Thursday, July 24, Leavenworth, WA

It was a chilly but sunny morning. We washed the bathroom from top to bottom after the "incident", then went to town for fuel and back to the campground to hook up.

By 9:40, we were on the road - didn't have far to go, heading north on US 97.  (1425 ft elevation)

Passed a large wind farm with the turbines turning.







At 10:20 we were climbing, and seeing signs "Delay of 5 vehicles illegal. Slow vehicles use turnout." 3000 ft.


At 10:30 we were over Blewett Pass (4102 ft), now going down.
At 10:45 we were at 1680 feet on a good highway and a picturesque drive.
We turned on to Hwy 2 at 10:53 which was at 1050 ft. Peshastin, a big fruit growing are - cherries, apples, peaches and plums. It was 17C.

By 11:00 we arrived at Alpine View RV Park, Leavenworth and had to wait while the owner cut overhanging branches in order for us to get in without any damage to the roof. Total mileage 101 km!

Leavenworth is a Bavarian Village. It was a dying mill town nestled in the magnificent Cascade Mountain Range which reinvented itself in the sixties by playing on the breathtaking surroundings and being on the sunny side of the state. The Bavarian Village was born. Beautiful old world German architecture, great restaurants, outdoor brat and beer gardens bring visitors from all over the world.
Beautifully ornate downtown offers a tantalizing mix of locally created culinary shops. Flowers flow throughout the village.








After lunch, we set off on the "Cascade Loop" tour on Hwy 2 to see the western portion.. Unfortunately we ran in to a detour almost right away at 12:45. Hwy 2 was closed due to wildfires and we were detoured on to Chumstick Hwy. It was an interesting detour, to say the least, including hairpin curves and major changes in elevation. 19 km later, we were back on Hwy 2.
At 1:45 under light showers, we were stopped for construction.  at 2900 ft. At 2:05 we passed over Steven's Pass at 4061 ft and started down. The next town was Skykomish at 800 ft and it was still raining.
When we reached Gold Bar, an historic mining and logging town, it was still raining and we could not see much, so turned around.

On the way back, we stopped at Deception Falls, put up umbrellas and went for a hike. The trail descends into a moss-drenched forest and meanders along rocky streams. It was raining lightly.

There were some very large, very old trees!








It was STILL raining when we got back on Hwy 2, but 1/5 hour later, the skies cleared and it was a sunny, blue sky!
Back on the 37 km detour to get back to the RV park. Apparently, it was sunny and warm there all day !