August, 11th to August, 25th 2024
Travel Day
Sunday, August,11th 2024
We left the Portland/Fairview RV Park at about 7:30 am and headed East on I-84. We made our first stop at the Memaloose Rest Area at about 8:30 am. We then turned North and crossed the Columbia River at Biggs Junction on US-97 and proceeded North. We pulled on the side of the road for a rest room break near Goldendale, WA at about 9:45 am. At about noon, we stopped at the Love’s Travel Stop for fuel and another restroom break. We then turned East on US-2. We made one more stop at the Chiwawa Sno-Park Parking lot around 2:10 pm. We have learned to have an empty bladder when we get to the check-in process. We arrived at Thousand Trails Leavenworth at about 2:25 pm
Trip Info & Stats
Departure Time: 8:38 AM
Arrival Time: 12:38 PM
Duration (h:mm): 4:00
Total Miles: 190
Number of Stops: 2
Weather: Sunny
more travel day photos
Thousand Trails Leavenworth Campground
We really enjoyed our stay at Thousand Trails Leavenworth. The Campground is a little quirky but there was lots of good friends. We bumped into a family that we had meet at Thousand Trails Bend-Sunriver in June and was also at Thousand Trails Seaside. We also meet another family who the boys really loved playing with.
It is really nice to see Richard engaging more and more with other kids and being able to play outside with little direct supervision. He started walking by himself outdoors for the first time!
more photos from the campground
City of Leavenworth
Wednesday, August, 14th 2024
We spent the day exploring the City of Leavenworth. Leavenworth is a small town on US Hwy 2 in the Cascade Mountains. The town is as a Bavarian themed tourist town.
We parked at the east end of town and started exploring. Our first stop was at Kris Kringl (Christmas store). They had a quite the selection of decorations and everything related to Christmas. Papa did a quick peek into the climbing/hiking store as we worked our way down main street.
We then explored the local historical museum it was small but very informative about town history. We then stopped by Leavenworth Sausage Garten for lunch. We enjoyed our meal and would definitely go back. We then returned to the truck to change a diaper. Richard did more walking then he ever has.
We finished our visit by grabbing some over priced ice cream.
more photos
Lake Wenatchee State Park
Sunday, August, 28th 2024
Lake Wenatchee State Park is just down the road from our campground. We drove up there to let the boys attend the Jr. Ranger Program at the Park’s Amphitheater. They had a great little presentation talking about the local forest. After the presentation we took a Interpretive trail that is off the southern boat launch.
As we were walking back to the beach to eat our lunch, we heard a couple planes fly low overhead. Just as we were walking onto the beach we saw two Canadair CL-415 Air Tankers (wild fire planes) sweep low and fill up on the lake. Once on the beach we got to watch them return every 10 minutes or so refill. The boys were in heaven enjoying the show. There was also a couple trips by a couple Fire Boss Aircraft. Papa pulled up the aircraft tracking app to see how many pairs of tankers were working in the area. He noted that there were only the 4 planes and two helicopters working the area, he also noted that their flight pattern was a very small loop (only a couple miles). Then when he looked at his wildfire tracking map he noted that there was a fire 1 mile south of our campground, with only one major road between, so we decided to return to our campground in case of evacuation.
More Photos from the State Park
Cashmere, Washington
Thursday, August 22nd 2024
We drove into Cashmere, Washington for another field trip. We started out at the Cashmere Museum and Pioneer Village. This was a great little gem of a Museum with lots of local and regional history and pioneer life in the Pacific Northwest. We started outside in the Rail Yard and large Pioneer Village.
We then moved inside and explored a great collection of artifacts. They also had one of the better varieties of stuffed local wildlife and birds.
We grabed lunch at a local drive-thru burger place and then finished our visit at the Aplets & Cotlets Candy Store and Factory. Sidney and mama got a tour of the production floor while Richard and papa walked around the block and watched a passing train.
more pictures
Wildfire and Emergency Preparedness
Although we never got the order to evacuate, when we returned home we packed up enough to be ready to go leave within 10 minutes or less.
This is a good time to be thankful for papa’s history working in rescue and emergency management. As a family we have talked about most emergencies and how we would respond. We maintain a plan to be able to pack up and leave within about 30 minutes. We also have 30+ days of food and supplies at all times in the 5th wheel and a 72-hour supply in the truck. Being prepared makes peace of mind.
