Road trip: Washington

So, I'm back in Seattle. It was time to follow up on my training, so I was flown here for three days, to do two shows that my trainer could watch. Because of booking, or the PTO in Seattle, or whatever, my shows were in Wenatchee, WA. Which is about a 3 hour drive from my Seattle home base. Needless to say, when I first discovered this, I was a little peeved. 3 hours is a long drive. Especially long after 9 hours of flying. But, when I awoke at 5:00 yesterday morning to leave, I was pleasantly surprised. The drive to Central WA from Seattle is one of the most beautiful I've ever been on. Imagine the sun rising while you pass through mountains like this:

And then, passing quaint little towns like this:

The sign says, "Rocky says: Welcome to Skykomish, A Great Northern Town"

A river was coursing through the mountains my entire ride, I wanted to jump out of my car and run into it. This picture doesn't do it justice. It was warmer on my ride home, but just above freezing on my ride in. I was a an elevation of 3600 ft abouve sea level- which I believe is pretty high.

And, tucked inside of all of this natural beauty, after driving for 90 miles without seeing any civilization, I stumbled upon the town of Leavenworth.

Leavenworth, WA is an interesting place. It is modeled to be a Bavarian town. Like you may find in the alps. Everything has a certain look to it, like this:

Yeah, even Starbucks dressed up. And Subway, and the gas stations. There was German music being pumped through the town center. The street signs were in German. This little town intrigued me so much, I took it upon myself to do a little bit of research.

Turns out, Leavenworth was first settled with folks looking for gold, and other things that pioneers did on the Oregon trail. In the 1890s, the Great Northern Railroad decided to plant its tracks right through the town, which apparently turned it into a bustling place of opportunity-complete with a sawmill. The railroad was re-routed sometime around the great depression, taking with it all of the prosperity this small town had. The people lived on the brink of extinction for thirty years- until someone said, "Hey, let's turn our podunk mountain town into a Bavarian tourist destination!". Which worked. According to the town's website, they see a million visitors a year, they have a huge Oktoberfest,and a Christmas Tree Lighting. Who knew?

After all of this adventure, I found myself at a school in a place called Rock Island, about to do a show that my boss would watch. Well, it went just as I had expected. Pretty bad. The yoyo master makes me a little nervous. But then, my second show, well, that was something to write home about. I did all of my yo-yo tricks, like a pro- which is what I'm supposed to be, after all. I was glad. Trainer said I've clearly improved and it's great to see. Phew.

Well, now I sit in a cafe in Edmonds, WA writing to you. I just sat on this beach for a little while:

And, I have 5 hours and 20 minutes until my flight home. I think I'll finally be a tourist and go check out the Space Needle.