Leavenworth

 September 14, 2019

I don't believe this scenery will ever get old. Those low clouds hovering over the pine trees is fascinating to me.

My in-laws moved to WA from CO in February of 2018 and had yet to visit Leavenworth so we invited them to come along.

First we stopped at Smallwood's Harvest which is only a few minutes before you reach Leavenworth. It's one of those country fruit stores that have a wide variety of specialty foods, taffy, trinkets, some kiddie rides and a petting zoo.

 

 

Jacob and Riley love taffy. My favorite flavor is peppermint, so good.

And whenever Jacob sees kettle corn, he makes sure to grab a bag. 

Who knew there were so many different honey varieties? Wow.

Petting zoo's are always fun. We payed for a couple of feed bags and began feeding the goats and other animals.

My in-laws ... and Riley.

I love this picture of these two. I showed it to Jacob just before I began this post and asked him again why they were laughing but he couldn't remember (which is understandable since it's been over a year now). But I love the genuine reaction from them both.

And this hog didn't seem to care to be fed. I'm sure it had eaten plenty already. Doesn't look starved to me, lol.

We arrived in Leavenworth and as usual their parking lots were full. We ended up parking along a side street.  

There's a mix of restaurants which serve other than German food. Jacob likes German food. Riley and I, not so much. So it's a good thing we have choices.

Of course, we are always on the lookout for a pastry shop or a café.

Our go to bakery in Leavenworth is the Gingerbread Factory. They have a wide variety of pastries but their cookies are so good. The frosting they make is different than the frosting grocery stores use. It's just better, even Jacob thinks so and he's not big on frosting but he likes their frosting. Of course they have seasonal flavored cookies. I believe Jacob got a gingerbread cookie. It was delicious. I personally don't like crunchy cookies and I loved that these cookies were soft, yum! 

We would totally make this 2 hour and 15 minute drive to Leavenworth just for the cookies. That's what we do half the time on our outings which goes for food too. If the food/pastries are good we will make that long drive. It's an adventure and there's nothing wrong with that. 

We took a different way home (through Stevens Pass). I liked this way better because the road was in the middle of mountains, lots more pine trees and the Wenatchee River was to our left. We haven't stopped to take in the views but I know there's several trails along the river. 

My In-laws enjoyed the visit, we all did. We wanted to make another trip and possibly spend one night there but it never happened. My in-laws have since moved, again, to KS.  We haven't been back since then. I'm thinking it's time to visit again ... because of the cookies! LOL!

Adventure is worthwhile.

First Day of Fall 2018

I love Fall.
When possible I like to do something fun for the 1st day of Fall. For 2018 we drove East to Leavenworth. The entire drive
looks like this ...
One of my favorite scenes when driving near mountains is seeing low clouds over the mountains.

The entire scene in Leavenworth is pretty. They have pretty hanging plants and flowers throughout the village. It's just a cozy place especially during Christmastime.

We are constantly looking for four/five start restaurants and bakeries/cafes/pastry shops. I mean, we are known to drive long distances just to eat at a good restaurant or pick up a few pastries. It was our first time going inside The Gingerbread Factory. I love buttercream frosting the best so when I saw they had cookies with buttercream on them I was excited. I got that heart sugar cookie with vanilla frosting, and Jacob got a gingerbread cookie with gingerbread frosting ... and boy, that one was so good! We concluded that we would definitely stop by this place whenever we would visit Leavenworth.

People bring along their dogs. Jacob and Riley will stop to pet them. Great Danes are such interesting dogs. I would totally get one if I had the space and money because I'm pretty sure these giant dogs eat A LOT!

Every building in the village is neat looking.

I was observing the details on each building and noticed several Bible verses on one particular building. I thought that was interesting. I couldn't find any history on why the Bible verses were stenciled on there though.
The one of the left says: 2 Corinthians 5:1
                            For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.  (NLT)

The one on the left says: John 14:2
                             There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? (NLT)

You can also pay for a horse drawn carriage ride which takes you around the village.

I don't think there's a time when Leavenworth is not busy. We have yet to find a good restaurant here, I guess we'll just have to keep searching.

There is a creek and a trail a short distance away from the village. It's a nice escape from the crowds.

Raining on our way out of Leavenworth. Visiting Leavenworth once Winter arrives can be treacherous especially driving through the Pass. You have to make sure you have chains. I hope we never get stranded out in that kind of weather.

A purposeful life is not lived in haste.