HILARIA IN BAVARIA

Another weekend of activity and new adventures. Friday night it was an adventure to just stay cool. Seattle has been hot and sunny. We do have a great fan system moving air around upsatirs so things are confortable at bed time but before that you pretty much have to sit on the deck to be comfortable. An extra shower helps.

We rose early on Saturday and headed to Leavenworth, Washington's Bavarian village. All Bavaria all the time. Even the Safeway has cornucopias painted on the outside. The area is also home to schloads of outdoor activities from hiking to rafting, from mountain climbing to fishing.

Last Fall Andrea and Barb bid on and won a weekend at a cabin near Lake Wenatchee at an auction at Evan's school. Julie and I were invited. We'd been waiting for this cabin experience for months. The cabin had all the modern gadgets. But it was obviously a work in progress for this family. The kitchen was the newest addition and it was clearly not done.

After we arrived on Saturday morning we all chowed on bagels and fruit and then headed to Leavenworth. We kind of stumbled onto wine tasting, an activity we all readily enjoy. I wasn't aware there was so much wine being poured in Leavenworth. I figured it was mostly beer. But we found four places right on the main strip: Silver Lake Winery, Gold Diggers Cellars, Icicle Ridge Winery, and Kestrel Vintners. All were fun and all offered several tastings at no charge. We walked away with wine from each place. To fly in the face of Bavarianism, we lunched at an Italian place, Visconti's. As it turns out three out of the four of us had previously dined here but it was very good.

After the wine and food and the 99 degree temperature, we piled into the air-conditioned car and headed for a road tour of Wenatchee and East Wenatchee to visit Andrea's grandmother's and great-grandparents' gravesites.

Julie and I made dinner that night back at the cabin. Andrea was still creeped out by the noises of the woods. The night before she had slept clutching her cell phone. In order to call whom? There was no reception at the cabin. I think she was afraid a bear would get her - inside the cabin. The phone would certainly come in handy if a bear had managed to get inside. She could have ordered it a pizza.