Day 26 (June 29) We visit a Bavarian Village and see a ton of nutcrackers

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Today we drove about a half hour north of Wenatchee to visit a small town of Leavenworth. From the time you enter the town to the time you leave it, it's as if you have been transported to a Bavarian Village somewhere in Germany.  The main street in town and several side streets are blocked to traffic so pedestrians have complete access to this area.  Because it was so hot this day, quite a few of the businesses were closing early or weren't open at all. However, our main reason for visiting was to see the Nutcracker Museum.  This place has over 7000 nutcrackers and I don't mean your standard walnut cracker that you used to help your parents crack nuts for the holidays.  The the nutcrackers we are refering to are the ones that we remember at Christmas that stand like soldiers, wisemen, or even Santa with a jaw capable of cracking any kind of nut! I think we spent a good 2 hours in there ( the reason for 2 videos!). If you ever get the chance to come to this area, put this museum at the top of your list!

 

After our visit there, we wandered around the town spending most of it inside various stores and food places.  We tasted Bavarian pastries, bought a few souvenirs and ended our day and Cold Stone Creamery.  We were supposed to visit the Ohme Gardens but it was so hot that we can hopefully visit tomorrow.

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Day 27 (June 30) Another stifling day . . .

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The last two days we have been in the middle of a record breaking heat wave that Washington, Oregon and Idaho have never seen.  Today was the fourth day of this 110+ heat and as we spent the last two days seeing the sites, today we decided to cancel our plans and just stay in.  We did manage to go out to dinner and we went to see a movie so the day wasn't a total loss.  It's supposed to be under 100 tomorrow so hopefully we can get back on track.

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Day 28 (July 1) A Garden on a Hill above the city

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Today was definitely a little cooler and so we ventured out to a local place called the Ohme Gardens (pronounced Oh-Me).  This is a small garden area that was created by couple who saw the beauty in putting this place on the top of a hill.  The views are wonderful and on a clear day, like today, the views were even better.  Below, the Cascade and Wenatchee rivers come together and you can see the entire valley from just about anywhere in these gardens. The trails are made of flat stones taken from the garden area over time and will take you through the enter garden from end to end.  To see the entire gardens will take you between 45 min to 1 1/2 hours.

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Day 29 (July 2) Wenatchee, WA to Seattle, WA - 152 mi

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Where we stayed:  WorldMark The Camlin, Seattle

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Another short drive day but the drive through the Cascade mountains was really beautiful.  We did stop at the Boeing Future of Flight exhibit before finishing our drive to our first timeshare stop but because we weren't allowed to take photos, we don't have anything to show you except the tickets we used to gain entrance!

 

We got to our timeshare around 4pm, unpacked, and then walked to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  Tomorrow we check out the Space needle!

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Day 30 (July 2) We tackle the Space Needle . . . and survive!

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The Seattle Space Needle was the focal point of the 1962 World's Fair held in Seattle, WA. It is over 800 ft tall, took just over a year to finish, and includes a glass floor that turns and makes 1 revolution each hour and is run by a 1 hp engine. It is also built to withstand a 9+ earthquake!

We got there around noon and our tickets were for an entry time of between 1:00pm and 1:15pm. We browsed the gift shop and figured out what we wanted to take home.  The Chihuly Gardens and Glass was a part of our ticket but the line was nearly an hour long, so we got permission to visit another day and use our existing tickets. We were in line for our nearly an hour before we were able to climb in the elevator to the top of the Space Needle but were rewarded with a wonderful view of 360 degrees! And they recently added glass floors so now you have a view straight down to the ground!

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We then took the monorail from the Space Needle to the terminus at Pike and 3rd st, then walked the three blocks to Pikes Market.  We spent the time there searching a few of our favorite shops and were rewarded with dessert for dinner and breakfast the next morning. Tomorrow we visit some dear friends who pastor a church just north of Seattle. 

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