Christmastime in Leavenworth, Washington

A few days before Christmas, our daughter Jenni and her husband Will and son Preston came to visit. A couple of years ago we had gone to Leavenworth, Washington during the month of December to see all the Christmas lights, and had enjoyed it so much that we wanted to return again. Leavenworth is a small town in the Cascade Mountains of Washington, that is built and decorated in the Bavarian style.........it looks like a cute little German village. So we packed the car, and headed over the mountains at Stevens Pass.

Ron and I in front of the Danish Bakery......and it is REAL Danish pastry! Our favorite is the vinabrod. Yummmm!

I got to "play" with a good camera this time, and really had fun with it. These photos are a combination of mine and Ron's. We had gone to Leavenworth with the hopes of getting some really good "snow" pictures.........there wasn't any snow! That is very unusual for this time of year, and so that was quite disappointing. (Ron and I are going back in January to try again. We are watching the weather reports every day.)

Ron and Will went out into the village at 2:00 am in the morning, after all the people had gone. (Unfortunately they turned the lights on the trees out at 2:00, but at least they left the lights on the buildings turned on.) Ron had Will drive the car through town, with a 15 second shutter speed, and this is the shot that he got. Pretty cool, huh?

Earlier in the evening when all the cars and people were still in town.

Another shot of town, across from the gazebo in the town square.

It was just getting dark as we walked from out hotel to the town square. The light on all the stores make everything so beautiful and festive.

This is the hotel that we stayed in.....The Bavarian Lodge. It is really nice, and right across the street from the town square, so we didn't have to walk very far.

Me, in front of our hotel entrance.

Jenni, Will and Preston standing by the "Welcome to Leavenworth" sign in the town square. Behind them in the gazebo, where they have different musicians and groups preform during the holiday season. It got a bit chilly, as it was around 25 degrees that night.

Jenni and I as we venture into the village. There were lights on all the trees and every storefront in town. You can't help but get into the Christmas spirit with all the lights and decorations. There was a horsedrawn carriage that would take people on tours through town. It looked like fun, but we would have probably frozen our hind ends just sitting there!

Here we are on the steps of the gazebo. Town wasn't too busy at all, because it was a Monday evening. We had heard that over the weekend, it was like a zoo.

Our hotel had a Baldwin grand piano in the lobby, and there was a sign on it saying that anyone was welcome to play it. So we talked Jenni into playing "Carol of the Bells".....Ron and I were taking pictures of her as she played, and she kept telling us to "quit doing that ....... you are embarassing me!"

The lobby of the Bavarian Hotel is very inviting.....they have hot chocolate, hot cider and Danish butter cookies available to the guests. They also serve a breakfast that is really good.

Preston's legs were a little short to try and keep up with everyone........and he always wanted to go where we weren't going, so we'd end up chasing him. Will finally started packing him on his shoulders......Preston really liked that.......he could see everything and felt like he was right in the middle of everything. He didn't like being in a strange bed though.....the first night he wanted to sleep inbetween Jenni and Will, and would cry if he didn't. None of us got much sleep that first night. The second night was much better......we wore him out first!

Grandma and Preston

Ron, relaxing in the lobby of the hotel.










Me, getting warm in front of the fire.

If you've never been to Leavenworth, it's worth the trip. Hopefully we'll get back there next month, and be able to take some really good photos when there is more snow. It was a nice prelude to Christmas.