Real Live Snow Globe

There's a question that floats around the Northwest. Have you ever been to Leavenworth, WA? The answer is usually "no, but I've heard about it!" That was my answer until a few weeks ago.My good friend Megan invited all of us to come up and stay at her Dads cabin near Leavenworth. It turned out to be a girls only weekend but we had a great time and a very memorable trip!
I loaded up Evelyn and Nora and we hit the road for Seattle to meet up with Megan. I was a bit intimidated by the length of the drive and possible weather conditions so we planned on a pit stop half way at Megan's, to switch cars and ride with Megs up to the cabin.
I wish I had video taped the girls during the ride. You wouldn't have even known I had kids in the car! Nora slept the entire way and only barely made a peep when she was hungry. Evelyn sat very contentedly, listening to stories or music on cd and just watching the road. I was ecstatic!

When we got to the cabin there was just a dusting of snow so that when we woke up the next morning the trees were glistening in a Winter wonderland. The first thing we did each morning was get in the hot tub. I could get used to that!

We drove into Leavenworth for the day and felt we were walking around inside a real live snow globe! It's a very picturesque town, especially when snow is lightly falling and the sound of horse shoes clip-clopping down the street is heard. It is also, however, a town specifically designed to lure tourists and the prices reflect that. Since Evelyn and stores of expensive knick-knacks don't go well together, we weren't long in any one venue.

Instead we just enjoyed hanging out together!

And then we had to drive back to Seattle and on to Portland, or so we thought.

Being up in the cabin with no TV or radio we didn't realize that a cold air mass had settled over Seattle and was dropping a sizable winter storm on the city. And in true NW fashion, chaos ensued. We had a slower than expected, but perfectly safe drive down from the cabin to Seattle and my plan was to continue on to Portland but temperatures had fallen into the 20's and the winds were blowing 40-60mph and Seattle traffic was disastrous. So we stayed right where we were for the night with Megan and her dog Sandy, ate leftovers from the cabin, and watched the Nutcracker while drinking hot chocolate. The next morning, news reports were saying that some people had been stranded on the freeways for 11-12 hours, a plight I was able to avoid thanks to Megan! The girls and I hit the rode the next afternoon and despite our wiper fluid nozzle freezing up on me several times we made it home safe and sound just in time for Thanksgiving