Skenic

Leavenworth Day 1

After the best night's sleep in the whole wide world (maybe) I woke up in a new place and to new adventures. I stumbled out of bed into the living room, introduced myself to Nellie's mum, mumbled my way through a breakfast decision and staggered into the shower. After that I was lucid and coherent (as much as I ever am) and could appreciate the delicious oatmeal Becky made, and the spectacular views out across the mountains from their living room.

I'd met Nellie in 2010 when we were both working on the Isle of Iona in Scotland. We travelled through a small part of Ireland together for a couple of weeks, and I was pretty excited to see her again. She'd told me about her town before, a faux-Bavarian town in the middle of the Washington Cascade Mountains, and I was intrigued to see it.

Step one (after breakfast and cups of tea) was to have a look at the retreat/camp her parents are directors of. Nellie works there as an instructor of various outdoorsy things, and has grown up there so knows it very well. We had a look at the campsite, with its hall, games mezzanine, kitchen, huts, and other assorted things, then set off for a walk up a little hill. This started along the river, where she showed me beaver trails and trees they had brought down. The beavers had all hidden away, but I was excited to just see these traces.

We moved away from the river and up the hill, heading for Eagle's Lookout (I think that's what they call it). Once there this view greeted our eyes. Pretty spectacular. We sat there for a while, catching up, hanging out, taking photos, before heading back down the hill.

We ended up back at Nellie's with cups of tea, again chatting for several hours, reminiscing on old times. The afternoon melted away into the evening, and before we knew it, it was time to prepare dinner. After dinner we made an apple pie, then settled down to a movie. I convinced Nellie and Becky to try an Australian classic, Strictly Ballroom and they loved it. I knew they would. It just has such fantastic lines and moments.

And then that was it, time for bed, especially because we had a big day planned...