August 14, 2008 - Leavenworth, WA to the West Coast (and the turning point of my trip)

My ultimate destination tonight was the West Coast.


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I was definitely looking forward to spending time exploring Leavenworth today. I skipped the hotel breakfast because I knew I was going to load up on authentic German food. It wasn't the most healthy thing, but I don't know that I would ever get back to Leavenworth.

I began by having knackwurst, which is a German sausage consisting of beef and pork. The sandwich had lots of onions. There were several mustard choices. I tried several and they all seemed a bit too strong for my tastes. I enjoyed eating the rest of the knackwurst without any condiments. For dessert, I had a delicious slice of chocolate cake.

The village is huge. I couldn't see how large it was when I walked around the night before. It's not just one strip along the main road. There are several side streets with Bavarian themed architecture and businesses. See the photos.

From a candy store, I had some delicious white chocolate. Later I had huckleberry cheesecake flavored ice cream. I tried some out-of-this-world authentic Danish foods. I was going to have a root beer popsicle, but they were all out of them. There was a lot of walking involved to get to all the different places, though I'm sure that didn't do a lot to make up for the all the delicious but calorie-laden foods I tried.

They had a couple of Christmas stores. But Kris Kringl was the best. I took photos inside the store. They are in the general collection of Leavenworth photos linked above.

Although all the businesses had a Bavarian look to them (even businesses like Subway, Safeway, Bank of America, etc.), there were stores selling items from non-German countries. I saw a store selling Australian goods and another selling Russian goods.

German music is played in the streets. Some tourists were dancing to the music. At one point, an organ grinder was playing music. In brochures, Leavenworth is referred to as "Your Bavarian Getaway."

In many of the shops, the employees dressed in Bavarian clothes. In one of the shops, I read a postcard which told the story of Leavenworth and why it is a mock Bavarian village. It was a logging town. A railroad located their headquarters in Leavenworth. By the 1920s, the railroad moved out and Leavenworth fell onto hard times. By the 1960s, the Project Life (Leavenworth Improvement for Everyone) Committee was formed. They decided to remake the town into a mock Bavarian village. This created an economic miracle. This is a year-round tourist attraction. Their Oktoberfest is one of the most popular ones outside of Germany itself. There are huge crowds around Christmas time.

A river runs through the area. There is a nice place to swim. The mountains border the river. I took a number of photos. They're not loaded yet.

What Leavenworth did was inspiring. Rather than being negative and just living with their misery, they came up with a very creative solution. In a lot of cases, people just have a defeatist attitude and say "It can't be done" or "It's too much work." They list a number of reasons why they just have to accept mediocrity and the status quo. They don't even try to do something different and instead just stay miserable. If the status quo is making people miserable, failing to even try a solution is a guarantee of more misery. Obviously, the story of Leavenworth is something I really like because it shows what people can potentially achieve when they are willing to do something creative. In my new venture, it's something positive to consider. Does it always mean every idea will be successful? Of course not. But if we don't try, it definitely won't work.

I stayed in Leavenworth until around 3pm. I would love to have stayed another day. But, I had a reservation on the West Coast in Ocean Shores, WA for that evening. It was around four hours. I wanted to have as much daylight as possible when driving.

There were several miles of US 97 before I got back to I-90. The scenery was very nice. There were mostly evergreen trees along the way. See the photos.

Traffic flowed on I-90. The interstate goes as far as Seattle. I got off at Exit 25. When I got to I-5, I suddenly began to remember what traffic jams are like. I did not have a traffic jam since I-90 in Pennsylvania. But on I-5, traffic on frequently came to a stop. Then we inched along at ten or fifteen miles an hour. This is not something I enjoy. After I-5, there was a long drive through US routes and cities to get to Ocean Shores.

The hotel was located on the beach along the West Coast. After checking into my hotel, I had to go right out to see the Pacific Ocean and stick my hand in the water. I've never been to the West Coast before and this was a moment I've been wanting for a long time.

There was a lengthy walk through dunes to get to the ocean. It was quite long and there were narrow paths through the plants. The sunset was nice but the light was too low for photos. I should have taken one anyway since I would never see another sunset on the Pacific Ocean during the remaining days I was in the area.

This represents a milestone for me to have driven all the way to the West Coast. Obviously, it was the end of the trip going west. You can't go any further west by car once you hit the Pacific Coast. It was the turning point as I had no choice but to ultimately head back east after this.