Break Away

I'd mentioned previously that Princess Eager, Prince CuddleBunny, and I were going along with Hubby when he went to the other side of our state to attend a technology educators' conference in Wenatchee, WA.  Since we were seeing snow here, I was hesitant to plan a trip over the mountain passes, which, at the beginning of the week had forecasts of heavy snow and winter weather warnings for the day we were to leave.  


After much prayer and a few days' time, the forecast was milder, and although Hubby bought chains in preparation, both passes we travelled were bare and wet.  

Waiting for Dad at the Convention Center

We left here Thursday and returned Saturday.  Friday was a sunny day in Wenatchee.  

Running the RC vehicle shown
by Saxton-Bradley,
one of the convention vendors

After Hubby's meetings, 
and some playtime in the hotel 'gym' to entertain the kids, we decided to explore the countryside a bit.  We hopped in the truck  and 
drove up the Columbia River toward Entiat.  

Rocky Reach Dam

The para-educator who helps in Hubby's classroom grew up and has family in Entiat, and she insisted we had to see it.  


It was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous area.

Orchards, orchards, and more orchards

Painted rock wall over Entiat from decades of brave/crazy high school kids

A different type of terrain than we're used to, but beautiful

We actually saw 3 rivers in our travels that day, and were a bit envious of the farmhouses settled along the edge of the babbling Entiat River... I could just imagine falling asleep at night, listening to the sound of the flowing water.

It snowed the day we left Wenatchee, and we saw snow and hail as we drove home.                                                                                                                                                                                      

But the roads were, again, clear, and we weren't delayed by hours of avalanche control work, which we've encountered in past years.  We really couldn't have asked for better travel conditions for the whole trip.

North Bend and Mt Si

As is our tradition, we stopped at the outlet mall in North Bend on the way home, so the kids could shop at the Nike Outlet store.   We used to stop for baseball cleats, but now it's all running wear... and just clothes for looking sharp.  ;-)  




Since stopping at North Bend put us so close to Snoqualmie Falls, and the 2 youngest royals hadn't ever seen it, we took a bit if a detour to visit the site.  
The Falls was roaring with huge volumes of water, so much that the splash made a fog over the area that cut the view of the waterfall itself to almost nothing.  

It also meant we got very wet!                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Just a reminder of what the Falls looked
like in June