Wenatchee WA

Thursday, June, 6
Wenatchee Park and City

Today it the day to get things in order. LAUNDRY!. but it won't be our highlight of the day. We had some fun last night. We played a couple of matches of "pickleball" The sport is played on a court with the same dimensions as a doubles badminton court. (BIG). The net is similar to a tennis net, but is mounted two inches lower. The game is played with a hard paddle and a polymer smaller version of a wiffle ball. It's serve and return is a lot like tennis with some changes to the rules of positions and scoring.

So we're off to Wenatchee:

Wenatchee is located at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers in the Columbia Basin, just east of the foothills of the Cascade Range. Nestled in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains, there are blue skies 300 days of the year. Technically a desert, irrigation from the Columbia River and her tributaries allows for the large amount of agriculture in Wenatchee and the surrounding areas.
The city of Wenatchee is bordered by the Wenatchee River on the north, the Columbia River to the east, and the Wenatchee Mountains to the south and west. These ridges and peaks form a wall around the western and southern sides of the city. Hiking trails abound. The sage-steppe ecosystem of the foothills is especially beautiful in spring.

Wenatchee is known as the "Apple Capital of the World" due to the valley's many orchards. The city is also sometimes referred to as the "Buckle of the Power Belt of the Great Northwest". The "Power Belt of the Great Northwest" is a metaphor for the series of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River. Rock Island Dam is located nearest to the middle of this "belt", and so was labeled the "Buckle". This saying is printed at the top of every issue of Wenatchee's newspaper, the Wenatchee World, and is no longer in common use elsewhere. Electricity costs 3¢ per KWH as compared to our 8.9¢ per KWH--CHEAP and Wisconsin is raising it's rates 42%.


Our first stop was at the public market.

Leavenworth WA

"Little Bavaria"
(Continued) June 5

Leavenworth is located at the base of the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains, very near the geographical center of Washington State.

Leavenworth is most famous for it's exciting festival line-up which includes Christmas Lighting Festival, Oktoberfest, Mai-Fest, Alefest, Autumn Leaf Festival and many more events. In the winter, the summit of Stevens Pass is just 30 miles from town making playing in the snow so convenient.

 Leavenworth offers an array of it's own year-around fun such as rafting, skiing, rock climbing, hiking, snowmobiling and so much more.  Known as "Little Bavaria"

AND shopping...

 Some of the surrounding attractions include Lake Wenatchee, the small, scenic community of Plain, the world class downhill ski resort of Stevens Pass, all levels of skills for cross country skiing. Wenatchee's Apple Blossom Festival draws thousands as it heralds in springtime to the Wenatchee Valley. The streets are filled with gift shops bakeries and galleries.
The town's elevation is about 1,100 feet, with mountains rising 5,000-8,000 feet nearby. Leavenworth offers an abundance of activity and excitement for everyone. Whether you're an outdoor person or a person who enjoys The Arts, you'll find first-class entertainment in Leavenworth the Bavarian Village. We visit here the first time in 2010 Washington trip and loved the experience... I expect we'll be back again.

 

Architectural designs with flower boxes and window treatments

A mural artist busy at work!

National Park Day!

Peshastin Pinnacles State Park
Wednesday, June 5

Up at 7am packed a lunch of small grill, salad in a jar.

It's so cool in the mornings here. 60 degrees. Hot by 1pm and starts cooling down again after 4pm. I could get use to that!
Our region is known as the North Central area.  Our first stop was Peshastin Pinnacles State Park, This park is a 34-acre desert park featuring a group of sandstone slabs and spires called "the pinnacles." Climbable spires reach 200 feet into the air. Rocks and trails provide views of surrounding orchards, the Enchantment Mountain Range, and the Wenatchee River valley. We purchased our honor system Discover Pass and started on the trail.

Views while climbing

Our hike was short as the trail ended being an "easy climb" and looked a little more "difficult" and not much more of a beaten path....so we head back down the trail and traveled north and wanted to have lunch in Lake Wenachee State Park, our next stop.

 Yeah, I wondered about snakes too...it is a desert area.

Wait, the iPhone turned the lens on me!!!

Lake Wenatchee State Park is a 489-acre camping park with 12,623 feet of waterfront on glacier-fed Lake Wenatchee and the Wenatchee River. The park is bisected by the Wenatchee River, creating two distinct areas – south park, which features areas for camping, swimming and horseback riding, and north park, which is in a less developed, forested section of the park and a quarter-mile walk from the lake. The park is a natural wildlife area, and visitors are warned to be aware of the presence of bears and other natural dangers. eh!

The park is huge. We stayed in the more developed areas

We took a trail walking starting to walk around the lake. The wind coming off the lake was very chilling and the water was ICE cold. Jim stuck his hand in the water and the water was so cold that his hand started to hurt.

Jim taking a walk on the shores of Lake Wenatchee

Water is ICE cold and lake is fed from the mountains

Found our picnic area

With our small propane grill we made chicken and Salad in a jar!

Everyone showed up!

It was a beautiful day!

...and a view of emerald island too! Our next stop on our way back to the suite was Leavenworth
(my favorite), for some freshly made coffee.

Cashmere Washington

Doug's Vineyard (owner)

 

Good Morning!
Tuesday: June 4

Voilà Vineyards & Chalet Suites: Getting settled with our new digs for the week. Beautiful weather, 78-80 degrees with low humidity and for some odd reason no bugs? Planned our day over buckwheat pancakes and fruit with coffee. Put some things away and washed dishes from the cooler. No too much planned for the day, grocery shopping and a visit to the Chamber of Commerce for info on relocation. The manager of this Chamber is from Green Bay WI ...Whaaaa???? We've met so many people that were either from the Midwest, Wisconsin or knew of someone from our area. The stories were funny and interesting of how they ended up in Cashmere, WA. Everyone loves it here and loves the "small town" living. OOh and that replacement turn signal lamp...

Kitchenette area

Dining room and complimentary Voilà wine

Bedroom

Bath and future laundry room (not completed)

Interesting Idea!

What's he reading now!

We brought our anti-gravity lounge chairs AAAHHHH

Just relaxing after a long drive!

Underground irrigation

We grilled a wonderful iron steak with sweet potato and asparagus....SO GOOD!

Tonight after dinner we've planned a walking tour in Cashmere's Historical District, Cottage Ave. Known for historical craftsman style homes and surrounding 1930's neighborhood.

408 Cottage Ave, Mediterranean Built 1920

Craftsman bungalow, built in 1920's

1930 Craftsman bungalow

 Very Enjoyable!