Ah....home sweet home. We just flew home this afternoon. Learned alot this weekend about traveling with someone with Alzheimer's. Traveling with my mom was like traveling with a child and I felt like I had to be right there by her side. I could tell she was a bit nervous...maybe a little overwhelmed at times. But I'm so glad we went. We had a wonderful visit with my sister and it was heartwarming to see my mom meet her new great grand baby.
The mouse king was only $250.
So the day was pretty fun. I'd love to go back with my family and I think my kids would love it. The outdoor theater this summer was doing Sound of Music and Annie get your Gun. And the river looked really pretty. My husband would have lived where we had lunch- the Leavenworth Sausage Garten by Cured.
Yesterday we drove to Leavenworth, Washington and it was awesome!
Leavenworth is a cute little Bavarian themed town located about 2.5 hours east of Seattle. It is a beautiful drive along Hwy 2 with steep mountains, lush green trees and runs along a river. Beautiful.
Leavenworth was established in the early 1900s but was a struggling town until about 1960 when Owen and Pauline Watson, local business owners visited Solvang, California. They had a vision that Leavenworth could be a themed town and boy did it help the local economy. Now it a thriving tourist destination with year round activities. In the summer they have kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking, biking, outdoor theater! Oktoberfest inthe fall! Winter has skiing, dog sledding! In the little town square they had a little polka band and art festival.
My sister had rented a wheelchair for my mom and we spent the afternoon walking around looking in little shops.
A shop full of nutcrackers. (Very expensive nutcrackers. Yikes! Like $600!)
Cuckoo clock anyone?
Even checked out the hat shop. We all tried on hats until my sister said it was elder abuse.
Little Jenny was just the sweetest little tourist there. Such a sweet baby.
Bratwurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad and a beer. Yup...his kind of lunch ;)
(the beer wasn't quite this dark. It was a local IPA and was good.)
Did I mention the glorious weather was in the mid 70's!? I love Washington in the summer! Glorious! After checking out the shops we headed back.
I decided to split up my long run because I didn't want to leave my mom too long by herself in the room. It was like leaving a child alone- worried she would wander out. Ugh. It was a bit nervewracking. So I did 6 miles in the morning and 4 in the evening. The hotel treadmill was miserable with no tv, no music, no view. Ugh. Just look at the pool. Oh well...it was done.
Anyone ever visit a themed town?
Anyone love cuckoo clocks? Nutcrackers? ( I have some cheap Nutcrackers from Target but no authentic ones from Germany)
That little town is so cute! They sold that same brand of nutcrackers at a Tuesday Morning I visited once. I was dying to have one, but they were still $75 at the bargain store. Looks like I should have gone for it. They had the exact same mouse and everything!
ReplyDeleteAnd great work getting in your miles. Maybe those boring treadmill miles will give you some mental stamina for race day. Like how training in heat gives you extra oomph in a winter race.