Papa, Grandma and a Bavarian Village

After stopping to replace our camera, we traveled east to the center of Washington and joined Papa and Grandma at a campground outside Leavenworth. Leavenworth was a town abandoned by the railroad and then by its sawmill early in the century. The town refused to die, though, and in the 1960s, it made itself over as a charmingly decorated Bavarian tourist trap. It's cute, and the town seems to be doing well. The 59 Diner sold over 4000 milkshakes last August, for example.

This is also where we began to encounter mosquitos. Ick.

We found out about the 59 Diner from another camper, and Gloria decided it was the best place to eat EVER because she could dance to 50s music on the jukebox while she waited for her food. So we also took his suggestion to drive up to White River Falls in Snoqualmie National Forest. We drove along to the end of the paved road; we kept driving when it became a gravel road; we got a little nervous, but we kept going when it became a simple dirt road. But finally, there is was: White River Falls campground. We pulled in to a beautiful, small campground and could hear the roar of the falls. It was hard to get a good view of the falls, although we could see tantalizing portions of it as it dropped in a curve away and then back toward us, but that was almost more fun. It felt private and discovered.

In Cashmere, we toured Aplets and Cotlets, a candy company that makes a version of turkish delight with fruit and nuts in it. I liked the Cotlets best: apricots and walnuts. On the way back, we visited a farm with a petting zoo outside Peshastin. Gloria pulled Leona around and around in the wagon: we find heavy work for her wherever we can!

The best part of the week, though, was getting to be with Papa and Grandma again. We're leaving in the morning, but we'll see them again later this month!