Life on the Left Coast: "I'll Follow the Sun"

The Beatles sang:

"One day you'll look to see I've gone
For tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun."

For us, yesterday was that day. We had had ENOUGH RAIN. And so, we decided to follow the sun. A friend of Mike's from work told us about Lake Chelan, a spot located east of here where it's sunny 300 days a year.

We got in the car at 10:30 and started driving. We knew we had to cross over the Cascade Mountains, and we were totally looking forward to that part of the trip. Mike's friend told him that on the other side of the mountains, the landscape would change totally and would be almost desert-like. That just seemed crazy...and we wondered if this was what locals tell transplants. Kinda like how, when we were in high school, upperclassmen told freshman that the swimming pool was located on the roof. In any case, we decided to see this "desert" for ourselves--if such a thing even existed.

Here are some pictures I took of the Cascades through the windshield of the car...

At what I think was the Snoqualmie Pass, we stopped to get some snacks for the kids. The snow pack was super deep and the boys had never seen anything like it!

Look at this food truck, totally buried but still in business:

I am so glad I went into the food truck for a cup of coffee. The guy running the place was super friendly and gave us all kinds of information. Says he: This is the nation's fifth deepest snow pack. (Typical for here, but since other parts of the country have had drought, lots of people are coming to Washington to ski this year.) He also said, once he found out we were headed for Lake Chelan, that it would be worth a quick detour to Leavenworth. (I said, "THE Leavenworth?" thinking of the prison. And he goes, "Yeah, THE Leavenworth. Wait til you get there. You'll see, it's just like being in Austria." Well I was totally puzzled by that, but whatever.)

Back in the car, we kept driving through the mountains. One thing we noticed were all the warning signs for things to watch out for. There were signs to watch for ice, rocks, deer, snowmobilers, horses, pedestrians, and even a sign for "range area / watch for livestock." The one thing we actually did see (and there was no sign for): Turkeys. We weaved around two huge turkeys crossing the road. We saw wild turkeys up in Linville, NC but they were further off in the field. These guys were close up.

As we came out of the mountains, the skies cleared, the snow was partly melted, and little creeks and rivers were bubbling along everywhere. The trees got thinner and thinner and, eventually, the land opened up and became really grassy. And then there was no snow at all. Still didn't look like a dessert, but oh well. It was more like a prairie.

By then it was getting close to lunch time and we were about 20 minutes from Leavenworth, where we'd since learned (love the iPhone with Internet access on the go) that no, it's not the famous prison (which is in KANSAS!) but is actually a little town originally populated because of the timber and railroad industries and reinvented in 1962 as a mock-Bavarian town to bring dollars back. Now you can go there for German beer, knockwusrst, bratwurst, kielbasa, frankfurters, more German beer, all sorts of mustards, cured meats of all stripes, and enough kitsch and scripty "old worlde" font to put Gatlinburg, TN to shame!

Where are the lederhosen?

The snowy mountains in the distance really add a bit of
authenticity.

The boys had some serious wiggles to run off.

I mean, really, if the cars parked alongside the road were cooler and the
accent different, we could be in Germany!

More wiggles...

"Velcome to Bavaria!" (We had fun saying the names of all
the stores in our best German accents.)

Ollie was captivated by the pretzel garland outside this
bakery.

I was captivated by the baked goods.
"Keep walking! Keep walking!"

Where we decided to eat lunch: Munchen Haus (Munich
House). Cash only. Order at the counter. Grab a seat in
the beer garden out back. Chilly but heated with
space heaters and a big outdoor fireplace.

Lucky us, we ended up right next to the fireplace. True to a real German beer
garden, you share a long table with other people. Ollie gets cozy with a
software developer from Spokane.

Mike toured the Hofbrau brewery when he was in Munich
for Oktoberfest last year.
Cheers!

Ollie and shared some German potato salad and a frankfurter. Lucky us,
we got a seat right next to the fire!

Not sure why Mike looks like a pirate here, but he and
Merrit are digging in to their soft pretzel and sausage.

The German flag flying proudly above. And blue skies.
Perfect.

Speaking of perfect, for the perfect sausage, you must have the perfect mustard.

From German beers to German bears. Here's Ollie outside
the ice cream shoppe.

They both ordered mint ice cream in a cone. Look at Merrit with his little
hands clasped expectantly. Ha ha. He is so freakin' funny!

After the boys had cones, we all sat in a garden by the somewhat neglected
maypole and soaked up some sun for about half an hour. The perfect mid-road-
trip break before piling back into the car--onwards to Lake Chelan.

The landscape really began to change. We saw a sign warning us to watch out for Big Horn Sheep. Well. That's new. Rocky outcroppings, purple and red crumbly looking rock cliffs. Lots of loose scrabbly rock. And shrubby type plants. Big countoured, grassy mountains in the distance. Big, big blue skies. AND SUN! Mission accomplished.

We drove alongside Lake Entiat (also known as the Rocky Reach Reservoir) for a long time, with the lake to our right and the craggy hillside to our left. We also passed lots and lots and lots of apple orchards. And a few small wineries. Everything was pruned back and bare-branched for now but we made a mental note to come back later this year for apple harvesting season and wine-tasting.

We just passed the Rocky Reach hydroelectric dam.

Long straight open highway. This is where we might have seen some
Big Horn Sheep. We kept our eyes peeled, but no luck...

The old railroad track in the foreground and Lake Entiat reflecting the hills
on the other side. Wow. Gorgeous.

What a drive. It's almost too much to take in!

Apple orchards out of season.

We finally found our way into the little resort town of Lake Chelan (shuh-lan). The first place we scoped out was a skate park. Mike had had the good foresight to toss the boys' scooters and helmets in the trunk before we left the house (something we used to do in England). Well, of course, they were THRILLED.

Not as cool as the skate park in Whitley Bay, but also not as likely to
attract older kids and teenagers. This was just our boys' speed.

With the lake and mountains all around, this was a
really beautiful spot to burn off some energy!

Next: The one-mile Riverwalk Park paved path, which crosses the Chelan River and has access to a beach area. The boys rode scooters and Mike and I walked along, soaking up the sun and enjoying the low-key afternoon.

This is the river, which is at the far end of the lake. We
are going to walk up to that bridge and cross over.

Now, from the bridge...with the river behind us and
Lake Chelan ahead. The Cascade Mountains in the distance.
The lake is glacier-fed and is crystal clear!