Day 13

Day 13, Friday, October 5, 2012

Had breakfast with the group at the hotel and more time to visit. Then we all headed downtown to wander around and indulge in a bit of shopping. Well, some indulged in more than a bit of shopping, but we won't reveal names. Those of you who have traveled with us in the past will know who.

Had lunch at an outdoor beer garden and then visited the Art in the Park where our intrepid shopper purchased a great photograph.

Kept running into members of the group downtown which was fun. Came back to the hotel to regroup for the main event—opening of Oktoberfest. The town runs free shuttles because parking downtown is impossible. It took 3 shuttles to transport the whole group, but we finally made it. Something of a snafu to get in, you had to get wanded, have your purse searched, show ID, and they had those of us with advance tickets in the will call line, but we finally got it sorted out.

The beer tent was a riot. Great bands, everyone singing along and dancing. Our group includes lots of guys who love to dance—I haven't danced that much in years. The polka almost gave me a heart attack. Time to get in shape. Also did the funky chicken, the YMCA, and of course the lindy. Great time.

I discovered I had charged the battery for my small camera and left it in the battery charger. The mind is gone. So I got a chance to take my iPhone's cameras for a test drive. Not sure how to get the pictures off the phone, am getting conflicting advice.

A shot of downtown Leavenworth:

Day 12

Day 12, Thursday, October 4, 2012

Took the scenic route to Leavenworth. Followed Lake Roosevelt and then the Columbia River. Much of the country looked like high desert to us, if we hadn't known we were in Washington, we would have thought we were in Arizona or Colorado. But also lots of farms. All was explained when we stopped at the Grand Coulee Dam. This dam is more about providing irrigation than about providing power, although it does that as well. Can't remember the area they said they irrigate, but it is vast.

Here's a fun sculpture that was at the information center for the Roosevelt National Recreation area.

And here's a picture of the dam:

Stopped at a fruit stand on the way in to Leavenworth. The Wenatchee Valley is home to numerous orchards. Great apples.

Arrived at our hotel to find the Augsburg party in full swing. We all went to dinner at a German restaurant across the street. Actually, there only seem to be German restaurants in Leavenworth!

Day 11

Day 11, Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Off to a rather late start today, but we were gaining an hour, so no big deal. Had to scrape ice and frost from the car.

Had our usual difficulty navigating Creston, but finally figured it out. Took the Kootenay pass through the mountains from there and ended up on the Pend Oreille Scenic Parkway, which was indeed scenic. Again part of the Selkirk Loop. And we did see a few fun things other than mountains and lakes and valleys. More deer and another waterfall—Sweet Water Falls which was, as advertised, an easy walk in. Small elevation gain—we could practically run up that now after all our trail experience!

Crossed the border after waiting endlessly behind a clueless person who did not have a passport. He had some sort of sheaf of papers. They searched his car and finally let him cross after making some phone calls.

We're now in Colville, Washington. Went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner which shall remain nameless because it wasn't very good. Then we hit Payless Shoe Source because I never thought to bring a pair of flip flops for going to the pool or hot tubs and just wanted a pair of shoes I could easily slip my feet into when leaving the room without lacing up hiking shoes. Got some bargains.

We've hit the hot tub twice here—once before dinner and once after. We're liking taking the waters!

Oh, and my daughter reports that she called Verizon to turn off my Canada calling plan (they were supposed to pro rate the charges) and they say it never got turned on. Will be interesting to see the bill. We may have to have a discussion with them—the woman I talked to originally promised to turn it on Monday, September 24, the day we crossed the border. Never a dull moment with technology!

Day 10

Day 10, Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Slept until 9:30 this morning! We had decided not to set the alarm since this is a day of R&R for us. Got up and had breakfast in the restaurant and then threw in the last load of laundry.

Then went out and soaked our old bodies in the hot springs pool. Lifeguards are wearing sweats and boots. Pretty funny. Of course, they have to sit up on their stand and can't dip into the warm pool.

Returned to the room and showered and then went back to the ice cream place because the woman had promised Heidi licorice ice cream today. Yuk as far as I'm concerned, but she loved it. Had an interesting conversation with the proprietors—they're Irish immigrants. Have been here since the 80s.

Back at the resort, Heidi got them to light the fireplace in the lobby and she's reading and I'm computing. All of a sudden I looked out the window and it's snowing! It had been drizzling when we went to get ice cream. That only lasted for about 15 minutes. There's a forest fire in the next valley, so I'm sure they need all the help they can get with moisture. Will see what that's like when we drive through there tomorrow. Only one way in and out of here!

No pics today, am looking back and adding them where I didn't post them previously. Wi-fi in the lobby much more speedy than in the room. Must be the fireplace.

Next two days are mostly travel days to get us to our Augsburg reunion in Leavenworth, Washington. Will see if there is anything interesting to photograph or blog about.

Day 9

Day 9, Sunday, October 1, 2012

Headed back towards Lake Louise, not on the Bow Valley Parkway this time. Took the turnoff to Highway 93 to Kootenay National Park.

Here's a picture of the wildlife overpasses they are constructing on all the highways up here.  Nice looking and they seem to be working.

Stopped at the continental divide and took my picture.

Heidi pronounced it too cold to get out of the car for her picture. Then headed toward Marble Canyon. We hiked in to the first bridge where you could see the falls and were confronted with endless flights of stairs heading up to the natural arch. We decided that we had seen natural arches before and would spare our knees that stair climb and save ourselves for the paint pots, which were the next stop.

Arrived at the paint pots, we discovered that the trail was closed because all the bridges were washed out. Pretty disappointing, because that was the one thing we had not seen on this trip.

So we continued on and discovered two deer by the side of the road. They apparently had a sense of how close was too close—we got some pictures and then I attempted to move a little closer and they took off.

Then arrived at Radium Hot Springs, the end of Kootenay National Park. The entrance to the town is quite spectacular—the narrow two-lane road passes through huge walls of rock, the kind that would prompt a “mind your head” sign were you walking. Wasn't able to get a picture because we had several vehicles hot on our bumper.

We stopped in the park for a picnic and were hoping to get ice cream at Screamers for dessert, but unfortunately they were closed for the season. So we proceeded on down to the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort to find that our room was not ready yet. When we mentioned our disappointment at finding Screamers closed, the guy at the desk said that there was an excellent ice cream shop down at the entrance to the resort. So we proceeded down there and, yes, it was excellent.

Our two-day stay at the Fairmont was planned as R&R from all our hiking and driving. We were anticipating massages at the spa, perhaps a facial. Unfortunately, the spa is closed on Monday and Tuesday, I assume another casualty of off season. I wasn't advised of this when I booked. So we did some laundry and headed for the hot springs. Will have to content ourselves with taking the waters.

Their Mountain Flowers Restaurant here has proved to be very good and not as frightfully expensive as one might expect in a resort.

The wi-fi in the room is frightfully slow. I may try the lobby to see if it is better there, but no uploading photos from the room.