Christmas in Leavenworth

We drove to Leavenworth after meeting the kids up at the cabin Saturday morning. The drive was beautiful going over Stevens Pass and down the east slopes of the Cascade Mountains into Leavenworth. Although the skies were gray and there was rain in the forcast for that afternoon, the town of Leavenworth was packed full of holiday shoppers and holiday gawkers. After taking a drive out to look at the orchards, the wineries and the awesome veiw on North Road we headed back to town. There were dozens of buses parked at the park and ride........our usual preference.....and we eventually managed to find a free parking spot two blocks off of main street. After walking into town, dodging people and dogs and cars and horse drawn carriages we headed for the cheese shop. I bought a lovely bottle of ice wine which I'm going to open for dessert after Christmas supper. Nico bought cheese and the guys stayed outside with Neeka the dog and did some people watching. We'd arrived late in the afternoon, and were thirsty so we ended up at the Muchin House where we found roaringly happy crowds, warm fires and that great Alpine Ale. We sat and drank and talked to strangers and participated in the joyous comraderie we always find there. 4:30 was drawing near and it was time to get back out to main street for the traditional tree and town lighting. There were speeches given and carols sung and Santa even came. At the thundering of the cannon and the countdown from five one by one the trees, buildings and street lamps of Leavenworth lit up. Everyone was so merry and our surroundings so festive, this was a perfect way to welcome in the Christmas holiday. We had a long drive ahead of us and a turkey and stuffing dinner awaiting us at the cabin, so along with most of the rest of the crowd we slowly made our way back to the car and settled in for the long drive over the pass. We got the car warmed up, and played Christmas songs on the radio. We sang songs and talked about the holidays and before we knew it we were back to Index and our cozy little cabin.