Leavenworth

Last weekend S and I went to Leavenworth on Sunday and Monday to do a little geocaching and just get away for a bit. (For those who don't know, Leavenworth is a wonderful, if kitschy, little town that has completely remade itself as a Bavarianish Village. It's about 120 miles northeast of Seattle. I'm not sure how long it takes to get there because we've never done it without making a bunch of stops.) This was also supposed to be our annual foliage drive to go check out the fall colors. We had wanted to go a few weeks earlier for prime color but just couldn't make it happen. I won't pretend that our color is as impressive as New England's, but it's still gorgeously flaming and golden at the right time. Fall is a busy time for the town, what with the Autumn Leaf Festival and a couple of weekends of Oktoberfest. Our trip fell on a rare quiet weekend, as the town catches its breath before gearing up for Christkindlmarkt at Thanksgiving and then the Lighting Festivals in December. We got the lodgings we wanted and had plenty of elbow room while wandering around the shops.

( The rest of the trip... )