We started our day with a quick breakfast at the hotel, followed by a hunt for a Tim Hortons that didn’t have a lineup out into the street. It appears that the power outages that affected our hunt for dinner last night was still affecting people today – according to The Weather Network 500,000 households were still without power across the province. We grabbed a couple of coffees and headed towards the border crossing at Aldergrove.
We arrived at the border and only had a few cars in front of us – quite a change from the usual hour-long crossing at the Peace Arch. Our border guard was totally confused by the reason for our trip. Not only did he not understand what we were planning to do, he didn’t understand why we were doing it. He appeared to just give up trying to figure it out and wished us a good day – easiest crossing EVER!
We arrived in Lynden a few minutes later and were quite disappointed. The “Dutch Town” had a couple of windmills and there was an obvious attempt to make the tops of the buildings resemble the ones in Holland, but it was definitely not what we expected. Below is one of the windmills that we saw in Lynden.
After Lynden, we headed to Bellingham and then down to Everett where we headed east on US-2 towards Leavenworth. Last year when we took this route we were met by forest fires on the west edge of town. The burnt remnants of that fire still exist, but the greenery that is so prevalent on the west coast is starting to reclaim the area.
We drove around several for several minutes when we arrived in Leavenworth, looking for a parking spot. We eventually gave up and parked in a pay parking lot that had a board with each stall’s number listed and slots for money (quite weird). After parking we headed towards München Haus for lunch. Mum had German Potato Salad with a pretzel and I had a Jalapeño & Cheddar Wurst with a pretzel and a Raspberry Wheat Ale. We both thoroughly enjoyed our lunch which more than adequately satisfied our appetite. One thing we both thought was interesting was the mustard bar – definitely a first for both of us.
After satisfying our hunger, we headed to the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum. Last year we had to leave town before the museum was open so we had only had time to visit the gift shop, but this year we made sure that we had time to explore the actual museum. I hadn’t been too enamoured by the gift shop and wasn’t expecting to enjoy the museum, but surprisingly, I did.
By this time it was almost time to check in so we headed to the hotel. While Mum napped for a bit, I chilled and watched some TV until it was time for dinner. I had originally selected a couple of German restaurants that we could possibly go to, as I know Mum likes German cuisine, but after our filling lunch, we decided to find something light. The hotel clerk recommended a couple to us and we headed towards Uncle Üli’s. I had half an Üli’s Turkey sandwich & Kokanee and Mum had half an HLO (Holiday Leftover) sandwich. Another good choice for a non-Food Network restaurant.
Tomorrow we are heading to Spokane. Depending on the weather and our mood, we will decide in the morning on the route we will take. Until then, I will leave you with a few pictures that I took in Leavenworth.
Talk to you soon.
L
Karl the Nutcracker
Mouse King Nutcracker
