moses lake to chilliwack

We awoke to yet another day of sunshine but cooler temps—70 degrees and no humidity. It was a perfect day to head for the mountains again. We travelled through dessert like land west and then north in Washington towards the Cascade Mountains. En route we were fortunate to find some roadside stands that had the last of the rainier cherries and even some yummy looking local honey. As we approached the Cascades we travelled thru the town of Wenatchee, the largest producer of apples in the country. We were just a little too early for the apple harvest but did find some pears freshly picked. Our first stop was in Leavenworth. Leavenworth is in the narrow Icicle Valley with the Cascade Mountains as background. It was originally was called Icicle, from the American Indian work “nasikelt” or “narrow-bottom canyon”. In the mid 1800’s the gold rush brought an influx of people to the valley followed by the railroad in 1892. The townsite of Leavenworth was established and named for Captain Charles Leavenworth, president of the Okanagan Investment Company. Leavenworth became railway central with connections to the west and to the east. The logging industry took hold and the town thrived until 1925 when the railway relocated its HQ to Wenatchee. The loss of the tracks and the subsequent loss of shipping ease meant a decline in the industry and population. It took until 1965 before the town gathered and decided to “go alpine” and officially commit to a Bavarian theme. Today Leavenworth is like a typical Bavarian village with beautiful geraniums in window boxes, buildings decorated with ornate woodwork and Bavarian motifs, restaurants that feature German and American food and a huge variety of shops with local crafts and European imports. We found a shaded walk around a tiny island in the Icicle River so were able to wear off our schnitzel. We continued along the 100 mile drive thru the Cascade mountains thru Steven’s Pass and on down into North Seattle. We did make a stop at one of the Outlet Malls to satisfy my shopping needs then headed north to the border. We were again fortunate to get thru with minimal wait and then drove east to Chilliwack where we were greeted by Jennie and Chinelo. We started our vacation with them and it is fitting that we finished at their home. It was a wonderful welcome and a good night’s sleep.
We were up early and headed for the ferry to Victoria—and then on to home.