OpenRoad Driver Volume 13 Issue 1 | Page 21

Volume 13 Issue 1 » 21 Later that day we ambled lazily around downtown Leavenworth, tasting pretzels and poking our heads into the gift shops. Then we headed to the Ski Hill Amphitheatre for a performance by Leavenworth’s Summer Theatre. The venue was spectacular: the stage and seating area surrounded by tall pine trees and the sun casting a final ray of sunshine on the distant mountains. The voices of Leavenworth’s talented youth filled the air, young people who had grown up in this Little Bavaria and never knew their town in the days before, when its future had once looked so terribly bleak. The theme alone, and the town’s wholehearted commitment to it, is enough to entice folks here from far and wide, enchant them with Leavenworth’s natural beauty and send them home with sausage in their bellies and memories of a great weekend away. W H E N YO U G O G e t t i n g T h e r e : Le ave nwo r t h is located 330 km from Va n c o u v e r , a f o u r - h o u r j o u r n e y . Ta ke B C H i g hw a y 99 South across the US borde r to the I - 5 Inte rstate and fol low the I - 5 unti l you re ac h US H i g hw ay 2 . He ad E a s t o n H i g hw ay 2 a nd i t w i l l t a ke you i nto Le ave nwo r t h . the population has increased considerably and, instead of shuttered windows and closed doors, the town is thriving and growing. No one gives a hoot that Leavenworth is an illegitimate daughter of Bavaria. Visitors come for chamber music in the summer, outdoor art displays, Christmas lighting festivals in the winter and a myriad other festivals in between. Then, when they’re sated with beef franks, strudel and ice cream, they seek out the kind of outdoor adventures that make Washington state legendary. My son and I checked in for whitewater rafting on the Wenatchee River with Osprey Rafting, joining about forty others booked for the same trip. By July the river has lost much of its ferocity but nevertheless, we spent a fun day on the river during which we repeatedly plunged in when the water turned calm and were hauled back inside the boat as we approached the rapids. Around us granite mountain slopes soared into the sky, swallows dipped in and out of the water and a couple of ospreys watched us from their nests. W h e r e To S t a y : S l e e p i n g Lady Re s or t is the be st property in town, with c o m fo r t abl e l o g c ab i ns i nte rspe rs e d i n fore ste d groves. Ask for their G re at E s c a p e Pac kage , which i nclude s ove r night accommodation for two, a nd b re akfast a nd d i n ne r i n the Kingfisher Lodge. The package starts at $276 USD. Details: visit sleepinglady. com or call (800) 574-2123 toll free or (509) 548-6344 local. Fo r g e n e r a l i n f o r m a t i o n o n Le ave nwo r t h , c o nt ac t t he Chamber of Commerce at (509) 548-5807; or visit l e ave nwo r t h . o r g Osprey Rafting leads whitewater river excursions f r o m Ap r i l t h r o u g h September. Info: (800) 7436269; or visit ospreyrafting. com