Road Trip Day 10: final destination

It was a leisurely start today since we were trying to plan to make it to Leavenworth, Washington for lunch.  Why?  Leavenworth is a town that is suppose to be Bavarian German Village . . . I know, I know, sounds like a total touristy stop but that is fine by me as long as I can get some good German food!  We had to change our driving route due to the many wildfires . . . in fact the road into and out out Leavenworth has been closed due to the fires so we have our fingers crossed.  Instead of taking the Scenic 2 we are just zipping down I-90.  It was very hazy outside due to the fires but the radio informed us that the roads will be open again at 1pm so we should be good to go!  As we are driving along I-90 it is mainly farms and they even have signs with the types of crops that are growing in the fields . . . Washington State is one of the largest producers of potatoes, who knew?  I did not know that so these types of signs are nice to see even though as a farm girl I can pretty much figure out what crops are in the fields.

We pulled off at a viewpoint area . . .

So this is the viewpoint of the Puget Sound Energy's Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility.  In the distance you can see 149 wind turbines and 2,723 solar panels that together will generate enough electricity to power 70,000 households.  Well, there you go there is my educational moment of the day.  I will say it sure did not look green and lush like I imagined Washington looking but instead more like the Southwest region of the US.  It must be a popular stop because there were a lot of people walking around.  It was back on the road and what I think is Mount Rainier in the distance . . .

. . . I could be totally wrong but looking at the map; it should/could be.  So we exit to head to Leavenworth which is the German themed town.  I had researched the most important reason to stop . . . the food!  It was decided to eat at Andreas Keller Restaurant . . .

. . . I ordered Jaegerschnitzel with red cabbage and spatzle.  I am so hopeful it is yummy . . .

. . . apparently it was good . . .

. . . oh my goodness!  Notice that my iced tea is still full too . . . I have more important things to worry about than drinking tea!  It was the closest German food I have had outside of Germany.  It was so yummy that we got two orders of spatzle with rahm sauce to go!  We walked around the town.  You sure thought you were in Germany  . . .

We poked our heads into the Nutcracker Museum . . .

. . . oh my!  I have never seen so many nutcrackers . . . no photos allowed but trust me when I say there were thousands and thousands.  I enjoyed the detour and thought it was well worth the out of the way drive!  It was back on the road and as you can see the smoke is hanging around . . .

And just like that we arrived in Seattle, Washington.  Thankfully we were ahead of the major road construction that was going to shut down a six lane highway down to only one lane!

So officially today marks the ending point of this ROADTRIP . . . it makes me sad but have a couple of days to relax and explore before heading back to Texas . . . I sure have missed Colin!

Miles traveled today:  362 miles

Total trip miles:  3,201 miles