Bavaria in Washington

We are very happy that we did the lake journey yesterday as this morning it was rainy and foggy.  The seaplane wouldn't even be able to fly.  I forgot to mention that the lake was flat yesterday morning when we flew, a rarity.  It was choppy again in the afternoon.  After a good breakfast we drove south on route 97A through apple orchards, cherry orchards, pear orchards, and vineyards.  We had no idea there are so many apple orchards in this area; the hillsides and valleys are covered with them. 

We stopped at a fruit stand just north of Wenatchee, the apple capital of the world.  We bought some apples and pears.  One of the pear varieties is red-skinned and small - very tasty.  Pears and apples are being harvested now and trucks loaded for market are on the roads, workers with fruit boxes in the orchards.  At Peshastin (we were now on route 2 west) we drove around the hills enjoying the pear orchards.  Peshastin seems to be an excellent place for pear growing, there are sure a lot of them.  At one point we were pulled over taking photos of pears and a guy stopped to ask if we needed help finding something.  When he learned we were just taking photos of his pears, he said with a big smile to take as many as we wanted, "we are proud of them".

We arrived in Leavenworth, a little town along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains that has styled itself as the Bavaria of Washington.   It was a struggling community for many years and in the mid 60s decided to "go Alpine".  Now it is a tourist destination for the village itself and for the outdoor activities such as skiing and water sports.  All of the buildings have an Alpine theme, and to look at them from the outside you would think you are in Bavaria.  Most shops cater to tourists.  In addition to the knick knack shops, there are several wine tasting shops offering a chance to learn about local wines.  (Yes, we bought a few bottles and are wondering how we are going to fit them into the already stuffed car.)  Almost all of the restaurants offer German fare.  The place we had dinner even had an accordion player.  This month on the weekends they are celebrating Oktoberfest and every lodging accommodation is full.