Our first trip was out to Leavenworth, which was a town about 1-2 hr drive from Stevens Pass, and about 2-3 hr drive from Seattle. Formerly, it used to be one of those town that was turning into a ghost town, but somebody decided to turn the whole town into a Bavaria theme to attract tourists. They started various festivals like October fest, and guess what? It worked. Now, tourists pour into the town, and stay for a night or two, and buy into the whole pseudo-Bavaria-ness of it all, and eat up their sausages and wash them down with beer.
Anyhoo, we were there for a more fun purpose apart from marketing genius. Apart from architecture, they also had some season specific activities: in this case, it was winter sports. We came here specifically for their snow-tubing. I think it costs like $15 for four hours, and while it looked mild, it was actually pretty quick, and gave some adrenaline rush. The winter sports park in Leavenworth also has some ski hills, though they are mostly of the bunny variant, which would be perfect for beginners.
Somehow, the day whizzed by (that’s what happens with short winter days) and we just retired to the cabin for dinner, movies and games.
Snowtubing at Leavenworth Winter Sports Park
Leavenworth in the early evening lighted up for Christmas/New Year
Wanderlust 