Leavenworth Adventure Part 1

Vacation time is officially over. Back to reality means actually showering, not spending copious amounts of money on food/ crap we don't need (no, seriously, we did NOT need that tiny nutcracker that looked like a nurse OR that robot riding a bicycle) & no more gorging on deliciously unhealthy food. Mostly, the end of a vacation means then end of total sloth time, for me at least. I now have to use my brain again and having a half naked tiny human running around outside, covered in dirt is no longer socially acceptable (well, most of the time anyways).
It's time again to start working, cleaning, blogging and taking care of that other little tiny human (my nephew). And I actually think I'm ready for it. While we finally had a REAL vacation, as in: a full week of lounging and gluttony (side note: I looked up gluttony, just to make sure it was spelled correctly, and one of the definitions was "informal piggishness" haha, soo accurate in this case) anyway, while it was SO necessary to have informal piggishness time after this very stressful past year, it is nice to come back to reality with a refreshed point of view and a realization of how truly blessed we are.
Corny, I know. 
So, we drove to Leavenworth, Washington. It was about a 6 hour drive (with stops) from where we live. I was a bit worried about Olin and the long drive, but he faired better than we did-- on the drive home Matt & I were a hot, cranky mess (more about that later). 
Leavenworth is this adorable little Bravarian style town in eastern Washington, nestled in these beautiful Alpine hills. In the 1960's the rerouting of a railroad line and closure of the local mill resulted in the town being on the brink of extintion. But, the entire community came together and in a last ditch effort decided to turn the town into a Bavarian style tourist destination. It was completely remodeled into a Bavarian style village.
I was a bit skeptical about visiting such a literal tourist destination, but when we got there, it was just too adorable to scrutinize. The town and even surrounding towns were very quaint and the surrounding mountains were literally AWEsome. This is really a place that should be visited in the winter, however. I could only imagine how fantastic the town would be all lit up with christmas lights and snowed in. We will for sure come back during winter time... eventually... after we recover from post traumatic spending/ bank account depletion disorder. I also suffered from some serious house envy; all the Bavarian style homes in Leavenworth and the vacation homes that surrounded the local lakes and the ones scattered along the river threw me into a jealous fit of rage. Hah, okay so it wasn't that bad, but if I ever win the lotto, one of those little adorable homes WILL be mine!
Per usual on any vacation, we took a ridiculous amount of pics, so I will start with the car ride there, some of the stops along the way & some of our adventures around town. Then I will post again with the conclusion of the trip. Enjoy!

Darth-- our navigator:

First stop, The Dalles in the Columbia River Gorge:

Second stop, Stonehenge replica in Maryhill, WA:

We rock at family pictures

Final destination, Leavenworth, WA:

Our little cottage house (there was construction going on all around town):

It was CRAZY hot the whole trip