storage to get our skillet and boy were we glad we did.
It baked perfectly in our little oven and thankfully, even though we wanted to, we didn’t eat it all in one sitting. We wrapped up the individual pieces and put them in our freezer (after eating 2 or 4 of course). They are safely tucked away for the days when we don’t feel like doing all this.
What we learned?
It doesn’t matter whether your home is stationary or on wheels. There are still two rules that always apply.
Rule number one: It’s all about location, location, location.
When we arrived at the KOA in Leavenworth, they tried to stick us in a subpar spot. It was up front amidst all the in and out traffic as well as by the bathrooms. You couldn’t get any worse. As we walked out the door, we thought if we didn’t say something we were going to have a miserable few days. So, we marched back to the desk and asked for a more secluded spot and they changed us to this beauty.
Rule number two: Anything that can break will break.
At this stop it was our window blind.
Who knew that little string could easily wear out, break and take out the blind? You can certainly tell who has patience between the two of us, since Gary is the one weaving that string back through.
Next Stop: Fort Collins, Colorado