Thousand Trails RV Resort – Leavenworth, Washington (GA620)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.
Sadly Mary is struggling with health issues. To see the latest about her situation, click here

To view past blogs, scroll to the bottom of this page and use the menu.

I’m currently in my 24th year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click here

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The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Lake Minden RV Resort in Nicolaus, California. I’m scheduled to depart here May 9th.

 

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

  In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

This entry was posted September 24, 2013…

 

 

 

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort about 21 miles northwest of Leavenworth, Washington.

 

We took a day off from driving yesterday while we waited for an early cold and rainy windstorm to clear western Washington.

 

While waiting, we took a nice walk around the RV park. Here are some of the photos that I took…

 

 

 

 

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To read about this RV park, you need to click this link… https://www.thousandtrails.com/getaways/washington/leavenworth.asp

 

Yesterday was a cloudy and cold day with some showers. High temperature for the day was 55 with a real feel of 48 degrees.

 

Forecast high temperature for today is 61 degrees and cloudy with showers.

 

We’ll continue our westward travel  on U.S. Highway 2 later this morning.

 

Enjoying Thousand Trails RV Resorts is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

 

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/recycled-art-show/

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 70 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

“Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” –James Madison

 

 

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” —Mark Twain

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2019

Leavenworth, Washington (GA619)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.
Sadly Mary is struggling with health issues. To see the latest about her situation, click here

To view past blogs, scroll to the bottom of this page and use the menu.

I’m currently in my 24th year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click here

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Lake Minden RV Resort in Nicolaus, California. I’m scheduled to depart here May 9th.

 

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

  In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

This entry was posted September 23, 2013…

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the 33 miles from Cashmere to Leavenworth Washington.

We continued traveling along U.S.Highway 2 West.

After 12 miles we stopped in the City of Leavenworth, Washington.  A Bavarian-styled setting as in the Swiss Alps. Here’s the history of how it got to be that way from their official website…

The History of Leavenworth

Believe it or not, our area wasn’t always Bavaria.  Instead, the towering mountain peaks and bountiful land was known amongst Native Americans as some of the most plentiful land anyone had laid eyes on. The Yakama, Chinook and Wenatchi tribes all hunted the same land for deer & elk, and also fished Icicle Creek for salmon.

Settlers hungry for gold, timber, and furs soon settled the area, and by 1890, Icicle Flats was born. The area exploded with the arrival of the rail line near the turn of the century. At that point, Leavenworth was a whole lot less Bavaria and a whole lot more Deadwood! The logging and sawmill business was great…until it wasn’t. When the railroad re-routed its rails and moved out of town, it almost turned Leavenworth into a ghost town. The area scuffled along for more than thirty years, always on the brink of extinction.

In the early 1960’s, town leaders had a bright idea: change Leavenworth’s appearance to draw visitors. If the gorgeous alpine hills had no equal except in German Bavaria, the city planned on completing the experience.

This was no mere facelift. In addition to completely renovating the downtown area, community leaders created a series of festivals, drawing revelers into town. From there, the Autumn Leaf Festival, Maifest, and the immensely popular Christmas Lighting Festivals were born and continue to this day.

To say the change worked is like saying you can taste a hint of cabbage in kraut.  For decades, Leavenworth has been a top tourist destination in the Pacific Northwest. More than a million tourists walk our streets every year, finding Bavarian authenticity and Northwest hospitality.

Here are some of the photos that I took there…

 

 

 

 

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

Every year on the first weekend of December they have a Christmas Lighting Festival and light the city with millions of lights. I attend one of these festivals perhaps 20-25 years ago. Here’s a photo of that event from their website…

Our visit finished, I drove the motorhome another 21 miles mostly north and slightly west to Thousand Trails Leavenworth RV Resort. Mary and I are members of Thousand Trails. In doing so, we went from 1125 feet of elevation to 2250 feet elevation…

Here’s the usual dinette window photo…

First it’s too hot, now it’s too cold! Yesterday was a cloudy and cold day with some showers. High temperature for the day was 57 with a real feel of 50 degrees.

Forecast high temperature for today is 63 degrees and cloudy with showers.

We’ll continue our westward travel tomorrow morning.

Enjoying Thousand Trails RV Resorts is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/leavenworth-and-looking-back/

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is sunny and 81 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

“Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” –James Madison

 

 

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” —Mark Twain

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2019

Leavenworth, Washington

The motorhome is now parked at Thousand Trails Thunderbird RV Resort along the bank of the Skykomish River in Monroe, Washington. I’ve been here a number of times over the past years and always enjoy it here. My scheduled departure date is September 23rd.

I’m just hanging out taking maximum advantage of my Thousand Trails membership and very agreeable weather.

Mary’s personal to-do list plate, which can only be handled by herself, continues to over-flow. I’ll next likely see her when I arrive at her home in mid-October. A friend recently expressed a concern about the status of our relationship. Not to worry…it continues to function per our original agreement when we met in October, 2008. That is…I remain on the road and she will join me when her other life allows. We talk every day on the phone…sometimes more than once. It’s just the way life is!

A more relaxed mode…After our 682 day on-the-go 2011-2013 circumnavigation of the United States, I have decided to slip into a more relaxed mode. In the next few months I will be traveling through areas previously explored. Unless I do something unusual, this Blog will feature a photo album from the circumnavigation and will change daily.

 

Today’s Subject…Leavenworth, Washington…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see the other 30 photos in this album…

CLICK ON THE BELOW PHOTO. ONCE YOU ARRIVE AT THE PHOTO ALBUM, SIMPLY CLICK “SLIDESHOW” AND ENJOY!

