LEAVENWORTH AND LOOKING BACK.

http://marysramblins.blogspot.com/2013/03/teets-food-store-ville-platte-la.html
I'm looking back this morning. The address above is a blog I did on Teets Food Store in Ville Platte, Louisiana.  A wonderful family business with renowned smoked meats and sausages. We posted their website and Luke asked me if we could repost it since the website has changed. So, looking back at Ville Platte and Teets Food Store, here is their new web address:  www.teetsfoodstore.com

Yesterday morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise at Cashmere. And we hit the road headed for Leavenworth.
We passed through several smaller towns, but apples and pears are still crawling up the hillsides in this vast river valley.

The drive to Leavenworth takes you through 10 miles of  beautiful rushing river. Not very photographable on Jim's side of the motorhome. A Beautiful part of driving Highway 2.

Leavenworth was bypassed by the railroads and was more of a ghost town when some enterprising entrepreneur thought, why not make it a Bavarian Attraction since it sits against a beautiful mountain background.

It's not the Matterhorn, but no one seems to mind.
We arrived early, but in no time, the town was teeming with tourists.

The Salmon Festival ended on Saturday. Sunday's major activity-music and art in the park.

We were looky-loos and none of the exhibitors wanted pictures taken of their work.

The whole town is a work of art with its Bavarian style buildings and decorations, so we didn't mind.

We walked and peaked into shops to see what we could see.

We saw a sign that led us to a nutcracker doll museum. She had thousands of them, but most were for sale. I like the Nutcracker story, but the figures don't interest me. I know two people who collect them. I'm sure there are others.

She also had little cuckoo clocks. My motorhome clock is on the fritz and Jim kept encouraging me to buy one. But they looked a bit fragile for the bumping and shaking a motorhome endures.
The town boasts many murals, and this one shows a Maypole Celebration.

The town has a Maypole. It reminded me that I was part of a Maypole Celebration while attending Longfellow school in Hardwood, MI. I remember it as a spring celebration of flowers. We each held a bouquet and the girls were interspersed with the boys, who didn't like it and thought it was silly to walk around the Maypole. Maypoles have to be tall because the ribbons soon wrap the entire pole. Maypoles are a tradition of Scandinaviain Germanic cultures, from the 1600's medieval times. You can barely crane your neck enough to see to the top of this one.

It was only 10 A.M. when we passed this German Sausage, kraut and beer place. We caught the bartender sippin' and a cookin' and singing. But, it was too early for us to enjoy lunch.

As you can imagine you can buy just about anything here.
From serious hats....
To ridiculous, fun hats.

There was certainly fine things, like these table runners, mats and cloths.
Beautiful boots, shoes, jewelry and clothing.
But, I like to amuse myself with humorous products.

You think it's the cat, but I really had my eye on that cannabis cookbook on the right. Fooled ya"

This is how you judge someone's character.  Right?

We were able to resist the licorice ice cream at Scoop Du Jour.

And all the yummy baked treats at Kondidorei's Bakery

The pretzels were just too big for me.
We walked the five or six blocks of Bavarian themed town and then walked to the river to see an exhibit of recycled art a challenge for the Salmon Festival just past. Since we are sitting out a storm over Steven's Pass, I'll post it tomorrow.

THE CASCADES, WENATCHEE, CASHMERE.

The dry plains of Eastern Washington give way to the Cascades. Therein lies the cause of this dry area. The rains hit the mountains and drop most of the rain on the west side of the peaks leaving little for the East.
There is beauty here. We will eventually climb up over 4,000 feet.

Midway, sits the small town of Douglas.

We take a rest stop here and I see my first ever bright, purple roof. I like it!

This old ad has been repainted on an old barn. I like it, too.

Once over the summit, it is down,down,down on curves and hairpin switchbacks.

Of course Jim does the driving so I get to enjoy the scenery and it is a beautiful drive, this Highway 2.

Below us is Wenatchee. The apple capital of the world. Their Washington Apple Commission Visitor Center was closed on Saturdays. The area is the biggest city in the county, the county seat, and part of the power buckle, referring to dams above and below Wenatchee. It is named after the Sahatpin Indian tribe. Wenatchee means - at the source of the river-. They grow and ship pears, cherries, and apples. We saw signs for Pickers Wanted, Por Favor.

Jim made an appointment to have the vehicles serviced at Anglers Auto Service.. Across from Anglers is Dustys Used Cars. His sign is hard to miss.

We ate lunch, and read while the work was done. I have a friend, Pam Rousey,  who was raised here, if memory serves me. I remember a lovely little circus we saw while camped at a Thousand Trails that was from Wenatchee.  Pretty country, great river and we had cool weather with a constant breeze.

We moved on to nearby Cashmere. The old part of town is preserved and attracts tourists who enjoy the shops and atmosphere.

Cashmere's  large complex of a museum and pioneer village was open. The mastodons roamed this part of the country. The Indian artifacts part of the museum was off-limits to cameras. Part of the collection was donated by a local collector. The rest came from the Department of the Interior. Well worth a visit. The Indian History is well done with pictures of the various personalities that imprinted this land.

An item I've never seen is this Indian throwing stick. Kind of tricky to figure out how it worked from in front of the glass case.

I'm ever picking up pretty rocks and boy do they have them. About four cases of them one with beautiful petrified wood.

Some great western paintings by Walter Graham.
Another.

A room full of stuffed birds. What was engaging about the exhibit is the explanations and drawings of how the feathers work to accomplish, flight, gliding as in the raptors diorama, the upward movement as opposed to the downward movements,etc. Interesting.

In the community exhibits, another item I'd never seen before. A bank's timed lock and alarm.
The Pioneer Village was made up entirely of log buildings. All are furnished though you can only see the insides through wired barriers. About 20 buildings, all were moved to the site. Nicely done, except for the wire barriers. But,then the buildings were smaller than other villages like this we've seen.
It was interesting to me to see the various modes of log construction. This building is a two-story hotel.

The upstairs held three beds, but only two were open to a photo through the wire. All in all, an enjoyable visit.
We camped at a an American Legion  next to an apple packing plant. The enormous boxes of apples being trucked to...?  Maybe a train car;;;?  The Legion  wasn't open.

EASTERN WASHINGTON, COULEE CITY.

As we traveled through Eastern Washington State, the small hills and trees gave way to plains.
We drove through miles and miles of dry farming, wide expanses with hardly a house visible.
I enjoyed picking out the plow marks in the fields. This was taken through the windshield through the drivers side of the road.

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Kind of reminds me of that old western song, "...bury me on the lone prairie."  Even though this area was never technically prairie.

As we got closer to Coulee, the results of the dam became evident. Irrigated fields and occasional swaths of bright green.
Small towns kind of stuck in the 1950's it seemed to me. Like the Ala Cozy Motel.

We are camped at Baker lake at Coulee City Park. The lake was formed by Baker Dam, many years ago. The Coulee Dam is about 25 miles from this little city and we decided not to visit.

We walked out to a promontory, watched the ducks, looked over the swimming area and boat launch then retired to the motor home and watched an old video after dinner, Absence of Malice.

I guess the most exciting part of our day was the fruit we ate in place of a salad. I bought a jack fruit.

I hadn't tasted one before. It slices nicely. The red peel comes off easily with your fingers. It is sweet and tasty. I think its appeal is the color and the exoticism. The market peaches and pears are superior right now. Better, and closer to home.