Here we are in Part 4 of the Road Trip. Isn’t is amazing that we can go from sharing a postcard with someone when we are on a trip, to posting in on a blog and letting many, many people share in your experience? Changing times…
To catch up you, we are now headed to Wenatchee and meeting up with a cousin of mine that I haven’t seen in years and years. As we drive into Wenatchee, we are wondering which way to go because it has changed so much since I last was there! So with my Maps on my phone and hubby’s good sense of direction, we were able to find her house. What a fun reunion we had visiting and catching up. They took us out for dinner and we got to keep the conversation going. It was once again a reminder that family is so important, and that losing contact with them is such a waste of great fellowship! We need our family and surprisingly, they need us too. Don’t let time constraints keep you from staying in touch! I got the address of a cousin that was my best bud when we were five years old and sent him a couple of pictures of us. I am in high hopes he will contact me back!
So after that wonderful visit, we headed toward Leavenworth and to our home for the night. We are staying at Thousand Trails, Leavenworth and thought we had a pretty good idea where we were going. I even got directions from the reservations operator. Yeah…well…not really. She had us going the back way in, we had no idea where we were and it was getting dark. I thought I would use my phone and see where we are! Wrong. Got our pin point location and then lost signal because we are up in mountains! Ok, how about the map? Nope. The roads aren’t even on the map and this is a new map! We would get a signal and then hubby would move forward with the car and lose it. Of course at one point he just stopped but that wasn’t the place where we could get signal. If it wasn’t getting so annoying that we had such poor directions without technology, it would have been kind of humorous. So after a lot of, “I don’t know. I’ve never been here before either!” comments, we just kept driving and I started praying that we would find it soon. Nobody to ask because there weren’t that many houses there. When we did find someone place to ask, at a small hotel, they didn’t answer their door for service. So we got back on the road and kept driving. Several more miles down the road, and we saw the sign. We had been driving total of at least 50 minutes looking. But, we DID find it…thank you Jesus! And below, you will find a picture of our home away from home. Not bad, huh?
We even had a BBQ on our deck we could use. I think we will come back to this one! It was beautiful! As you can see, it had a pool also! Oh yah!! Course, I won’t be seen in any form of a bathing suit, but it is way cool to have a pool. Maybe a midnight swim when no one is looking???? I always wondered why some designer hasn’t designed a swim suit for “the less likely for two-piece anymore” kind of gal! You know, one that comes almost to the knee? Skirt type with a BIG flair to it? I can see it, can’t you? But I digress.
So we unload our things from the car and walk into our house and the lights are on and music is playing…I like that they wanted us to feel right at home. Kind of like the Motel 6 commercial where they talk about leaving the light on for you.
We really enjoyed our stay here and kicked back for the evening. Resting up was important because we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow walking around in Leavenworth!
So the next morning, we are up and going and headed into Leavenworth to have breakfast. It is so nice to just have no particular schedule and just enjoy the moment. Breakfast was very yummy! After eating we parked our car on the main street and hit the shops with great anticipation. Oh my!! SO many things to look at. Look what I found in the first shop!! I put my keys on it right after this picture was taken. I even got a “J” charm to add to it! Yep, its me!!
The of course, I had to walk across the street because I saw chocolate. And hot or not, I had to get some to enjoy! Oh yummy! The store is full of wonderful chocolate of all kinds!
I just loved this shop window! It was fixed up so cute! And look at this chocolate covered macadamia nuts! I also got some chocolate covered orange sticks too! But I DID share with my sweetie.
Wasn’t that “eye candy” for the chocolate lover’s soul? It sure was to me! We walked to another little shop and found the coolest furniture made from whisky barrels! I would have loved to buy the table and stools for our bedroom. Yeah…that’s another story. But anyway, we sure did like them; very creative style.
It is a nice ambiance walking the streets of Leavenworth. You can find some very unusual things. One store had a statue that my hubby had to show me because I am Norwegian and it is a statue of the Norwegian God of Folklore. He really liked it!
I also have always wanted to get an old vintage trailer and fix up. I have some great, creative ideas but not always as practical for me, because who would remodel a vintage trailer for me? I certainly don’t know enough. But I have learned about some ladies who call themselves Sisters On The Fly who have done it. They inspire me. I had to get a couple of books to read all about it! Pretty cool! So watch for future episodes. It just might happen for me before I’m wear grey hair!
I have been known to stand in stores and read cards and laugh my head off. People look but I don’t care. If it is funny, I laugh. I like clean and funny and these little one pieces for babies made me laugh right out loud in the store. Sometimes I wish I could come up with these things. It makes you wonder what type of person thinks these up! But then I remember that I would like to be one of those persons, and I laugh again. They would be like me who laughs in a store at a card that is funny, and sees the humor in all things. I laugh at commercials at home all the time! I think we need humor in our lives and maybe more of it. Laughter is good for the soul!
So we have walked around, listened to music piped through the town square, enjoyed a Stawberries and Cream Frappe at Starbucks and talking about heading home. We both wish we could do a couple more days of this. But then I think everyone feels that way about a great get-away. We walk back to the car and head down Tumwater Canyon and I take some shots as we go. The beauty around us is right there, but we sometimes take it for granted. Here are a few shots of my canyon run…
The water along the river is so gorgeous! I loved the movement and of course I could sit there all day listening to it! I took a rock at one point and put all my concerns on that rock and threw it in so it could be washed away and I could walk away clean from my concerns. That is how it is with God. We give him our worries and troubles and He takes them away to Himself so that we can be free. He smooths all my rough edges. I was free that day once again.
It is so nice to see all the waterfalls, great and small along the way.
Close up of the river and the crashing waves against the rock. “BE STRONG, I heard. BE BOLD, I heard. Never give up even when things are crashing in around you. I AM HERE.” Phew!! Good to get that reminder!
Look at this pretty waterfall so high up in the mountains supplying the water to the river below. I saw this waterfall and thought it is a lot like God. He supplies our needs from His High Place to our us. Beautiful scene!
Up river a little further, is the waterfall you see below. It was so pretty. There wasn’t a place to park, so we walked a ways to get this shot but well worth it!
The photo below reminds me that we can have all the chaos around us, but if we have God in our lives, we can have calm right in the middle of it. Do you see in this photo how the center is open and the waves are crashing all around it threatening to close in? We can feel like that in our lives at times, and that is why these times away to reflect and enjoy life are so important for us. Our perspectives are given an opportunity to see things from a different light. Certainly, that happened for me during these three days!
My hubby and I talked about where we want to go on our next trip. Because you see, we need to do that. It is a healthy choice, both for relationship and for healthy mind, soul and body. What do you need to move around in your life to make time for the important? It is well worth the sacrifice to do it. Make a road trip fund and start right away! We have our next one planned! I would love to hear your thoughts on this trip and places you have visited or suggestions. Where will your next get-away take YOU?
I leave you with a photo that speaks of my feelings about the trip. It is so pretty and very peaceful. That is what this trip meant to me.
“When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll. What ever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul!” Horatio Spafford 1873 from Psalm 146:1.
Thank you for coming along on this Road Trip with me. I have enjoyed sharing it and I hope you too can say daily, “It is well with my soul.”
Walking the journey with you…
Journeys of My Heart 