 

 

Leavenworth, Washington

 

To read about today’s photo album location, click this link…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leavenworth,_Washington

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

This concludes the album series from our 682 day on-the-go 2011-2013 circumnavigation of the United States.

Yesterday was a cloudy with rain and 66 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 72 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

 

 

 

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

 

 

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2015

Monroe, Washington – Day 1

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the 90 miles from Leavenworth to Monroe, Washington.

We continued traveling along U.S.Highway 2 West.

Here are some of the photos that I took along the way…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Shortly after starting our day on the road we saw snow-capped peaks of the Cascade Mountains…

After crossing Stevens Pass at 4,111 feet of elevation we ran into some fog on our decent…

We arrived at our destination of Thousand Trails Thunderbird RV Resort on the Ben Howard Road in Monroe. Our campsite is to the right of this stand of tall trees along the banks of the Snohomish River…

We are at the end where it’s nice and quiet…

Here’s the view from the motorhome door and my bedroom window…

Here’s the usual dinette window photo…

Shortly after our arrival, my good friend for 62 years, Al Penta who lives about one mile away, stopped by for a visit. We spent an enjoyable two hours catching up on the happenings of the last two years since we were last here…

Mary has pressing business awaiting at her home in California. Tomorrow I’ll drive her in the Bronco to SeaTac Airport where she’ll catch a fight home. After dropping her off, I’ll go to the Seattle VA Hospital for an eye exam and my annual physical…which I missed last year. I’ll remain here for a few more days having some work done on the Bronco and hopefully the motorhome by my friend and mechanic, Kenny. Once the work is completed, I’ll head for Mary’s home in California.

Yesterday was a cloudy and cold day with some showers. High temperature for the day was 57.

Forecast high temperature for today is 61 degrees and sunny with a shower.

Enjoying Thousand Trails RV Resorts is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Thousand Trails RV Resort – Leavenworth, Washington

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort about 21 miles northwest of Leavenworth, Washington.

We took a day off from driving yesterday while we waited for an early cold and rainy windstorm to clear western Washington.

While waiting, we took a nice walk around the RV park. Here are some of the photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

To read about this RV park, you need to click this link… https://www.thousandtrails.com/getaways/washington/leavenworth.asp

Yesterday was a cloudy and cold day with some showers. High temperature for the day was 55 with a real feel of 48 degrees.

Forecast high temperature for today is 61 degrees and cloudy with showers.

We’ll continue our westward travel  on U.S. Highway 2 later this morning.

Enjoying Thousand Trails RV Resorts is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

LEAVENWORTH AND LOOKING BACK.

http://marysramblins.blogspot.com/2013/03/teets-food-store-ville-platte-la.html

I’m looking back this morning. The address above is a blog I did on Teets Food Store in Ville Platte, Louisiana.  A wonderful family business with renowned smoked meats and sausages. We posted their website and Luke asked me if we could repost it since the website has changed. So, looking back at Ville Platte and Teets Food Store, here is their new web address:  www.teetsfoodstore.com

Yesterday morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise at Cashmere. And we hit the road headed for Leavenworth.

We passed through several smaller towns, but apples and pears are still crawling up the hillsides in this vast river valley.

The drive to Leavenworth takes you through 10 miles of  beautiful rushing river. Not very photographable on Jim’s side of the motorhome. A Beautiful part of driving Highway 2.

Leavenworth was bypassed by the railroads and was more of a ghost town when some enterprising entrepreneur thought, why not make it a Bavarian Attraction since it sits against a beautiful mountain background.

It’s not the Matterhorn, but no one seems to mind.

We arrived early, but in no time, the town was teeming with tourists.

The Salmon Festival ended on Saturday. Sunday’s major activity-music and art in the park.

We were looky-loos and none of the exhibitors wanted pictures taken of their work.

The whole town is a work of art with its Bavarian style buildings and decorations, so we didn’t mind.

We walked and peaked into shops to see what we could see.

We saw a sign that led us to a nutcracker doll museum. She had thousands of them, but most were for sale. I like the Nutcracker story, but the figures don’t interest me. I know two people who collect them. I’m sure there are others.

She also had little cuckoo clocks. My motorhome clock is on the fritz and Jim kept encouraging me to buy one. But they looked a bit fragile for the bumping and shaking a motorhome endures.

The town boasts many murals, and this one shows a Maypole Celebration.

The town has a Maypole. It reminded me that I was part of a Maypole Celebration while attending Longfellow school in Hardwood, MI. I remember it as a spring celebration of flowers. We each held a bouquet and the girls were interspersed with the boys, who didn’t like it and thought it was silly to walk around the Maypole. Maypoles have to be tall because the ribbons soon wrap the entire pole. Maypoles are a tradition of Scandinaviain Germanic cultures, from the 1600’s medieval times. You can barely crane your neck enough to see to the top of this one.

It was only 10 A.M. when we passed this German Sausage, kraut and beer place. We caught the bartender sippin’ and a cookin’ and singing. But, it was too early for us to enjoy lunch.

As you can imagine you can buy just about anything here.

From serious hats….

To ridiculous, fun hats.

There was certainly fine things, like these table runners, mats and cloths.

Beautiful boots, shoes, jewelry and clothing.

But, I like to amuse myself with humorous products.

You think it’s the cat, but I really had my eye on that cannabis cookbook on the right. Fooled ya”

This is how you judge someone’s character.  Right?

We were able to resist the licorice ice cream at Scoop Du Jour.

And all the yummy baked treats at Kondidorei’s Bakery

The pretzels were just too big for me.

We walked the five or six blocks of Bavarian themed town and then walked to the river to see an exhibit of recycled art a challenge for the Salmon Festival just past. Since we are sitting out a storm over Steven’s Pass, I’ll post it tomorrow.