Tag: Washington

Bavarian Done Disney Style

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?

Icicle Gorge Hike.

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.

man vs blind

Next Stop: Fort Collins, Colorado

Fiddleheads and Goose Eggs

While we were super excited to get to Seattle, we had an overnight pit stop to make first at Mount Rainier National Park.  As we drove around the park we got caught up in the pristine beauty.

Until we saw this sign.  Our amazement turned into intimidation as we were suddenly reminded that Mount Rainier is an active volcano.

It is easy to forget you aren’t just in the mountains, but in volcano territory.  Nevertheless we were staying overnight, so we had to change out of our scaredy pants into our big boy and girl pants.

When we got to our campground we were shocked to discover that we were the only ones there for the night.  That never happens!  At this stage of our journey we are campground people.  Neither us nor our rig are truly ready for boondocking just yet (read about our first experience with dry camping here), but we understand the appeal for sure.  It isn’t just the free camping on BLM land, but more importantly the luxury of not being crammed in like sardines where you not only hear your neighbors conversations, but you also know exactly what they are eating for dinner by the aromas wafting into your RV from their grill.

So, for a moment we savored our aloneness in the wilderness.

We enjoyed quite time by the creek doing nothing but sipping cocktails and reading with the sound of the babbling brook in our ears instead of our next door neighbor’s music selection.

Little did we know this was the calm before the storm.  Seattle rain storms that is.  Unfortunately, this was the last time we would be dry for a couple of weeks.

We had some fun weekend jaunts to Seattle in the past, so we were looking forward to this stop.  For a moment it seems like the perfect area to live—it’s a foodie mecca while being surrounded by the outdoors in all directions.  With the exception of the ever expanding Amazon empire jacking up all of the real estate prices you would think this would be an amazing place to settle down.  Uh, no.  They call it the Emerald City for a reason.  Green, green, green means rain, rain, rain.  While our other trips to Seattle have only been for a few days, this time we were here for a couple of weeks.  A solid two weeks of rain cemented the thought that no matter how great the food is or that beautiful national parks are just a short drive away, we would never ever chose to live here.  Sorry all you Seattleites, we just don’t get it.

As we explored the city we realized after being in quiet areas for so long we didn’t like going back to the hustle bustle and traffic of a big city.  So, we found ourselves some nature at Deception Pass State Park.  Something as simple as playing with rocks that looked more like works of art than plain stones made us very happy that day.

Oh look, a break in the rain for a few minutes!  Notice the ominous grey cloud above just laughing at us.

We also found out that Seattle, even in the city, has some amazing nature trails and parks.  We loved trail running at Discovery Park for the view alone.

Now, Seattle might not know how to do weather, but it does farmers’ markets like a boss.  From the original, Pike Place Market, to each unique neighborhood version, you can find heirloom produce, game meat, and foraged goodies that would delight even the snobbiest epicure.

    

While Pike Place is a must visit to explore and taste your way through, it can be touristy, crowded and expensive.  We found the neighborhood markets, like Ballard Farmers’ Market, were better for weekly shopping and also grabbing a slice of wood-fired pizza straight from this portable oven!

Best thing we did?

The Color Run Seattle.

The giddy energy of this event is contagious and it was nuts getting blasted with color and jumping through bubbles. But, the reason this event was the best thing we did was because it was more about possibility than rainbows and unicorns.  See, running used to be my thing.  I would do 5 and 10Ks and Gary would be there to send me off and take pictures.  Since Gary had knee issues most of his life, he could never run and there was even a time when he could barely walk around the block without being in extreme pain.  However, over the last several years with tons of physical therapy and perseverance he is now comfortably hiking 4-5 miles at a time on this adventure.  Still, when I signed up for this race a month beforehand, he shocked me by saying he wanted to run with me.  So, we started wogging daily instead of just walking or hiking.  By race day he was feeling pretty good and we headed out bright and early for the 8 am run through downtown Seattle.

While it wasn’t easy–maybe breathing in a bucket load of yellow #5 had something to do with it–we pushed to the end.  It’s amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it and take the first step.  Being out on the road exploring new things everyday has opened our minds even more to the possibilities of what we can do.

Best thing we ate?

On a day trip by ferry to Whidbey Island, we stopped for lunch at The Oystercatcher.  Shockingly we didn’t even eat oysters.  We could have eaten one of everything on the menu because it all sounded so good, but our favorite dish was simple and fresh.  It was a farmer’s cheese dumpling in a broth of pea juice and topped with house-cured prosciutto and pea shoots.  Surely we got some nutritional bonus points from slurping the last drops of the phytonutrient rich juice from the bowl.

What we learned?

It’s possible to do the things you love anywhere, if you do the work to seek them out.  We found hiking with amazing landscapes and the small town feel of neighborhood farmers’ markets hidden within a metropolis.  In order to rise above our negativity about being in a big city with all of the hustle and bustle that entails, we challenged ourselves to find the things that made us happy even in a place that didn’t fit like a glove.   When we looked beyond the obvious, we found what we needed.

Having this perspective will serve us well as we continue to travel across the US with our now pre-booked route instead of our former “flying by the seat of our pants” style.  In the past, if we had feelings of disappointment in an area where we landed, we would just pick up and move.  And sometimes that is okay.  But as we start to slow down more and more, we are booking places in advance for a week or even two (gasp!) at a time and it isn’t as easy to leave.  Slowing down is a process.  Instead of pushing down our feelings and moving on, we are learning how to deal with them and figuring out how to make fizzy lemonade out of just plain old lemons.

Next Stop: Washington’s Bavarian Village