End of Days...

I wandered through downtown Wenatchee two different days.

The weather was perfect - a nice 70ish spring day.

There was some good shopping had and good relaxing.

This was a restaurant just a block from my dad's office, threw me at first.

Random frog sculpture in town.

The River Park.

The walkway was closed for maintenance, so I didn't actually get to wander along the river. But I did still get to see the river and take some amazing pictures of foliage.

(Had to take a picture of the "W" for Wendy -- she took all those John Deere pictures for me!)

And this is the fountain I sat in front of for two hours.

Reading and sun-bathing (which turned out to be more like sun-burning).

Lederhosen anyone?

This is a cute little Bavarian town outside Wenatchee -- Leavenworth. There were a ton of shops to visit and I did end up with some good finds.

The mountains surrounding the town were breathtaking.

This is the Icicle River. The name alone makes me not want to get too close.
Rumor is they raft down the river. There are some serious rapids
(which these pictures don't do justice).
Not sure I'm up for the ride.

Contact

One day we drove up to Mission Ridge Ski Resort. It was a tiny little resort and there was actually nothing there on our visit - end of the season and all.

There was an amazing view of the town below...

Also drove up to Lake Bonaparte one afternoon. Along the way we saw these....

Big brother? Aliens? Who knows, but I made sure not to make any

terroristic threats while in Washington.

Mike Rowe Dam

I actually got to go inside the 'Mike Rowe Dam'. It was fabulous! Although I would have much preferred to see Mike Rowe himself working away (and offering to take me out on the town or whatever.... I'm just saying I wouldn't kick him out of bed!)
Anyway, back to the Dam.
So they have these fish ladder things for the Salmon to swim back upstream to spawn.

There was a ton of fish heading upstream.

The water is really murky, but it was still really cool to see the fish jump through each window. This is what the fish ladder looks like outside.

(And I love the yellow tree - some lady said it looked like someone glued the blossoms onto the tree branches).

Here's a view from the top of the Dam into town.

And this is one of the propellers in the Dam.

(Mike Rowe worked on these when he was there).

Islands

On the way into town we visited Crescent Bar. It is a little island, full to the brim with trailer-ish homes. It reminded me of a little retirement town.

(There's all this controversy about the "temporary" residents - you'll have to ask my dad for an explanation).It was nice until I saw this......

And then right outside town is this Dam (Rock Island). I was so excited because I thought it was the 'Mike Rowe Dam' but it wasn't. This state has Dam everywhere you turn.

(Don't worry, I still went to the 'Mike Rowe Dam'.... like I would miss that!)

How do you like them Apples?

Had a fabulous vacation in the great state of Washington. Traveled a lot, saw a lot, and relaxed a lot. I loved it!

I took lots of photos, so I will update in the next couple of days...

(Now I need to pretend to get some work done).

Turning Over....

Life hasn't just gotten away from me, it buried me in ten feet of dirt and has expected me to claw my way out. I have excuses this time.... work stress which led to life stress which led to medical stress (high blood pressure, severe sinus infection, anxiety, over-eating, and a random cold sore).

The transfer of jobs is now complete. It was not a pleasant experience and I have still not fully recovered from the train hitting me (see there is a reason I don't like trains!) at a million miles an hour, but I'm hoping in a few weeks I will feel some normalcy again.

That train that hit me spewed words like "unacceptable" "corrective action" "skulk" "avoidance" "insubordination". All of which came as a complete shock, but I guess that is what happens when you are hit by a train.

Anyway, I'm off to Washington for a week hoping I will be able to finally get rid of the last foot or two of dirt that I still haven't been able to get out from under.

P.S. I will try to take lots of pictures of my lazy self doing nothing to share with you.