Saturday, August 15 and we were off again to do some sightseeing! Although the weather along the coast was foggy the report was for sun on the other side of the Cascade Mountains. We left
Anacortes and headed south on Interstate 5 until we turned east on Highway 2. Up, up and over Stevens Pass. Winding up the last two miles to the crest of the pass, you get sweeping views of the forested country to the west. Once over the pass the sky began to clear and the sun was shining once again.
The road hugs the sheer wall of Tumwater Canyon, winding and twisting though the rocky gorge paralleled to the Wenatchee River. Suddenly
we rounded a corner, and there was Leavenworth.Nestled tightly against mountains that rise to 8,000' Leavenworth transformed itself into a Bavarian Village in the 1960's. Until 1962 Levenworth was a rough-edged logging town for much of its first 72 years, but when a key railroad line closed, business owners reinvented the town as a Bavarian burg. And to lure would-be visitors, they created festivals for every season. There was art in the park while we were there and next weekend they have a wine tasting of local wines.
A stroll through Levenworth reveals many quaint treasures, including house-made bratwurst at Willi'w Sausage Haus. We stopped and had a wonderful German lunch and beer at one of the local restaurants.
Levenworth is an unexpected European outpost in the Cascades of Washington.
On the way back to our home in Anacortes we stopped at milepost 58 to view Deception Falls, From the parking area the trail descend into a moss-drenched forest and meanders along rocky streams.
The falls plummets 60 feet in a thundering mass of colliding water. the water carves away at the rock lip of the falls, drills plunge pools in bedrock and bounces from boulder to boulder.
Like all waterfalls, this lovely cascade is temporary. Someday water will reduce the falls to just another rapid along the course of Deception Creek, but a beautiful place to see.
That is all for now.
Love,
Candy and Johnny
