Angelnina’s Cottage

A Trip to the Country

October 1, 2009 at 5:54 pm | Posted in Awareness, cooking, Family Fun, Food, Mountains, my life, photography, Uncategorized | 7 Comments
Tags: apple capital, cabin, Eastern Washington, fruit, Icicle Creek, Leavenworth, Leavenworth WA., log cabin, mini-vacation, staycation, The CHeesemonger's Shop, vaction, washington, Wenatchee

My husband and I finally managed  to squeeze in a mini-adventure.   Fear and the recession made us think twice about spending money on vacations or mini-trips.  We decided to throw caution to the wind and give ourselves a much needed break.

We headed to Eastern Washington to spend a few nights outside of a little mountainside town– Leavenworth–Washington’s own little Bavarian village.

I love this town.  I especially love visiting in autumn, as Eastern Washington is the Apple Capital of America.

ABOVE: Our balcony view

ABOVE: We were surrounded by an apple and pear orchard

We found a little roadside stand off the beaten trails.  A farmer offers–on the honor system!–all sorts of fruits and vegetables for 50 cents a pound.  I don’t know about you, but 50 cents a pound is too difficult for me to pass up.  Mark and I filled our trunk with an assortment of apples, pears, and peppers.  We also visited a farmer’s market and bought fresh watermelon and cantaloupe.

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I prefer to rent places that are private.  I have found that during the week, or during the right season, you can rent a vacation home for the same price as a nice hotel room.  I enjoy having a kitchen to make my own breakfast–rather than rushing out to a restaurant.  Plus, eating meals in saves money!  In the morning, before breakfast, we were able sit in the hot tub, drink our tea, and take in the view from the deck !

The farmers down in the valley, own donkeys, and when they bray, the sound echoes through the valley.   Spooky and funny at the same time.

The first time we heard the amazingly loud braying I must admit we were startled.  We looked at one another with our typical  “What the hell was that?” expressions.   We wondered aloud if the noise was going to ruin our peaceful vacation?  We talked it over and accepted the fact that we would be sharing the view with a couple of asses.  We were good with that.  God knows we’ve done it before

There were no shortage of “ass” jokes during our stay.   We had a million of them, but I’ll spare you.

We whipped up our own breakfast each morning…

ABOVE:  I think the view made breakfast taste even better.

We found more fruit to pick in the backyard of  the cabin.  These grapes were amazing!

Whilst waiting for my handsome other to adorn himself, I shot a picture of my reflection with the mountain background.

I could live here.  No, I’m not talking about  living in front of my reflection–I mean, I could live in this area and in this cabin.  Although, my other may beg to differ.

During the day, we visited the Bavarian Village.  They have every kind of goody a gal could want.  Clothing stores, kitchen stores, jewelry shops, cheese shops, and most importantly CHOCOLATE shops!

We tasted some of the best cheeses I’ve ever eaten in my life!  I’ve lived 44 years–that is a lot of cheese!  I have the hips to prove it.

Bring your cooler to   The Cheesemongers Shop.  Try the Caved Aged Gruyere–it’s aged two years in Alpine caves!

Check out the caramel apples at the fudge shop…

Our only splurge was eating dinner out at Cafe Mozart’s.  It was our early Oktoberfest celebration, and one of our favorite restaurants in town.

We also made our way up Icicle Creek Road.  The river and mountains are breath taking.

Back to the cabin to soak in more of that lovely view!

In the evenings Mark made a roaring fire.

I leave you with one last shot of that amazing view.  The donkeys started braying as I shot the photo.

I was reminded of the powerful statements Anthony de Mello had written in his book , “Awareness”:

“I’m going to write a book someday and the title will be I’m an Ass, You’re an Ass. That’s the most liberating, wonderful thing in the world, when you openly admit you’re an ass. It’s wonderful. When people tell me, “You’re wrong.” I say, “What can you expect of an ass?” (Anthony de Mello-Awareness)