On the Road Again: Leavenworth, Snoqualmie, Tacoma, Olympia

We woke up in Winthrop and took a little bit of time to see the town, since it was largely closed when we had arrived. We walked around the historical site before moving on:

We probably could have headed straight back to Portland after Winthrop, but decided to add an extra night to see Leavenworth, WA, a small town in the mountains that has turned itself into a Bavarian village. On the way, we stopped in the small town of Cashmere, home of Aplets and Cotlets :

Kind of like Turkish Delight. We gave them a try; they are disgusting

Arriving in Leavenworth is sort of surreal because all of the businesses are required to follow the theme, so even the grocery stores and Starbucks look like they are in a Bavarian village:

Our hotel for the night

The town is nestled in the mountains, so everything is picturesque:

Leavenworth was beautiful, but also SO crowded on a Sunday afternoon. After about 20 minutes walking around, we beat it out of town for the nearby Pennstock trail, built along an old gas pipeline with beautiful views of the Wenatchee River:

Bridge made out of the cut pipeline

As per every trail we took, there were beautiful wildflowers:

And a baby squirrel in a tree!

The light was nice on the return hike and by the time we got back to the center of town, the crowds had died down and we enjoyed a nice dinner in a biergarten:

We walked along the absolutely deserted streets for a little while on Monday morning before starting the drive back towards Portland:

First stop, Snoqualmie Falls:

Followed by Tacoma for lunch (we were starving by the time we got there) and a quick tour of Point Defiance Park:

We were so hungry, this hole-in-the-wall soup shop tasted amazing

High school where 10 Things I Hate About You was filmed

Instead of roses, Tacoma has a dahlia test garden

We took a quick peak at Fort Defiance but opted to get back on the road rather than spend a lot of time there

Last stop, Olympia where we walked around the capital complex:

We spent the night in Vancouver, Washington, just outside Portland to make it easier to catch what was supposed to be an early morning flight. After several delays, we finally got in the air. The view from the plane window on Mount Hood was a final bonus from the PNW:

Back to home life tomorrow!